short assignments

What’s So Bad About Materialism?

Reading Questionnaire : Read Twitchell, “Two Cheers for Materialism” (M).

(1) What does Twitchell mean when he says, on p. 18, that "We live through things. We create ourselves through things. And we change ourselves by changing our things"?  Do you think Twitchell is correct about this?  

(2)  Summarize Twitchell's argument for the claim (underneath the article's title on p. 16) that "materialism--getting and spending--is a vital source of meaning and happiness in the modern world." 

How compelling is Twitchell's argument?  (Be sure to raise at least one objection to it.)

(3) With what claim in Twitchell’s essay do you most strongly disagree? How come?