The Age of Chance - Gambling in Western Culture

This fascinating and extensive study examines the enduring appeal of gambling, exploring its complex relation to our underlying conceptions of the world, and to the social and cultural backgrounds of those who fall under its spell.

List of contents

IntroductionChapter One: The Idea of ChanceThe age of faith: The origins of chance Chance and determinism The age of reason: The birth of probability The age of chance: Chance and modernity Chapter Two: The Pursuit of ChanceGambling and Divination The Seventeenth Century Explosion The Nineteenth Century: Playing with numbers Postscript: the vortex of vice Chapter Three: Playgrounds - A Map of the Modern Gambling SitesModern Gambling The Map: A Typology of GamblingThe sites: PlaygroundsChapter Four: The Experience of PlayThe Experience of PlayThe Categories of Play The Varieties of Gambling Experience Chapter Five: The Magical-Religious WorldviewThe Rejection of Probability The Magical Worldview: Participation The Religious Worldview: Transcendence Epilogue

About the author

Reith, Gerda

Summary

This fascinating and extensive study, enlivened by interviews with British and American gamblers, will be enthralling reading not just for those interested in the cultural and social implications of gambling - researchers in sociology, cultural studies and the history of ideas - but for anyone interested in how we create meaning in an increasingly insecure world.

Product details

• Authors: Gerda Reith, Reith Gerda
• Assisted by: Harvey Ferguson (Foreword)
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 26.08.1999
• EAN: 9780415179973
• ISBN: 978-0-415-17997-3
• No. of pages: 228
• Weight: 580 g
• Series: Routledge Studies in Social and Political Thought
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Sociology > Sociological theories; History of Ideas, Anthropology, HISTORY / Social History, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Anthropology / General, Gambling: theories & methods, GAMES & ACTIVITIES / Gambling / General, Gambling: theories and methods