The item you selected is unavailable, but we found something similar.

Picture 1 of 1

Stock photo

The Ambiguity of Play by Brian Sutton-Smith (English) Paperback Book - Picture 1 of 1

The Ambiguity of Play by Brian Sutton-Smith (Paperback, 2001)

Be the first towrite a review.

thenilestore (1211475)
98.2% positive Feedback

Price:

AU $69.11

Free postage

Estimated delivery Thu, 23 May - Wed, 29 May

Returns:

30-day returns. Buyer pays for return postage.

Condition:

Brand new

A wonderful and important book. Its strength is its depth and its breadth. Play is discussed in incredibly close detail, and from diverse perspectives: from anthropology to zoology, to literary criticism and biology.

About this product

Product Information

Every child knows what it means to play, but the rest of us can merely speculate. Is it a kind of adaptation, teaching us skills, inducting us into certain communities? Is it power, pursued in games of prowess? Fate, deployed in games of chance? Daydreaming, enacted in art? Or is it just frivolity? Brian Sutton-Smith, a leading proponent of play theory, considers each possibility as it has been proposed, elaborated, and debated in disciplines from biology, psychology, and education to metaphysics, mathematics, and sociology. Sutton-Smith focuses on play theories rooted in seven distinct rhetorics -the ancient discourses of Fate, Power, Communal Identity, and Frivolity and the modern discourses of Progress, the Imaginary, and the Self. In a sweeping analysis that moves from the question of play in child development to the implications of play for the Western work ethic, he explores the values, historical sources, and interests that have dictated the terms and forms of play put forth in each discourse's objective theory. This work reveals more distinctions and disjunctions than affinities, with one striking exception: however different their descriptions and interpretations of play, each rhetoric reveals a quirkiness, redundancy, and flexibility. In light of this, Sutton-Smith suggests that play might provide a model of the variability that allows for natural selection. As a form of mental feedback, play might nullify the rigidity that sets in after successful adaption, thus reinforcing animal and human variability. Further, he shows how these discourses, despite their differences, might offer the components for a new social science of play.

Product Identifiers

Publisher
Harvard University Press
ISBN-13
9780674005815
eBay Product ID (ePID)
94989826

Product Key Features

Subject Area
Developmental Psychology, Human Biology
Author
Brian Sutton-Smith
Publication Name
The Ambiguity of Play
Format
Paperback
Language
English
Subject
Education, Psychology
Publication Year
2001
Type
Textbook
Number of Pages
288 Pages

Dimensions

Item Height
229mm
Item Width
152mm
Item Weight
381g

Additional Product Features

Title_Author
Brian Sutton-Smith
Genre
Children & Young Adults
Country/Region of Manufacture
United States

All listings for this product

item 1 The Ambiguity of Play by Brian Sutton-Smith (English) Paperback Book
AU $69.11
Free postage
item 2 NEW BOOK The Ambiguity of Play by Brian Sutton-Smith (2001)
AU $97.66
+AU $9.95 postage
item 3 Brian Sutton-Smith The Ambiguity of Play (Paperback)
AU $117.45
Free postage
item 4 Brian Sutton-Smith The Ambiguity of Play (Paperback) (US IMPORT)
AU $154.75
Free postage

Best Selling in School Textbooks & Study Guides

See all

Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Best Selling in School Textbooks & Study Guides

Tracks, Scats and Other Traces: Reissue by Barbara Triggs (Paperback, 2004)
4.9 out of 5 stars based on 7 product ratings
AU $54.89 New
AU $50.00 Used
Self-Made Man: My Year Disguised as a Man by Norah Vincent (Paperback, 2006)
No ratings or reviews yet.
AU $25.64 New
---- Used
Chaos by James Gleick (Paperback, 1997)
5.0 out of 5 stars based on 1 product rating
AU $31.35 New
AU $13.90 Used
Charles Hanon: The Virtuoso Pianist In Sixty Exercises For The Piano (Book I) by Hal Leonard Corporation (Paperback, 1986)
3.8 out of 5 stars based on 6 product ratings
AU $20.14 New
---- Used

Save on School Textbooks & Study Guides

Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Save on School Textbooks & Study Guides

Viktor Schauberger The Water Wizard (Paperback)
AU $58.71
Trending at AU $66.16
Secret Teachings of All Ages: An Encyclopedic Outline of Masonic, Hermetic, Qabb
AU $48.16
Trending at AU $53.45
Super Gut: a Four-Week Plan to Reprogram Your Microbiome, Restore Health and Los
AU $30.05
Trending at AU $31.07
The Meateater Fish and Game Cookbook: Recipes and Techniques for Every Hunter an
AU $56.99
Trending at AU $58.78
Excel-Erated Learning Explaining in Plain English How Dogs Learn by Reid Pamela
AU $39.52
Trending at AU $41.88
Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold
AU $19.54
Trending at AU $21.67

Shop by category

Picture 1 of 1

The Ambiguity of Play by Brian Sutton-Smith (Paperback, 2001)

About this product

Product Information

Product Identifiers

Product Key Features

Dimensions

Additional Product Features

All listings for this product

item 1 The Ambiguity of Play by Brian Sutton-Smith (English) Paperback Book

item 2 NEW BOOK The Ambiguity of Play by Brian Sutton-Smith (2001)

item 3 Brian Sutton-Smith The Ambiguity of Play (Paperback)

item 4 Brian Sutton-Smith The Ambiguity of Play (Paperback) (US IMPORT)

Best Selling in School Textbooks & Study Guides

Tracks, Scats and Other Traces: Reissue by Barbara Triggs (Paperback, 2004)

Self-Made Man: My Year Disguised as a Man by Norah Vincent (Paperback, 2006)

Chaos by James Gleick (Paperback, 1997)

Charles Hanon: The Virtuoso Pianist In Sixty Exercises For The Piano (Book I) by Hal Leonard Corporation (Paperback, 1986)

Save on School Textbooks & Study Guides

Viktor Schauberger The Water Wizard (Paperback)

Secret Teachings of All Ages: An Encyclopedic Outline of Masonic, Hermetic, Qabb

Super Gut: a Four-Week Plan to Reprogram Your Microbiome, Restore Health and Los

The Meateater Fish and Game Cookbook: Recipes and Techniques for Every Hunter an

Excel-Erated Learning Explaining in Plain English How Dogs Learn by Reid Pamela

Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold

You may also like

Brian Herbert Paperback Fiction & Fiction Books

Wilbur Smith Fiction Paperback Fiction & Books

Plays Non-Fiction Paperback Fiction & Books

Fiction Paperback Fiction Alexander McCall Smith & Books

Brian Jacques Fiction & Fiction Books

Paperback Calendars (Current)