A radical criticism of current assumptions in the field of cultural theory today, Robert Pfaller advances a general theory of interpassivity as the wish for delegated consumption and enjoyment in both art and everyday-life. It is therefore a concept that allows him to tackle a vast range of phenomena: culture, art, sports and religion. He asks: Why do people record TV programmes instead of watching them? Why are former alcoholics pleased to let other people drink in their place? Why can ritual machines pray in place of believers? Asking these unusual questions allows us to understand not only certain modes of behaviour but also mechanisms of pleasure in culture. Pfaller provides criticism of dominant assumptions, offers an escape from prevailing ideologies and exposes the ways in which cultural capitalism promotes commodities with the promise of happiness. Book jacket.