Closure

When it comes to the end of a relationship, the loss of a loved one, or even a national tragedy, we are often told we need “closure.” But while some people do find closure for their pain and grief, many more feel closure does not exist and believe the notion only promises false hopes. Sociologist Nancy Berns explores these ideas and their ramifications in her timely book, Closure. Berns uncovers the various interpretations and contradictory meanings of closure. She identifies six types of “closure talk,” revealing closure as a socially constructed concept—a “new emotion.” Berns also explores how closure has been applied widely in popular media and how the idea has been appropriated as a political tool and to sell products and services. This book explains how the push for closure—whether we find it helpful, engaging, or enraging—is changing our society.

For over 2000 years our culture has believed in the possibility of a single true account of the world. Now this age is coming to a close. As a result there is a deep unease. We are lost both as individuals, and as a culture. In the new relativistic, post-modern era, we have no history, no right or moral action, and no body of knowledge. In their place is a plethora of alternative, and sometimes incompatible theories from 'fuzzy logic' to 'consilience' proposing a theory of everything. Closure is a response to this crisis. It is a radically new story about the nature of ourselves and of the world. Closure exposes the central questions of contemporary philosophy: language and meaning, of the individual and identity, of truth and reality, but it is also philosophical in the broader everyday sense that it enables us to make sense of where and who we are. A central principle, the process of closure, is shown to be at the heart of experience and language. As a theory of knowledge it has dramatic consequences for our understanding of the sciences, involving a reinterpretation of what science does and how it is able to do it. It similarly proposes a profound shift in the role of art and religion. But, above all, it reshapes our understanding of ourselves and the organisation of society, our goals and our capacity to achieve them. A superb new account of how order is created out of disorder, Closure is an exhilarating work of conceptual geography.

Lawson's radical new study about the nature of ourselves and the world challenges the dominant faith of today - science. Drawing on practical examples of closure, it exposes the central questions of contemporary philosophy.

This book presents a much-needed review of commercial closures for bottles and jars used in America prior to World War II. Archaeological attention to commercial closures has been rather limited. This is surprising given that data derived from bottles and jars pertain to a wide range of studies, including chronological control, trade, site functions, and methods of manufacture. Closures are an integral part of these studies, becoming particularly important after a spectacular variety of metal and glass caps in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This volume-provides a comprehensive review, including detailed closure definitions, as well as glass finishes;-discusses the history of the development and impact of the hermetic seal in commercial closures;-will appeal to students, professionals, and collectors studying this common historic artifact class.