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Changes in the qualities promoted by those taking out advertisements in the personal columns of newspapers at the turn of the 19th & the 21st centuries are noted as evidence of a shift in presentations of the self as a manifestation of larger changes in societal values. It is shown that earlier advertisements emphasized an individual's social position or role, while contemporary ones place greater weight on individual traits & personality characteristics. It is argued that this tendency reflects a larger change in the market society as it became increasingly industrialized & urbanized. Ever-rising standards of performance & achievement propelled the creation of the "market being," continually seeking new products or methods by which to achieve perfection; it also created a new dependence on machines that could enhance human capabilities. The development of the "business of presenting a self-other-than-self" is described, along with factors contributing to the modern individual's sense of "separation" from his or her self. Three "pillars" on which a sense of self rests are identified, & their undermining by the "death of subjectivity" & deterioration of social attachment in modern life is described. Consequences in terms of personal psychological ill health (mental illness, alienation, loneliness) are outlined, along with their larger social costs, eg, increased crime borne out of a sense of dissociation, destruction of social ties, drug taking, productivity losses due to worker absenteeism, & health care costs for medications & hospitalization. K. Hyatt Stewart