Economy suspended: the possibilities of a Badiouian business ethics
Keywords
Economy suspended, Badiouian business ethics, business ethics
Abstract
In the philosophy of Alain Badiou, ethics can only arise in relation to an evental truth procedure that breaks from the economic logic of a situation. Further, because for Badiou there cannot be economic truths per se – rather, economic matters must be understood in their relation to one or more truths in the domain of love, art, science or politics – a Badiouian business ethics would look entirely distinct from any ethics that simply places limits on certain kinds of economic activity. Although Slavoj Žižek, among others, has suggested that this marks an essential weakness in Badiou's economic/political theory, it may actually be the greatest strength of his position. Within a capitalist system, a Badiouian business ethics would then be a question of mobilizing economic resources in order to serve the ongoing construction of a truth procedure. For a business to be considered ethical on Badiou's terms, it must break – and continue to break – from the dominant logic of capitalism and its merely economic pursuit of profit maximization.
Original Publication Citation
“Economy Suspended: The Possibilities of a Badiouian Business Ethics” (with Robert B. Couch, Willamette University). Business Ethics: A European Review 22.3 (October 2013): 404–416.
BYU ScholarsArchive Citation
Couch, Robert B., "Economy suspended: the possibilities of a Badiouian business ethics" (2013). Faculty Publications. 3283.
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/facpub/3283
Document Type
Peer-Reviewed Article
Publication Date
2013-09-16
Permanent URL
http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/6094
Publisher
Wiley
Language
English
College
Religious Education
Department
Ancient Scripture
Copyright Status
© 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road