Economy suspended: the possibilities of a Badiouian business ethics

Robert B. Couch

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.

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

University Standing at Time of Publication

Assistant Professor

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