Does Ethics Have a Chance in a World of Consumers? (Institute for Human Sciences Vienna Lecture Series)
Immanuel Kant extrapolated the trajectory of eighteenth-century history into a future that would demand a universal morality. That future, Bauman announces, has now arrived. But serious thinkers must proceed with the Kantian project in circumstances more difficult than the German philosopher could ever have anticipated, as traditional, locally grounded absolutes dissolve in the flux of twenty-first-century lifestyle consumerism. Tragically, some uprooted groups have tried to recreate the reassuring ethical order of a monolithic community, even when doing so has meant unleashing genocidal violence against outsiders (as in Cambodia, Rwanda, and Kosovo). Doubtful that an American superpower that excels only in military technology will offer better cultural options, Bauman adumbrates a hopeful orientation inspired by the transnational aspirations of Europeans. These aspirations are already restraining profit-seeking global capitalism while advancing a progressive code of planetary responsibility. Some readers may suspect that the very different universalism of a resurgent Islam deserves more attention that it receives, but Bauman poses questions deserving attention from anyone trying to understand our rapidly globalizing society. --Bryce Christensen--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.