Scandal as Relic

Timo Airaksinen
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Timo Airaksinen: Department of Philosophy, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

Homo Oeconomicus, 1999, vol. 16, 7-20

Abstract: I argue in this paper that scandals no longer exist in the postmodern world simply because we do not care. Scandals can exist only if some values and virtues are violated. These violations should be unexplainable and unmentionable. Several possibilities exist: aristocratic, religious, and bourgeois values are vulnerable to scandals. The difference between the first and third case is discussed. Aristocratic scandals are based on a person's own subjective feelings. Bourgeois scandals are manufactured socially, often independently of the opinions of the scandalized person. The Marquis de Sade is used as an example of a peculiar combination of the cases. He was an aristocratic person and a bourgeois writer of censored texts. Finally, the distinction between scandal and sensation is discussed. A difference exists because sensations can be discussed, unlike the ever mysterious scandals.

Date: 1999
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