Neoliberal uses of Spinoza: the cases of personal development and the philosophy of management

Des usages néolibéraux de Spinoza: les cas du développement personnel et de la philosophie du management

Vincent Mariscal ()
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Vincent Mariscal: UCL - Université Catholique de Louvain = Catholic University of Louvain

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Abstract: This article is about specific uses of the thought of Spinoza, studied through a selection of books concerning personal development and philosophy of management. These texts give rise, through a discourse of truth and authority, to the formulation of a Spinozism justifying, philosophically, the ideal types of neoliberalism and making Spinoza the father of this social, political, and economic model. Thus, on the one hand, the authors want to convince individuals that they must concentrate on their affects, by postulating that happiness and freedom can only be achieved by working on oneself. On the other hand, it means minimizing the influence of a social exteriority which is, however, crucial for Spinozian philosophy. This article studies what has been retained from the Spinozian corpus, to make it correspond to neoliberalism and to apply these practices of personal development and philosophy of management. We also point out the limits of this singular interpretation of Spinoza, while questioning the relevance of this type of adaptation of his philosophy to contemporary times.

Keywords: Determinism - individualism - management - neoliberalism - Spinoza; Déterminisme - individualisme - management - néolibéralisme - Spinoza (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022-12-15
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Published in Astérion, 2022, 27

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03901225

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