Ethics in a Time of Norms and Values. About the Ethics of the Real

by | Vol 28 (1/2) 2010

This text aims to clarify the possibility of an ethics of the real. First, we define an ethics of desire, the kind of ethics this article wants to argue against. Next, we highlight the ethics of the real by indicating why the real is a crucial dimension for ethics (the real gives space to the free will) and by illustrating how modern society neglects the importance of dealing with the real. We unravel the ethics of the real by pointing to the ethics of Lacanian psychoanalysis and to the ethics of truth as conceptualized by the French philosopher Alain Badiou. Finally, we question whether the ethics of the real gives rise to evil.

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