ABSTRACT
Ethics and Morality have recently become very fashionable. In the most varied domains from politics to marketing, from philosophy to journalism, from humanitarian campaigns to the recent popular sanctification of figures like Mother Teresa and Princess Diana, the leitmotiv is the need for consensus, shared values, and involvement in “good causes.” I do not intend to dwell on the causes of this phenomenon, though I believe that a lot could be said about the characteristics of this new Zeitgeist. I want to focus instead on what I consider to be one of the main characteristics of the present mood—what I take to be a retreat from the political.
