ABSTRACT
In his book La concurrence et la mort the French social scientist Ph. ThureauDangin examines the ‘ economisin' of the present day and describes a society that appears to be completely preoccupied with the principles of competition and competitiveness. At one place in his book the author draws attention to the etymological relationship between agon (competition) and agonia (fear of death). A society that gives itself over completely to the idea of permanent competition and forgets co-operation and solidarity would accordingly be a ‘society in fear of death’ (Thureau-Dangin 1995; see also Jeismann 1997). We will leave this assumption aside for the moment and will return to it in the conclusion to this chapter.
