ABSTRACT
This text detects how the Simmelian concept of life resonates in the theoretical conceptualization of biocapitalism. I start from the vision of modern life sketched in The Philosophy of Money where Georg Simmel has depicted a world in which money became a symbolic form of life. Then I juxtapose this vision with his concept of life as a metaphysical principle of the world contained in one of his posthumous writings to show its compatibility and relevance for the whole Simmelian thinking. In the second part of the text, I reconsider the idea of life as a main source of value (life-capital) in two aspects: as an economic object in biocapitalism and as a political object in the biopolitical discourse (Agamben). The main purpose of these considerations comes down to displaying what theoretical benefits can we gain by considering life-capital as the libidinal object of the new political economy from Simmel’s standpoint.
