ABSTRACT
The fate of times is characterized by rationalization and intellectualisation and, above all, by the "disenchantment of the world". The functionalist position roughly equals the teleological or consequentialist position where the moral value of an action is judged by the outcomes of the action. Albert Borgmann traces the concept of commodification to Karl Marx who criticized the fact that the capitalist mode of production tends to transform more and more goods into commodities, especially labor power. Paulette Kurzer speculates that the European resistance to genetically modified products may lead to a consumer backlash in the US. Arnaud Sales and Thomas Beschorner focus on the aspect in their analysis of "wild capitalism". Colin Campbell draws attention to the fact that "areas of human activity that were not subject to purely commercial pressures but were instead largely governed by ethical and moral norms" are now governed by the marketplace.
