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Spirit of Capitalism

In: Pathology of the Capitalist Spirit: An Essay on Greed, Hope, and Loss

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  • David Levine

Abstract

For the early capitalist, the pleasure sought in acquisition was not in consuming wealth, but in owning it. Tis meant that the acquisitive spirit combined an intense desire to enjoy the pleasures of life with an equally intense urge to exert control over desire by negating it. For the modern-day capitalist, the acquisitive drive has been corrupted by a growing preoccupation with those ephemeral worldly enjoyments the early capitalist viewed with contempt. At the same time, so long as the infinite remains the object, no satisfaction can be found in the real, finite world. Thus, the present-day capitalist also bears a complex relationship to the matter of satisfaction and desire, simultaneously pursuing satisfaction and denying that reality has the capacity to provide it.

Suggested Citation

  • David Levine, 2013. "Spirit of Capitalism," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Pathology of the Capitalist Spirit: An Essay on Greed, Hope, and Loss, chapter 3, pages 31-44, Palgrave Macmillan.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palchp:978-1-137-34679-7_4
    DOI: 10.1057/9781137346797_4
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