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Schumpeter's Wirthschafts-subjekte

The entrepreneurial Spirit is un-ethical or extra-moral (Nietzsche) in this


sense: its innovation is also a breaking of the rules, a making of
alue !ithout being value"# The entrepreneur is an initiator, an
author possessing a Nietzschean e$tra-moralit%
(aussermoralischen Sinne), a &ei"eggerian authenticit%
(Eigentlichkeit) ' the recognition of the Zuhandenheit of the !orl", of
its mun"anit% - that therefore, in its resolve (Entschlossenheit) is
able to rise above the (uoti"ianit% (Alltaglichkeit) of the masses
an" their Sartrean mauvaise foi (ba" faith)#

The State of e(uilibrium represents the )thics of formal e(ualit%, of e(ui-
valence, i"entit% not "i*erence: the bourgeois liberal State is
bureaucrac% (&egel), Rationalisierung an" Entzauberung (+eber) ' a
,ositivit% (&ei"egger-s presence) that is shattere" b% the
negativity (creative .estruction, not "estructive /reation) of the
)ntrepreneur ' !ho represents the "%namic creative Individualitat
oppose" to the tran(uilit% of the bo"% politic# 0gain, the polemos of
the state of nature is turne" into the "%namic energ% (dynamisch
energisch) of the captain of in"ustr%, of lea"ership ' against the
statisch, hedonisch Impuls der rationalistischen !ypus, of the
capitalist o!ner, the banker an" 1nancier reliant not on
entrepreneurial pro1t but on passive interest# (See "oseph A#
Schumpeter$ ein Sozial%konom z&ischen 'arx und (alras b% &einz .#
2urz, p#34#)
The bourgeois liberal State ' the State of e(uilibrium ' is the true political
State of capitalism# 5ut the Schumpeterian entrepreneur is not the pro-"uct
of this ethical an" he"onistic State6 /apitalism creates the con-"itions,
the institutional ingre"ients for the emergence of the entrepreneur ' but the
entrepreneur must not be confuse" !ith an" mistaken for a capitalist6 The
entrepreneur is the antithesis of the capitalist ' as !e have sought to
"emonstrate throughout our stu"% of Schmpeter an" his capitalist
metaph%sics# The capitalist seeks the tran(uilit% of the econom% ' its
e(ui-librium on the economic si"e# 0n" the homologation, the e(ui-valence
of )conomic e(uilibrium an" ,olitical tran(uilit% is the social ,eace of
bourgeois liberal societ% ' its 2antian-&egelian )thics# 7t is not capitalism that
in"uces creative "estruction: it is the entrepreneur that "oes so against the
he"onism of the capitalist 1nancier, against the social ,eace of the
bourgeois liberal State6
These innovations occur whenever the entrepreneur needs them, and if it were not the case that an
entrepreneur, in his particular role as an entrepreneur, would already be waiting in order to use any
new invention, then these innovations would never be realized in practice. It is not the innovations
that have created capitalism, but capitalism that has created the innovations needed for its
existence. One could gain the opposite impression only from the fact that we know only of an economy
replete with development, and here, everything takes place so fast and immediately, that we cannot
always distinguish between cause and effect. The process of development itself and its driving
force would in this case also lie somewhere else, particularly in the personality of the
entrepreneur. In the absence of people with such leadership qualities these kinds of innovations
would never come alive.[4!"#$%
7n other !or"s, capitalism has create" the con"itions for the emergence of
the entrepreneur: but the entrepreneur is "istinct an" separate from
capitalism an" its )thical 7"eal of an e(uilibrate", static an" he"onistic
liberal bourgeois societ%in !hich the capitalist market econom% provi"es the
un"erpinnings for the ,olitical liberal public sphere of free"om of e$pression#
This neat homologation or e(uivalence of capitalist )conom% an" bourgeois
,olitics is absolutel% impossible for Schumpeter because the real essence of
capitalism is not e(uilibrium but (uite to the contrar% it is permanent
crisis, it is creative .estruction ' con8ict, not social peace6
A minority of people with a sharper intelligence and with a more agile
imagination perceive new combinations. Then there is an even smaller
minorityand this one acts. It is this type [the Entrepreneur] that scorns the hedonic
equilibrium and faces risk without timidity. e does not consider the
implications a failure will inflict upon him! or care whether everyone depending
upon him will lose their keep for old age. The decisive moment is therefore
energy and not merely "insight#. $%chumpeter! &''&b! ()*+)(, cf. )-)&! ).*+(/
0ost people tend to their usual daily business and have enough to do at that.
0ost of the time such people are on slippery ground and the effort to stand
straight e1hausts their energies and suppresses all appetite for further
e1ploration. [2urthermore! t]hey do not have the force and the leisure to
think the matter through. The daily work keeps them down! organi3ation as well
as the influence of their colleagues inflict untearable chains on them. This is the
masses. $%chumpeter! &''&b! ()&+)*, cf. )-)&! ).&+*/
In each sector there are statically disposed individuals and there are leaders. %tatically disposed individuals
are characteri3ed by essentially doing what they have learnt! by moving within the received boundaries and
by having in a determining way their opinion! dispositions and behaviour influenced by the given data of
their sector. 4eaders are characteri3ed by perceiving new things! by changing the received boundaries to
their behaviour and by changing the given data of their sector. $%chumpeter! &''&b! (&5, cf. )-)&! 6(&+*/

&s gibt 'irtschaftssub(ekte )deren *erhalten durch den hedonische Impuls definitive charakterisiert
ist, 'irtschaftssub(ekte die man als +statisch, kat &sochen be-eichnen kann. [Theorie, ./%

5% Schumpeter-s o!n a"mission, the trans-crescence of the capitalist
econom% gives rise to profoun"l% revolutionar% an" unsettling crises
or e$traeconomic e*ects through the creative "estruction brought
about b% the competitive innovation of entrepreneurs that (uite simpl%
cannot be governe" b% them an" that therefore re(uire e$(uisitel%
politico-institutional intervention on the operation of the market
econom% b% capitalist State institutions# 7n other !or"s, far from being
a self-regulating mechanism at or near an% form of e(uilibrium -
!hether static or "%namic or evolutionar% -, the capitalist
econom% nee"s to be constantl% guided and governed b% a central
political institution such as the mo"ern State that necessaril%
invali"ates the notion of entrepreneurial competition an" innovation as
pure scienti)c economic categories6
Schumpeter theorises the entrepreneurial spirit an" the process of innovation
in isolation from the political institutions of capitalism, !hich he
belittles as the he"onic an" static state of e(uilibrium# 0s !e sa!
earlier in this stu"%, the chief ob9ection move" b% :a$ +eber against
Schumpeter-s theor% !as precisel% that it un"ul% neglecte" the
paramount relation bet!een state bureaucrac% an" private capitalist
factor% ' both of !hich +eber sa! as aspects of enterprise (*etrieb)#
7n the !or"s of /acciari,

7Ecco perche# 8eber parla del Politiker! non dell# Imprenditore. Egli non dimentica l# Imprenditore9 ne
aveva gia# ricercato le origini. 0a! tra il )-'6 e il )-)5! il problema decisivo diviene la scelta politica sulla
forma e sui tempi del rapporto scien3a:sviluppo! le istituzioni politiche atte a assumere gli effetti dell#
innova3ione. In realta#! nessun mercato puo# piu# fun3ionare in forma schumpeteriana 7pura;. In termini
espliciti9 nessun Imprenditore potrebbe piu# esistere senza Stato!; $Pensiero egativo e !azionalizzazione!
pp.)65:-/.
[That is why 8eber speaks of the Politiker! not of the Entrepreneur. e does not neglect the Entrepreneur +
he had already traced his origins <in the "=rotestant Ethic#>. ?ut for 8eber the decisive problem between
)-'6 and )-)5 became that of the political choice of the modality and timing of the relationship science:
development! of the political institutions able to govern the effects of innovation. In reality! no market
could function any longer in "pure# %chumpeterian fashion. E1plicitly put9 no entrepreneur can e1ist any
longer without the intervention of the State.]
The 1nal point then becomes a (uestion: !h%, !hen all is sai" an" "one,
must capitalist societ% procee" or evolve or "evelop or trans-cresce through
crises; 0n" !hat "oes that tell us about the nature of innovation or
technological progress an" its motivation, that is to sa%, pro1t;

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