Important works
A little philosophy of money at the moment of its disappearance
In A Little Philosophy of Money, Johannes Haesler, Oliver Schlaudt and Frank Engster offer a profound yet accessible examination of the philosophical significance of money. They consider money not only as an economic instrument, but also as a cultural and social power that significantly shapes our thoughts and actions.
The authors ask: What is money actually? And why is it so central to human life? They argue that money is more than a medium of exchange - it structures the world, creates values and influences how people interact with each other. The trust we place in money is based on a silent consensus that is culturally transmitted and socially stabilized. However, this foundation also makes money fragile and susceptible to crises.
A central concern of the essay is to highlight the ambivalence of money. On the one hand, it enables freedom by facilitating access to resources and prosperity. On the other hand, it strips relationships between people of their immediate character and replaces them with anonymous, often dehumanized transactions. The authors show how money not only reflects social inequalities, but also reinforces them.
In their philosophical approach, Haesler, Schlaudt and Engster combine historical and theoretical perspectives. They draw on Aristotle, Marx and Georg Simmel to analyze the different functions and meanings of money. Frank Engster in particular brings a critical perspective by shedding light on the abstract nature of money: Money transforms everything - labor, time, nature - into measurable values and abstracts them from their original meaning.
The essay also shows how money influences our relationship to value and meaning. Things that cannot be expressed in money often appear to be worthless, even though they are central to human life. The authors critically question this reduction to monetary categories and suggest thinking of money as a design tool that could be used for social and ecological sustainability.
A Brief Philosophy of Money is a stimulating contribution to the philosophical discussion about money. It encourages us to question our familiar approach to money and to look for alternative forms of economic and social coexistence.