L'INNOVATION DESTRUCTRICE

Luc Ferry claims that what will save us is not declining growth but innovation. Even if it is a destabilizing factor, even if it can be terrific and, at the same time, destructive.
Innovation is at once vital and a source of anxiety; in a century of deconstruction, we must resolve this dilemma.

An actual philosophy hides behind the word «innovation”, a philosophy which has taken hold among our political leaders. “What will save us is not declining growth, it is innovation. Even if it destabilizes the world, even if it can be fantastic and, at the same time, destructive. Gutenberg destroyed the livelihood of copyists, but then he made possible the creation of millions of jobs in professions linked to printing.” Innovation may be vital, but it is also a source of anxiety, and this, according to Ferry, is the dilemma France has not yet solved, in an era of deconstruction (artistic, social, economic) such as Europe has never before known. In line with current trends Luc Ferry revisits the thought of Austrian economist Schumpeter (1883-1950). This prophet of innovation, who thought of the concept of “creative destruction» (Ferry prefers to refer to “destructive innovation”, a more optimistic term) remains topical. Innovation as a driving force behind growth that renders all that is old obsolete. And which, when it dies out, results in a crisis, before once again becoming dominant, kick-starting the economy for a new cycle. Thus computer technology was a source of expansion in the 1980s and 1990s. Today, many Schumpeterians believe that the broadband digital network and its manifestations herald the next capitalistic cycle. Philosopher, former Ministre de l'Education nationale, Luc Ferry is the author of several best sellers, including Apprendre à vivre (Plon, 2006), translated into 26 languages; La Sagesse des mythes (Plon, 2008), translated into 9 languages, and La Révolution de l'amour (Plon, 2010), translated into 5 languages.