Infinite Greed - (Insurrections: Critical Studies in Religion, Politics, and C) by Adrian Johnston

About the Book

Through a novel synthesis of Marxism and psychoanalysis, Adrian Johnston reveals how the relentless pursuit of profits is not fundamentally animated by human acquisitiveness.

Book Synopsis

Selfishness is essential to capitalism--or so both advocates and opponents claim. In Infinite Greed, Adrian Johnston argues that this consensus is mistaken. Through a novel synthesis of Marxism and psychoanalysis, he reveals how the relentless pursuit of profits is not fundamentally animated by human acquisitiveness. Instead, capitalism's strange "infinite greed" demands that individuals sacrifice their pleasures, their well-being, and even themselves to serve inhuman capital.

Johnston traces the mechanisms that compel capitalist subjects to obey the cold imperative to accumulate in perpetuity and without limits--and also without regard for the consequences for everyone and everything else. Facing crises such as spiraling wealth inequality and the profit-driven prospect of a looming ecological apocalypse, the rational self-interest of the majority would seem to dictate putting a stop to capitalist accumulation. By bringing together the Marxian critique of political economy with psychoanalytic metapsychology, Johnston shows why and how capitalism, rather than being responsive to people's rationally selfish interests, disregards and overrides them instead.

Unlike previous syntheses of Marxism and psychoanalysis, Infinite Greed pairs Freudian and Lacanian concepts with the economic heart of Marx's historical materialism. In so doing, Johnston brings to light the complex intertwining of political and libidinal economies keeping us invested and complicit in perpetuating capitalism and its ills.

Review Quotes

[Infinite Greed] is written in [an] accessible style and is equally instructive about its subject matter.-- "The Prisma"

Adrian Johnston's Infinite Greed is nothing short of a classic. This is not just another book trying to combine psychoanalysis with Marxism but the book on the topic, after which nothing will be the same. A necessary philosophical-political-conceptual apparatus for our predicament and a must-read.--Agon Hamza, coauthor of Reading Hegel

Those who bring together Marxism and psychoanalysis for a critique of capitalism typically confine themselves to culture and aesthetics. They don't discuss economics. Adrian Johnston's remarkable book offers a remedy for this lacuna. In a stunning breakthrough, he shows that a new combination of Marxism and psychoanalysis can provide a completely new economic foundation for understanding how capitalism works. Infinite Greed is immediately irreplaceable.--Todd McGowan, author of Embracing Alienation

This book radically reinvents psychoanalytic Marxism. Johnston accomplishes nothing less than the first full-fledged theoretical synthesis of political and libidinal economies. His erudition, clarity, and rigor make Infinite Greed a joy to read. It is guaranteed to become an instant classic for all those invested in Marxism and psychoanalysis, right up there with the likes of Herbert Marcuse's Eros and Civilization and Louis Althusser's Writings on Psychoanalysis.--Slavoj Zizek

About the Author

Adrian Johnston is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the University of New Mexico and a faculty member of the Emory Psychoanalytic Institute. He is the author of numerous books on German idealism, Marxism, psychoanalysis, science, and politics.