Towards an ethical awareness of entrepreneurs: a Nietzschean perspective on creative destruction

Abstract

As entrepreneurs engage in a Schumpeterian process of ‘creative destruction’, existing market norms and values are substantially altered, which places entrepreneurship in a central role for considering society’s new ethical demands. This essay attempts to fill a lacuna in the scholarship of entrepreneurial ethics that stops short of considering the ethical awareness of entrepreneurs regarding the reconstitution of values following disruption. The work of Friedrich Nietzsche informs our understanding of entrepreneurial ethics and provides guidance for ‘new philosopher’ entrepreneurs who become ethically aware of their task and endeavour to replace old values with new. Employing the lessons of Nietzsche can, therefore, provide valuable ethical insights for entrepreneurial ethicists as they consider what it might mean to engage in the disruption of industries, markets, and value chains.

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