Abstract: To the foundations of humanist thought – moral and political economic – Bataille juxtaposes a “realistic” foundation : justify the general elevation of the standard of living and social spending not by means of a supposed equilibrium between needs and resources, but by taking into account the structural nature of the “unproductive expenditure” and its transformation into a deadly drive when contradicted or prohibited. The philosopher proposes a more radical version than Freud of “civilizational malaise”.
