Ethics in the Age of Triviality

Building upon his critical work on systemized mediocrity, Alain Deneault investigates the decay of moral integrity and authentic ethical frameworks within modern institutions. The author analyzes how ethical concepts—ranging from corporate social responsibility and sustainability to political correctness and social justice—are co-opted as superficial marketing tools and bureaucratic disguises designed to mask economic exploitation and political hypocrisy. Deneault traces how institutionalized mediocrity demands conformity over critical thinking, turning politics into mechanical bureaucracy and media into performative entertainment. By examining real-world practices in economics, politics, and culture, the book offers a penetrating philosophical critique that urges readers to reject tokenistic moralizing and recover genuine, meaningful ethical engagement.

It is an essential philosophical critique that equips readers with conceptual tools to unmask performative morality, dissect institutional hypocrisy, and understand how modern systems instrumentalize ethics.

Ideal for students and scholars of political philosophy, ethics, and sociology, as well as general readers interested in critical theory, media studies, and the socio-economic critique of modern neoliberal society.