Doing Good is a bold call for a new social contract in a world buckling under the weight of multiple crises – geopolitical tension, ecological collapse, technological disruption, growing inequality, and the slow erosion of liberal democracy. The promises of modernity, once rooted in the convergence of technoscientific progress and liberal capitalism, have failed to deliver widespread peace and prosperity. Instead, we face an uncertain future that demands radical rethinking.
Markus Gabriel offers a daring yet pragmatic vision: a New Enlightenment that fuses ethical insight with market forces. We don't need to abandon capitalism, but we need a revolution within capitalism itself: ethical capitalism. This is a form of capitalism that does not merely accommodate morality but thrives on it – generating profit by doing good.
Rejecting the temptation to vilify capitalism, Gabriel reframes it as a system ripe for moral evolution. Doing business is not exempt from ethical responsibility. Ethical business is not only more just: it is economically smarter too. Businesses that solve real problems, respect planetary boundaries, and promote human flourishing are better positioned for long-term success than those that pursue short-term gain through exploitation or extraction.
Ethical capitalism is not a utopian fantasy: it is a realistic, actionable path that rejects authoritarian alternatives while advancing a richer conception of freedom. Gabriel thus opens the way to a new eco-social liberalism, one grounded in what we actually know about ourselves as prosocial, value-producing animals. Doing Good is both a warning and a manifesto for those determined to steer humanity toward a future worth inheriting.
By:
Markus Gabriel (University of Bonn Germany)
Imprint: Polity Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
ISBN: 9781509572113
ISBN 10: 1509572112
Pages: 240
Publication Date: 27 March 2026
Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Introduction The definitions of ethics, capitalism, and society Nested Crises—The Complexity of the Present Moment Part I: Ethical Capitalism Economics in Crises Recoupling Moral and Economic Value—The Road to a New Enlightenment The Human Animal—The Primacy of Cooperation Moral Progress and Sustainability P.S.: “Capitalism” as Reification Part II: Applications The CPO and the Ethics Department Let Children Vote! The Metaphysical Pandemic—Governing our Desire Next Generation Ethics of AI Conclusion Acknowledgements Endnotes Introduction The definitions of ethics, capitalism, and society Nested Crises—The Complexity of the Present Moment Part I: Ethical Capitalism Economics in Crises Recoupling Moral and Economic Value—The Road to a New Enlightenment The Human Animal—The Primacy of Cooperation Moral Progress and Sustainability P.S.: “Capitalism” as Reification Part II: Applications The CPO and the Ethics Department Let Children Vote! The Metaphysical Pandemic—Governing our Desire Next Generation Ethics of AI Conclusion Acknowledgements Endnotes
Markus Gabriel holds the chair for Epistemology, Modern and Contemporary Philosophy at the University of Bonn and is also the Director of the International Center for Philosophy in Bonn and the Center for Science and Thought. He is Senior Global Advisor at the Kyoto Institute of Philosophy as well as Specially Appointed Professor at the Kyoto University Institute for the Future of Human Society.
Reviews for Doing Good: How Ethical Capitalism Can Save Liberal Democracy
""Markus Gabriel makes a powerful case for 'ethical capitalism,' where profit is generated from doing good not harm and aligns private with social and environmental interests. It is an important message that academics, policymakers, and practitioners would do well to heed."" Colin Mayer, University of Oxford ""Markus Gabriel is a philosopher with enormous reach, nuance, relevance, and courage. He explains concepts clearly and pulls no punches with respect to the sacred cows of our current political moment. Doing Good rejects the authoritarianism of the populist right and the narrow economism of the Marxian left and offers instead a deeply ethical yet pragmatic guide for our collective future. Gabriel puts forth a broader social vision than that offered by the economists, one that confronts the excesses of global capitalism and private enterprise, and that promotes an ethos of collaboration and creativity in an ethically grounded, democratic, and sustainable society. Doing Good is an important contribution at this precarious time for peace, economic justice, and civil liberties."" William Milberg, The New School for Social Research ""If capitalism is going to survive it will need to reform, and Markus Gabriel argues persuasively that radical innovation in the market economy is not only necessary but entirely feasible. This book sets out a model for moral progress in Western economies, progress that does not depend on changing human nature, but rather on reform of the structures of business and markets."" Dame Diane Coyle, University of Cambridge
