Morphogenesis and Human Flourishing

This book, the last volume in the Social Morphogenesis series, examines whether or not a Morphogenic society can foster new modes of human relations that could promote a good life for all. It analyses the way in which the intensification of morphogenesis and the diminishing of morphostasis impact upon human flourishing. One thesis links intensified morphogenesis to human flourishing, on the assumption that new opportunities introduce novel experiences, skills, and modes of communication that appeal to talents previously lacking any outlet or recognition. It is reinforced because digitalization has opened the cultural 'archive' for more to explore and, as it expands exponentially, so do new complementary compatibilities whose development foster yet further opportunities. If more people can do more of what they do best, these represent stepping stones towards the 'good life' for more of them. Our own conclusion differs. We maintain that whilst ever diachronically generated inequalities are transmitted to the present, they foster enduring synchronic advantages for the contemporary powerful that intensify relational contestation rather than the eudaimonic effects of co-operation. Nevertheless, Morphogenesis and Eudaimonia are not locked in intrinsic enmity; in fact, much less so than were Morphostasis and human flourishing in earlier social formations. The real enemies today are 'politics without commitment' and 'economics without vision'. Our task is to show that the building up of civil society and a civic economy recommends itself to all through the generation of relational goods for all - as the road to realizing the Common Good as the social condition for universalizing Eudaimonia.