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Innovation and the Post‐Original: On Moral Stances and Reproduction
Author(s) -
Rehn Alf,
Vachhani Sheena
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
creativity and innovation management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.148
H-Index - 60
eISSN - 1467-8691
pISSN - 0963-1690
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8691.2006.00390.x
Subject(s) - copying , novelty , creativity , polymath , originality , epistemology , event (particle physics) , relation (database) , reproduction , german , sociology , action (physics) , argument (complex analysis) , ontology , aesthetics , computer science , philosophy , psychology , law , social psychology , political science , ecology , linguistics , physics , biochemistry , theology , chemistry , quantum mechanics , database , biology
This article represents an inquiry into the ontology of innovation, that is, the foundational issues of innovation and how we conceive of the nature of innovation and creativity. By juxtaposing the notions of novelty and copying, the article introduces the concept of ‘post‐originality’ as a way to understand how time and reproductive acts can be understood in relation to the innovative. Looking at how innovation and creativity are hailed as the highest forms of economic action, while copying and derivation have often been viewed as somewhat lesser forms, the article thus discusses how moralizations affect the way in which we view the economic. Specifically building on the works of German polymath Walter Benjamin and his theories of time, ruin and redemption, the article connects with the philosophy of history, and by way of three mini‐cases, presents three tentative modes of the post‐original (derivation, knock‐offs and remixes), showing how these can each in their own way raise interesting issues regarding the role of copying in creating the new. We end with a reflection on the notion of the event in innovation, inspired by the French philosopher Alain Badiou and his engagement with the truth of the event.