The utopian construct of a happy economy. Some observations from Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World

Abstract

This essay explores certain similarities connecting the fictional universe portrayed by Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and another exemplary creation, which is not literary but allegedly a scientific one as it is the neoclassical economic theory –mainstream economics for about a century and a half. The article considers the peculiar characteristics that the utilitarian ethics adopts in both universes and it also inquire into the conception of power that hides the Huxleyan world and the notorious omission of such power relations in the happy economy proposed by mainstream economics. Finally, the article discusses on what are the central factors that alternately annoy the observer of Huxley's dystopia and the utopia of the hegemonic economic theory.