"New Ethics": a Guidebook for the Envious

The article under consideration makes critical analysis of the “new ethics” notion, which has become nowadays one of the most discussed terms in the Russian-speaking Internet. The authors of the publication solve the following problems: they discover psychological mechanisms, which promote popularity of the new ethics. They also regard the discussed concept as a recurrent utopian theory, which has no chances of a successful implementation. Moreover, such a theory can be more harmful than useful. Hostility, experienced and demonstrated of the new ethics supporters towards more successful and famous individuals, has envy in its roots - the feeling, which cannot be declared or even made conscious. As a result, under the cover of the fighting for justice and liberation of the oppressed groups of population, the new ethics supporters put forward the demands, which are knowingly cannot be fulfilled. Such demands, usually accompanied by a persecution in social nets, are directed against more successful and famous individuals. As far as the new ethics believes in the possibility of the ideal and impeccable social interactions, it becomes a recurrent fantasy, which cannot be realized. In general, the new ethics reflects the utopian approach towards humans and society, which is popular in the contemporary culture and humanitarian disciplines as well as in multiculturalism and feminism. The mass need for utopian theories can be explained by their correspondence to the most prevalent kinds of positive illusions, as well as the “positive” cultural slogans calling for an easy and fast realization of an individual potential. In the last part of the manuscript, the authors express hope, that their critical analysis will enable an informed individual to refrain from taking part in such movements.