Nika Wiedinger
MECHANIC OF MELANCHOLY
Co-founder, Institute FOR PHILOSOPHICAL ECONOMICS
Berlin
Nika Wiedinger is a cultural scientist and researcher of philosophical business and economic research, as well as the co-founder of the Institut für Wirtschaftsgestaltung (Institute for Philosophical Economics), a think tank for speculative thinking in Berlin. Her work for companies is based on philosophic skills; her lectures, seminars, and workshops are centered on the concept of the “Beautiful Economy.”
This idea, which was formulated in ancient Greece, has been a point of reference for transformative thinking and acting ever since. It follows an idea first put forth by Plato: Beautiful is that which has become itself. Nika believes that the most important transformative resource is melancholia. Whenever there is a desire for ending, melancholia arises. Whoever consciously lives through its stages will experience it as a (self)productive force. In that sense, melancholia creates beauty, specifically beautiful people and beautiful companies.