Philosophy legitimized material greed through lofty discourse that gained performative power

Evidence

The central domain of philosophy has been one that ennobled the quest for raw materialism and, one might even say, insatiable material greed by clothing it with a formation of legitimizing high-flying discourse that in turn acquired its own performative power. — Wael Hallaq, Restating Orientalism, 360

Categorization

• DEFINE: Introduces the concept of a legitimizing discourse whose performativity gives it generative capacity to reproduce itself across academia.
• XREF: connects to: Philosophy’s stated ideals force it into conflict with the very institutions proclaiming them; The modern cult of creative genius was invented to legitimize bourgeois distinction — Max Haiven, Cultures of Financialization, 436; A philosophy of necessary destruction can conceal a love of destruction itself. — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the…, 3556