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Conceptualizing Personhood for Sustainability: A Buddhist Virtue Ethics Perspective

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  • Christian U. Becker

    (College of Business, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA)

  • Jack Hamblin

    (Department of Religious Studies, University of Denver, Denver, CO 80210, USA)

Abstract

This conceptual paper addresses the role the individual plays in sustainability against the backdrop of the ethical dimensions of sustainability. We discuss the relevance of moral personhood as a basis for sustainability and develop a model of personhood for sustainability. The paper outlines the ethical dimensions of sustainability and discusses the role of individual morality for sustainability from a virtue ethics perspective. We employ a Buddhist virtue ethical approach for conceptualizing a model of the sustainable person that is characterized by sustainability virtues, interdependent personhood, and an inherent concern for the wellbeing of others, nature, and future beings. In contrast to many Western-based conceptions of the individual actor, our model of sustainable personhood conceptualizes and explains a coherent and inherent individual motivation for sustainability. The paper contributes to the methodological question of how to best consider the individual in sustainability research and sustainability approaches and suggests a conceptual basis for integrating individual, institutional, and systemic aspects of sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • Christian U. Becker & Jack Hamblin, 2021. "Conceptualizing Personhood for Sustainability: A Buddhist Virtue Ethics Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-13, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:16:p:9166-:d:615227
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Frans P. Vries & Nick Hanley, 2016. "Incentive-Based Policy Design for Pollution Control and Biodiversity Conservation: A Review," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 63(4), pages 687-702, April.
    2. Becker, Christian, 2006. "The human actor in ecological economics: Philosophical approach and research perspectives," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 17-23, November.
    3. Klara Helene Stumpf & Stefan Baumgärtner & Christian U. Becker & Stefanie Sievers-Glotzbach, 2015. "The Justice Dimension of Sustainability: A Systematic and General Conceptual Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(6), pages 1-35, June.
    4. Faber, Malte & Petersen, Thomas & Schiller, Johannes, 2002. "Homo oeconomicus and homo politicus in Ecological Economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 323-333, March.
    5. World Commission on Environment and Development,, 1987. "Our Common Future," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780192820808.
    6. Mas-Colell, Andreu & Whinston, Michael D. & Green, Jerry R., 1995. "Microeconomic Theory," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195102680.
    7. Becker, Christian & Faber, Malte & Hertel, Kirsten & Manstetten, Reiner, 2005. "Malthus vs. Wordsworth: Perspectives on humankind, nature and economy. A contribution to the history and the foundations of ecological economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 299-310, May.
    8. Sievers-Glotzbach, Stefanie & Tschersich, Julia, 2019. "Overcoming the process-structure divide in conceptions of Social-Ecological Transformation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 1-1.
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    Cited by:

    1. Becker, Christian U., 2023. "Ethical underpinnings for the economy of the Anthropocene: Sustainability ethics as key to a sustainable economy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    2. Daneshwar Sharma & Saumyaranjan Sahoo & Ashwani Kumar & Donald Huisingh & Dheeraj Sharma, 2023. "Corporate Nirvana: The Buddhist way to social sustainability and business innovation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(8), pages 5289-5313, December.
    3. Antonia Voll & Leonardo Jost & Petra Jansen, 2023. "Heartfulness in Vegans, Vegetarians, and Omnivores," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-13, March.

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