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Weltethos for Business: Building Shared Ground for a Better World

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  • Christopher Gohl

    (Weltethos-Institute at the University of Tübingen)

Abstract

In order to provide context and ground for a future assessment of the manifold overlap and possible differences between the Humanistic Management Project and the Weltethos Project, this article offers a comprehensive assessment of the history, arguments, and relevance of the Weltethos Project as applied to economics and business. A literature review of foundational documents on “Weltethos” and “Weltethos for business” outlines essential elements and arguments from two main Weltethos Project pioneers. It first recounts how its founder, the theologian Hans Küng, has launched a fruitful academic and public discourse spanning almost three decades since 1990, including the presentation of the Manifesto for a Global Economic Ethic by world leaders at a joint event with the UN Global Compact at the UN headquarters in New York in 2009, calling for business to serve human dignity. Then, the agenda of Claus Dierksmeier, Küng’s academic successor and a philosopher with foundational contributions to the Humanistic Management Project, is assessed both in regard to Weltethos motifs and Humanistic Management arguments, spanning from Dierksmeier’s conception of qualitative freedom as the foundation of unity in diversity to his effort to reframe economic theory and ethics, the inclusive and innovative practices of Humanistic Management, and to the capability approach. The article ends by highlighting how these two different approaches to Weltethos commitments converge in their care for human dignity, the idea of globally responsible freedom, and the capacity for dialogue as a learning process for creative change leadership.

Suggested Citation

  • Christopher Gohl, 2018. "Weltethos for Business: Building Shared Ground for a Better World," Humanistic Management Journal, Springer, vol. 3(2), pages 161-186, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:humman:v:3:y:2018:i:2:d:10.1007_s41463-018-0049-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s41463-018-0049-7
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Claus Dierksmeier, 2011. "The Freedom–Responsibility Nexus in Management Philosophy and Business Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 101(2), pages 263-283, June.
    2. Claus Dierksmeier, 2016. "What is ‘Humanistic’ About Humanistic Management?," Humanistic Management Journal, Springer, vol. 1(1), pages 9-32, September.
    3. Dierksmeier, Claus & Celano, Anthony, 2012. "Thomas Aquinas on Justice as a Global Virtue in Business," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 22(2), pages 247-272, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Vanessa Schäffner, 2021. "Between Real World and Thought Experiment: Framing Moral Decision-Making in Self-Driving Car Dilemmas," Humanistic Management Journal, Springer, vol. 6(2), pages 249-272, July.
    2. Michael Pirson & Jonathan Keir, 2018. "Humanistic Management: a Universalist Perspective Based on a World Ethos," Humanistic Management Journal, Springer, vol. 3(2), pages 141-145, December.

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