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Examining Love as a Central Ethic of Leadership: a Kierkegaardian and Feminist Reading

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  • Edward Wray-Bliss

    (Edith Cowan University)

  • Irene E. Pater

    (Edith Cowan University)

Abstract

This paper examines love as a concept for advancing our understanding of the ethics of leadership. We draw upon writings that consider love to be at the heart of modern subjects’ search for meaning and affective attachment to organisation – necessitating, we argue, an exploration of leadership too in these terms. Existing works on leaders’ supposed love for those they lead are considered. These serve as a springboard from which to undertake a philosophical examination of two dominant formulations of an ethics of love in Western culture: neighbour and agapeic love. Neither of these conceptualisations, we argue, suffice as an understanding of leadership. We draw upon Kierkegaard to highlight the category error of conceptualising leadership in terms of neighbour love, and feminist writings to highlight the deeply problematic sacrificial demand at the heart of agapeic love. Drawing attention to the plenitude of other loves yet to be explored by business ethics scholarship, we propose two organising foci for advancing our understandings: a focus on humanising love by leaders, and a focus on problematising love of leaders.

Suggested Citation

  • Edward Wray-Bliss & Irene E. Pater, 2025. "Examining Love as a Central Ethic of Leadership: a Kierkegaardian and Feminist Reading," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 200(1), pages 1-12, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:200:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s10551-024-05867-w
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-024-05867-w
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