Papers

Luk Bouckaert, Hendrick Opdebeeck, & Laszlo Zsolnai ‘Frugality.’ , in The Palgrave Handbook of Spirituality and Business, eds. Luk Bouckaert, and Laszlo Zsolnai, Palgrave-Macmillan, London, 2011. The paper defines frugality as art de vivre, which implies low material consumption and a simple lifestyle, to open the mind for spiritual goods as inner freedom, social peace, justice or the quest for “ultimate reality.” The authors argue that realizing a genuine spirituality of frugality as self-detachment and other-centeredness does not… Read More »Frugality

Laszlo Zsolnai ‘The Ethics of Systems Thinking.’ , in Responsibility, Deep Ecology and the Self – Festschrift in Honor of Knut J. Ims. , eds. Ove Jacobsen, and Lars Jacob Tymes Pedersen, Forlag 1, Oslo, 2011. The paper explores some ethical assumptions and implications of system thinking in reference to social and environmental decision making. The methodology of multi-criteria evaluation of complex systems is used as an illustration of the ethical agenda of systems thinking. The Ethics of Systems… Read More »The Ethics of Systems Thinking

Laszlo Zsolnai ‘Corporate Legitimacy .’ , in Business Ethics and Corporate Sustainability, eds. Antonio Tencati, and Francesco Perrini, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK, Northampton, MA, USA, 2011. (This book may be available at: Edward Elgar) The paper suggests that the Just War theory provides an excellent methodological device for determining the conditions of legitimacy of companies.  The Just War theory promotes the view that a specific war is just if satisfactory conditions are met. The Just War tradition addresses the… Read More »Corporate Legitimacy

Laszlo Zsolnai ‘Why Buddhist Economics?’ , in Ethical Principles and Economic Transformation: A Buddhist Approach, ed. Laszlo Zsolnai, Spinger, 2011. (This book may be available at: Springer) Buddhism and economics are seem to be far from one another. Many people think that Buddhism is an ascetic religion with no interest in worldly affairs. It is not true. Buddhism has a well developed social facet. Buddhists are often engaged in progressive social change. Buddhism poses a radical challenge for mainstream… Read More »Why Buddhist Economics?

Laszlo Zsolnai ‘The Contributions of Buddhist Economics.’ , in Ethical Principles and Economic Transformation: A Buddhist Approach, ed. Laszlo Zsolnai, Spinger, 2011. (This book may be available at: Spinger) Buddhist economics can be seen as a radical alternative to the Western economic mindset. Western economics represents a maximizing framework. It wants to maximize profit, desires, market, instrumental use and self-interest, and tends to build a world where “bigger is better” and “more is more.”. Buddhist economics represents a minimizing… Read More »The Contributions of Buddhist Economics

Laszlo Zsolnai ‘Taking Spirituality Seriously.’ , in Spirituality and Ethics in Management, ed. Laszlo Zsolnai, Springer, 2011. (This book may be available at: Springer) The paper summarizes the main findings of research in ethics and spirituality to stimulate the development of a new agenda for spirituality and management. One facet of the agenda concentrates on practice: how businesses (and other organizations such as  universities, government entities, not-for-profit health organizations and so on) should be transformed into more inclusive, holistic… Read More »Taking Spirituality Seriously

Laszlo Zsolnai ‘Redefining Economic Reason.’ , in Spiritual Humanism and Economic Wisdom, eds. Hendrik Opdebeeck, and Laszlo Zsolnai, Garant, Antwerpen and Apeldoom, 2011. The paper gives a critique of the profit principle and redefines economic rationality in a more holistic, substantive and humanistic form. It argues that despite of Martin Heidegger’s warning not modern technology but modern economizing destroys the Being. With its exclusive focus on profit-making modern economizing endangers the integrity and diversity of natural ecosystems, autonomy… Read More »Redefining Economic Reason

Laszlo Zsolnai ‘Respect for Future Generations.’ , in Respect and Economic Democracy, eds. Luk Bouckaert, and Paquale Arena, Grant, Antwerp/Appeldom, 2010. (This book may be available at: European SPES Forum) Activities of present generations may affect the fate of future generations for the better or for the worse. What we do with our natural and cultural heritage mainly determines the way future generations may live their own life in the future. We as presently living human beings have an… Read More »Respect for Future Generations

Antonio Tencati, & Laszlo Zsolnai ‘The Collaborative Enterprise Framework.’ , in The Collaborative Enterprise: Creating Values for a Sustainable World, eds. Antonio Tencati, and Laszlo Zsolnai, Peter Lang Academic Publishers, Oxford, 2010. The paper aims to explore collaborative ways of doing business where enterprises seek to build long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with all stakeholders and want to produce sustainable values for their whole business ecosystems.  Based on the arguments developed by the Group of Lisbon, chaired by Riccardo… Read More »The Collaborative Enterprise Framework

Laszlo Zsolnai, & Laszlo Podmaniczky ‘Community Supported Agriculture.’ , in The Collaborative Enterprise: Creating Values for a Sustainable World, eds. Antonio Tencati, and Laszlo Zsolnai, Peter Lang Academic Publishers, Oxford, 2010. The paper shows the overall failure of competitiveness-oriented modern agribusiness, which produces low quality food and generates detrimental effects on nature, human health, and society. Community-supported agriculture presents a major alternative to unsustainable modern agribusiness. Ecological sustainability and social integration require strict limitations on both the supply… Read More »Community Supported Agriculture