Recent posts

Lecturing On Frugal Consumption in Los Angeles

On November 19, 2021, Laszlo Zsolnai gave a lecture on “Spiritual Humanism – The Case for Frugal Consumption” in the “Corporate Social Responsibility and Good Governance” course of the Soka University of America, Aliso Viejo, Los Angeles. In his lecture Zsolnai discussed the problems of the dominating overconsumption patterns of Western societies, namely welfare malaises, global inequality, and ecological overshot. He argued for frugal consumption that can be characterized as (i) mindful (as it serves… Read More »Lecturing On Frugal Consumption in Los Angeles

In Memoriam Janos Kornai

Janos Kornai, Professor of Economics at Harvard University and Corvinus University of Budapest died on October 18, 2021. He was one of the most influential economists of his generation. He developed an anti-Walrasian economic framework within which both capitalist and socialist systems can be described and analyzed. I had the privilege of knowing Janos Kornai for 40 years. I collaborated with him on several occasions. My first academic publication was a methodological analysis of his… Read More »In Memoriam Janos Kornai

The Business of Happiness and Wellbeing

Laszlo Zsolnai gave a lecture in the “Happiness Talk Series” of Rekhi Centre for The Science of Happiness at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur on October 30, 2021. He introduced the Western (Aristotelian) and the Eastern (Buddhist) conceptions of happiness and discussed the contemporary approaches to wellbeing. He argued that the purpose of the firm should be redefined. Instead of maximizing profit, firms should maximize the wellbeing of all the stakeholders. He presented cases… Read More »The Business of Happiness and Wellbeing

Princeton Program on Humanities for Business

The Princeton University Faith and Work Initiative, the European SPES Institute – Leuven, and the Business Ethics Center of Corvinus University of Budapest jointly organize a webinar series on Humanities for Business in 11–16 October 2021. The program presents the grand traditions of the Humanities as an untapped resource for business-world problems. In a time where the Humanities are viewed as in decline or in threat of collapse altogether, the webinars will enact and extend… Read More »Princeton Program on Humanities for Business

PhD Specialization in Ethics and Business Spirituality

In 2021 the Business Ethics Center will start a PhD Specialization in Business Ethics and Spirituality within the Doctoral School of Business and Management of the Corvinus University of Budapest. The PhD Specialization consists of two interrelated modules: Business Ethics & Ethical Business, and Religious Economic Thought & Spiritual Business Models. The Business Ethics & Ethical Business module covers issues like the Moral Economic Man, Ethics and the Theory of the Firm, Citizenship and Responsibility… Read More »PhD Specialization in Ethics and Business Spirituality

Economy & Religion Program

Under the leadership of Laszlo Zsolnai the Economy & Religion Program has been established at the Corvinus Institute for Advanced Studies, Corvinus University of Budapest in February 2021. The Economy & Religion Program aims to explore and study the multiple roles that religion and spirituality plays in the functioning of the economy. It focuses on the contemporary issues of capitalism in relation to ethics and morality, ecology and sustainability, and social inequality and cultural diversity.… Read More »Economy & Religion Program

Oxford, Blackfriars Hall

By April 2021 Laszlo Zsolnai has been appointed as Associate Member at the Las Casas Institute, Blackfriars Hall, University of Oxford.

Art, Spirituality and Economics – Liber Amicorum for Laszlo Zsolnai

Luk Bouckaert, Knut J. Ims, and Peter Rona (Eds.): Art, Spirituality and Economics – Liber Amicorum for Laszlo Zsolnai. Springer, 2018. (This book may be available at Springer) This volume celebrates the work of Laszlo Zsolnai in the field of the ethical and spiritual aspects of economic life, who has made significant contributions to the connection between ethics, spirituality, aesthetics and economic theory. The book offers a selection of essays concerned with the ethical, spiritual… Read More »Art, Spirituality and Economics – Liber Amicorum for Laszlo Zsolnai

For Genuine Business Ethics

Laszlo Zsolnai (Ed.): For Genuine Business Ethics. Business Ethics Center, Corvinus University of Budapest, Budapest, 2018. This book summarizes the 25 years work of the Business Ethics Center of the Corvinus University of Budapest. Main findings include the following: Economic behavior is multifaceted and context-dependent. Two major factors determine the ethicality of economic behavior: the moral character of the actor and the relative cost of ethical behavior. The fairness of procedures is a major determinant of… Read More »For Genuine Business Ethics

Ethics, Meaning, and Market Society

Laszlo Zsolnai: Ethics, Meaning, and Market Society. Routledge, New York, 2018. (This book may be available at Routledge) This book explores the underlying causes of the pervasive dominance of ‘unethics’ in contemporary affairs in economics, business, and society. It is argued that the state of unethics is related to the overexpansion of market and market values in all spheres of social life and human activities. A correlate of this development is the emergence of an… Read More »Ethics, Meaning, and Market Society