L. Zsolnai

Corvinus University of Budapest · Business Ethics Center:

Business ethics education is losing credibility worldwide. This is partly due to the experience that teaching ethics in business schools does not necessarily help future professionals to be more ethical in business. The article agrees with Claus Dierksmeier’s criticism of conventional business ethics education and suggests that business ethics cour...

The ultimate goal of Buddhist life is to reach enlightenment and put an end to suffering. From this perspective, the goal of human life can be defined as inner development – that is, ethical and spiritual growth that requires only a minimum level of material consumption (food, clothes, shelter, education, and medicine). The paper argues that Buddhi...

This paper revisits the concept of Bildung as a transformative approach to civic education, aimed at renewing business and management education and organisational practices to foster both human and non-human flourishing and sustainability. It synthesises key insights from the literature on practical wisdom and wisdom learning to develop a conceptio...

The dominant and conventional corporate model and global trade have created massive market-driven social changes globally, often characterized as a ‘race to the bottom,’ exploited vulnerable producers, reduced biodiversity, polluted the environment, and led to dangerous climate change. Here, we present innovative approaches that are examples of new...

Today most countries and cities follow policies that strive for competitiveness, economic growth, and wealth creation. However, this uncritical pursuit of mainstream economic dictates is producing considerable “ills” in the Anthropocene, including climate change, biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse, and national and global inequalities. The curre...

Value creation in the Anthropocene must contend with balancing wellbeing of humans with the wellbeing of other species, nature, and planetary ecosystems. The Anthropocene is characterized by the accelerating and devastating impacts of human economic, social, and cultural activities on Earth systems.

Business is more than profit making or wealth creation. It can be considered as an existential/spiritual exercise. Business activities affect and sometimes determine the fate and well-being of people, natural beings, and future generations. The paper uses Henrik Ibsen’s Peer Gynt to explore what does self-realization mean in business. Peer Gynt, a...

The core of today’s market metaphysics is the calculative thinking which considers everything as a marketable resource. This position is highly destructive both for the subject and the object of economic activities. To preserve nature and satisfy real human needs, gentle, careful ways of undertaking economic activities are needed. Poetic dwelling m...

This concluding paper summarizes how can the humanities and the arts contribute to humanizing today’s business and management. It explores and discusses various ways to integrate the views and approaches of the humanities and the arts in business and management scholarship and practice responding to the unprecedented challenges of the Anthropocene...

Our Ethics & Business Newsletter covers our projects, publications, and presentations in 2022 including the Awakened Campus Global with Columbia University, the Economy of Francesco workshop in Assisi, the Sustainable Value Creation Models with Penn State and Concordia University, Montreal, and the Friends of Bhutan Conference in Budapest.

Laszlo Zsolnai gave a keynote presentation entitled “Beyond Materialism and Reductionism” at The Awakened Campus Global Initiative Conference from November 29-30, 2022 at Columbia University. Zsolnai argued that today’s mainstream social practices and professions are based on strong materialist and reductionist assumptions. He showed that spiritu...

A himalájai Bhutáni Királyság sok szempontból figyelemreméltó hely. A tibeti buddhizmus drukpa kagyü irányzatának legfontosabb központja a világon, olyan meseszerű, ködbe burkolódzó zarándokhelyekkel, mint a 3100 méter magasan a meredek sziklákra tapadó, „égi hajszálon függő” Tigrisfészek kolostor. Az ország évszázadokig szinte teljesen el volt zár...

This paper argues that mainstream economics is a materialist and reductionist science. It criticizes the core assumptions of mainstream economics – namely, the existence of ‘Homo Oeconomicus’ and the goals of profit maximization, economic efficiency, and economic growth; and shows that these goals lead to an economy that is not only unhealthy for p...

A kötet átfogó képet igyekszik nyújtani a világvallások gazdasági koncepcióiról és a hozzájuk kapcsolódó gazdasági és management modellekről. Inspiráló hazai és nemzetközi példákon keresztül sokoldalúan mutja be a gazdasági spiritualitás teremtő erejét. A jelenkori ökológiai, társadalmi és etikai válság olyan megoldásokat követel, amelyek túlmutatn...

The paper argues that a spiritual turn in business management is needed. With its instrumental rationality and extreme materialistic orientation today’s business management produces large-scale ecological, social, and ethical “ills”. Business management needs a more spiritual foundation to solve the failure of rational and materialistic management....

The book is a tribute to the revered Indian management scholar and philosopher Professor S. K. Chakraborty, the pioneer of Human Values and Indian Ethos in Management and the Founder Convener of Management Centre for Human Values (MCHV), Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Calcutta. The volume brings together a collection of papers from eminent sc...

This paper argues that identity economics and social psychology provide a useful frame of reference to interpret supererogatory actions and suggests that identity of companies can be a driving force behind these actions. Companies may perform actions against the narrow sense of economic rationality if those actions serve purposes of high importance...

This article describes the background to, and focus of, a new and extensive research program being undertaken at the Corvinus Institute for Advanced Studies of the Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary. Entitled the Economy and Religion Program, it aims to explore and study the multiple roles that religion and spirituality play in the functionin...

Wellbeing is an organizing principle that ensures simultaneous flourishing of people and nature. It binds together an ethic of nature and ethics of people/community into a practical framework for creating integrated socio‐ecological wellbeing. This paper discusses the theoretical and practical implications of this position and presents illustrative...

The paper discusses the relationship between ethics and spirituality in business and management context. It shows that business ethics lacks a deeper existential-spiritual foundation which causes inadequate and ineffective functioning of ethics in business and management. The paper argues for spiritual-based business ethics and presents some resear...

The paper discusses the relationship between ethics and spirituality in business and management context. It shows that business ethics lacks a deeper existential-spiritual foundation which causes inadequate and ineffective functioning of ethics in business and management. The paper argues for spiritual-based business ethics and presents some resear...

La beauté se déploie conceptuellement dans les champs de l’art et de l’esthétique, en Occident comme en Orient, même si la perspective chinoise est souvent ignorée en éducation. Par ailleurs, les pratiques esthétiques sont de plus en plus utilisées dans la formation au management. Le but de cet article théorique est de questionner les bases concept...

The paper discusses the relationship between ethics and spirituality in business and management context. It shows that business ethics lacks a deeper existentialspiritual foundation which causes inadequate and ineffective functioning of ethics in business and management. The paper argues for spiritual-based business ethics and presents some researc...

A buddhista közgazdaságtan (Buddhist economics) a buddhizmus alapeszméi által inspiráltan a gazdaság és a gazdasági tevékenységek újfajta megközelítését adja. A ma uralkodó közgazdasági megközelítéssel szemben a vágyak önkéntes korlátozását és mások önzetlen szolgálatát hirdeti, és ezáltal törekszik a béke, az ökológiai fenntarthatóság és a boldogs...

The ultimate goal of Buddhist life is to reach enlightenment and put an end to suffering. From this perspective, the goal of human life can be defined as inner development – that is, ethical and spiritual growth that requires only a minimum level of material comfort (food, clothes, shelter, education, and medicine). This paper introduces principles...

This open access book examines from a variety of perspectives the disappearance of moral content and ethical judgment from the models employed in the formulation of modern economic theory, and some of the papers contain important proposals about how moral judgment could be reintroduced in economic theory. The chapters collected in this volume resul...

A "Magyar buddhisták" kötet interjúkat tartalmaz a hazai buddhizmus jeles képviselőivel. A beszélgetőpartnerek a következők: Farkas Pál (A Tan Kapuja Buddhista Főiskola), Pressing Lajos (Buddhista Misszió Árya Maitreya Mandala Egyházközösség), Mireisz László (A Tan Kapuja Buddhista Egyház), Csöpel Láma (Magyarországi Karma-Kagyüpa Közösség), Dobosy...

Despite the decades-long efforts of sustainability science and related policy and action programs, humanity has not gotten closer to global sustainability. With its focus on the natural sciences, sustainability science is not able to contribute sufficiently to the global transition to sustainability. This Perspective argues for transforming sustain...

It is a serious failure of business and management researchers when they solve the wrong problem precisely. This means that their problem formulation is inadequate which may lead to disastrous consequences for the well-being of the stakeholders. To avoid substantive failures in problem-solving business and management scholars should reconsider the...

It is a serious failure of business and management researchers when they solve the wrong problem precisely. This means that their problem formulation is inadequate which may lead to disastrous consequences for the well-being of the stakeholders. To avoid substantive failures in problem solving business and management scholars should reconsider the...

This open access book provides an exploration of the consequences of the ontological differences between natural and social objects (sometimes described as objects of nature and objects of thought) in the workings of causal and agency relationships. One of its important and possibly original conclusions is that causal and agency relationships do no...

This book gathers original, empirical and conceptual papers that address the complex challenges of conducting responsible research in the business and management professions. It includes contributions related to, and reflecting on, the vision of the Responsible Research in Business and Management (RRBM) network, which proposes that business can hel...

Caring for others is a fundamental part our own humanity. It is a constitutive element of any mature morality. The importance of care is gaining considerable significance in the harsh reality of the Anthropocene, when climate collapse, ecological degradation, and social disruption are a non-distant possibility.

Care is an central aspect of human existence. What we care about and who we care for largely determine our way of being. The subjects of care present a frame of reference for our human functioning. The survival of the fittest, and other Darwinian notions, have become slogans for the business world which favors competitive, instrumental and capitali...

This edited book frames a new ethos of management that cares for society, future generations and nature whilst also serving the interests of business and the wider community. Employing the practical wisdom of faith traditions, the chapters develop the use of spirituality as a resource for creating business models that take pressing social problems...

The importance of care is gaining considerable significance in the harsh reality of the Anthropocene, when climate collapse, ecological degradation, and social disruption are a non-distant possibility. The paper calls for responsibility and action that is aimed at making significant changes in the world of affairs at this dark time. In the darkest...

Increasingly, it is being recognized that spirituality, defined here as "a multiform search for a transcendent meaning of life that connects them to all living beings and brings them in touch with God or ‘Ultimate Reality,’" is an aspect of almost every sphere and aspect of social life. It appears in humanity’s dealings with nature, home and commun...

The Anthropocene era is characterized by a pronounced negative impact of human and social activities on natural ecosystems. To the extent finance, economics and management underlie human social activities, we need to reassess these fields and their role in achieving global sustainability. This article briefly presents the scientific evidence on acc...

Is a collection of selected contributions from European and Indian scholars and practitioners. The papers address the topics of human values, ethics and spirituality and leadership in business in the Indian and European context.

Over the centuries, Buddhist monks applied economic models in the operations of their monasteries to make them sustainable while also observing Buddhist principles. The large variety of economic practices observed demonstrate the creativity of monastics in acquiring the resources to support their large monasteries in a way that was viewed as compat...

This interview with Peter Pruzan shows his personal and professional journey from optimization to transformation, a path to the wellspring of rationality, ethics and spirituality.

Main findings are the following: (1) 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. (2) The fairness of procedures is a major determinant of the willingness of cooperation of economic actors. (3) Act...

Mainstream business practices often produce negative impacts on nature, future generations and society as a whole. Spiritual convictions may help business leaders to develop ecological consciousness required for achieving sustainability in business functioning. The paper presents cases of ecologically conscious business leadership from the USA, Eur...

Mainstream economics employs a rather simplified picture of economic systems. Economic actors are grouped into three categories, namely individuals/households, firms, and the state. Among these actors only monetized transactions are considered. The ultimate goal of the economy is defined as maximization of individual income or financial wealth. I...

St. Francis was hostile to money and material wealth. He was also against exploitation or misuse of natural creatures and promoted voluntary poverty, sharing, and universal brotherhood. This paper examines the implications of St. Francis’s views for economics. It is argued that St. Francis’s views imply the substantive notion of the term “economic”...

Mainstream economics employs a rather simplified picture of economic systems. Economic actors are grouped into three categories, namely individuals/households, firms, and the state. Among these actors only monetized transactions are considered. The ultimate goal of the economy is defined as maximization of individual income or financial wealth. In...

Wisdom traditions of humankind require self-transcendence of the person to achieve a meaningful and ethical life. This paper uses the example of Buddhism to show how “going beyond the self” can be realized in economic and social contexts. It is argued that Buddhist economics represents a strategy which helps Buddhist and non-Buddhist people alike t...

This concluding chapter stresses that the future of business highly depends on its ability to renew its business models. The key problem is the nature, form, and scale of business operations. The business models of today’s mainstream business do not fit in the reality of the biosphere. Business models vary but almost none of them are consistent wit...

This introductory chapter signposts the rationale, framework, and case study contents of the book. First, we offer an overview of the need for new more progressive business models than the mainstream which exists at present, identifying the current challenges facing business in Europe and beyond in its international ramifications. To remedy these c...

This book presents and analyses exemplary cases of progressive business, understood as ecologically sustainable, future-respecting and pro-social enterprise. The authors present a number of companies following progressive business practices from a range of industries including ethical and sustainable banking, artisan coffee production and distribut...

This introductory chapter signposts the rationale, framework and case study contents of the book. Firstly, we offer an overview of the need for new more progressive business models than the mainstream which exists at present, identifying the current challenges facing business in Europe and beyond in its international ramifications. To remedy these...

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...

Pope Francis' encyclical letter Laudato Si' (Praised Be: On the Care of Our Common Home) is an excellent opportunity for building a conversation between spirituality, ecology, and sustainable business. Integral ecology integrates concerns for people and the planet. It sees the world as systemically linked ecology, economy, equity, and justice acces...

The encyclical letter of Pope Francis, "Praised Be: On the Care of Our Common Home" (Laudato si'), presented an excellent opportunity to spark a conversation between economics and faith-based discourses on sustainability. The encyclical underlined the human origins of the ecological crisis and proposed fundamental changes in organizing our economic...

This concluding paper summarizes the main messages from the book about the restoration of economics as a moral science . It is argued that economics, unlike the natural sciences, does not have an ontologically objective subject, because economic life, unlike matter, is the product of human intentionality . Economic phenomena are always necessarily...

This chapter summarizes the main issues and themes of the book and shows its contributions to the development of moral economics. Zamagni suggests that we can harness market interactions by re-defining the market in a non-individualistic way, as a network of mutually beneficial relations, along the lines suggested by the civil economy paradigm. Bou...

First the paper analyses the rationality assumptions of mainstream economics and shows that they are empirically misleading and normatively inadequate. It argues that the world ruled by self-interest based rationality of economic actors leads to ‘unreason’ from a wider ecological and human perspective. The paper illuminates that human reason requir...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relation of spirituality and creativity in business context. Design/methodology/approach The paper presents practical examples of spiritual-based creative business models in different faith traditions (Hinduism, Christianity and Anthroposophy). Findings Spirituality and a deep sense of co...

The book is reclaiming economics as a moral science. It argues that ethics is a relevant and inseparable aspect of all levels of economic activity, from individual and organizational to societal and global. Taking ethical considerations into account is needed in explaining and predicting the behavior of economic agents as well as in evaluating and...