Integrative Economic Ethics - Towards a Conception of Socio-Economic Rationality

This paper gives a synopsis of the approach of Integrative Economic Ethics, developed by the author during the last ten years at the Institute for Business Ethics of the University of St. Gallen (see the author's recent work on Foundations of a life-conducive economy: Integrative Wirtschaftsethik). This approach considerably differs from the usual conception of Business Ethics as "applied ethics " as well as from Moral Economics (or Normative Economics) in the sense of "applied economics". Instead, the integrative approach starts from the insight that economic thinking or economic rationality itself is a normative logic which needs ethical reflection. Therefore, Integrative Economic Ethics means a fundamental critique of economic reason first of all. It aims at developing an ethically integrated idea of socio-economic rationality. In consequence, economic and business ethics is conceived as a part of political ethics - and as such the timely approach to the exceeding dominance of the ideology of "free market". Market economy in whole needs to be re-oriented towards its life-conduciveness in a well-ordered society of free and equal citizens. The paper only outlines the basic idea and the systematic tasks of Integrative Economic Ethics; a ful elaboration of those tasks as presented in the German-written book named in footnote 1 cannot be given here, of course.

A free copy (pdf) of this paper is available below.