An Interdisciplinary Perspective on the Relationship between Ethics and Today’s Capitalism

The paper begins by emphasizing the fact that, on a historical scale, one can have several views of the relationship that has existed over time between ethics and capitalism, namely: missionary, ‘Nietzschean’, critical, and ‘regulatory’. It is argued that, nowadays, the capitalization of the contributions supplied, over time, by the four views embraces the form of two modern diametrically opposed perspectives, i.e.: on the one hand, there is the interpretation given by the neo-classical school of thought (mainstream economics) and, on the other hand, it comes to the interpretation given by the Austrian praxeological economic school (libertarian economics). The emphasis of the analysis is put on the assertions developed by the last one, libertarian thinking, that insists on the necessity to operate with a well-defined distinction between the legal level of the matter, the ethical level and the moral one. At the core of the libertarian analysis there is the understanding of the capitalist system being naturally impregnated by ethical values. And this intrinsic ethical nature of capitalism is organically bound to the sphere of the ownership-type relationship. In line with the understanding of the economic system, based on the institutions of the free market as representing ethical capitalism per se, the paper argues that the realities of the world today show governmental interventionism as a main factor that supports non-ethical economic behaviour. As a consequence, the more limited government intervention is, the greater the chance of ethical capitalism, that is, voluntary, non-conflictual and non-aggressive economic market relationships. Under such conditions, a ‘minimal state’ institutional arrangement (that is, the legitimate use of power by the state is limited to preventing fraud or the use of force; it does not include the power to tax or to confiscate property) is the basic condition for the existence of an ethical capitalism that works, which is to say that the chance of an economic system based on ethical values stands in people’s willingness to be part of such an evolution in society that aims to minimise the role of the state. Further, the paper argues that any historical analysis on how societies asserted such a willingness outlines the expression of a secular and unshaken option for growing rather than diminishing state involvement in the economy. It is about people’s perennial preference for the state, namely for the organization of society based on state interventionism (respectively, their preference for the coercive order imposed by the state authorities, order based, through its own nature, on the subjugation of private property and the aggression against individual freedom), with a preference for the government intervention over the organization of a society based on free market functioning (which is equivalent, in fact, to their rejection of a voluntarily and spontaneously non-violent order, based on the observance of private property and individual freedom, brought about by the free functioning of markets). In the last part of the paper there are put forward for discussion the possible explanations for this perennial preference for non-ethical capitalism, the analysis focusing on two directions: firstly, on that of social ontology; and then, on that of human psychology

Ethical Mastery of Innovative Technologies

In this paper we present an alternative bio-epistemological-based approach to economic ethics issues, which suggests that economists need not only an understanding of the ecosystem in terms of irreversibility, but even more an understanding of the way the process in ecosystem make actual the principle of ameliorative equilibration. This means that among many technological innovations that extend the field of the possibilities only those that prove to be integrative and able to ameliorate the adaptation process will be chosen and preserved. In our view, only this type of prospective approach could be considered ethical as it realizes the principle of ameliorative equilibration and harmonizes the technological innovation process with the process of the ecosystem.social cooperation, biophysical constraints, negentropic rocess, ameliorative equilibration, vection, cross-disciplinary research.

THE IMPACT OF ACCESSION TO THE EUROPEAN UNION ON PERCEPTIONS RELATED TO BUSINESS RISKS IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE. A DISTANCE-TYPE ANALYSIS

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of 2004 accession to the European Union on perceptions related to business risks in Central and Eastern European countries. The investigation makes use of the data provided by the Regular Reports on Global Competitiveness published annually by the World Economic Forum. Methodologically, our analysis requires the estimation of an average for the core of 15 member states of the European Union (EU 15) for each individual pillar considered to describe properly the business environment. In doing so, it is possible to measure the convergence – in terms of a distance-type analysis – of the new member states with the average of EU 15, prior and after the accession, comparatively. In addition, based on a k-means clustering technique, we investigate similarities between the same countries, as well as the convergence of different groups of countries with the group which contains this average.business risk, convergence, clusters, Eastern European Enlargement

Basic Mathematical Modeling of the Environmental Processes in the Lower Danube Region [I]

In most environmental pollution problems, the pollutant is released to the environment by the, almost always, turbulent flow of a carrier fluid. The pollutant mixes with the surrounding fluid (air or water) and undergoes chemical transformations. A proper account of “where the pollutant went” and “what happened to it” necessitates a theory of turbulent reacting flows, i.e. the simultaneous treatment of mixing and chemical reactions. The important field of Air Quality Modelling is an interdisciplinary field borrowing elements from Fluid Mechanics, Atmospheric Chemistry, Meteorology and others

Economics and religion -a personalist perspective

Abstract: Traditionally, the reaction of many mainstream economists to the effort to integrate theology and economics demonstrated the difficulty of doing so in a way that could be broadly recognized as legitimate. This state of things is simply an indication of a broad consensus within the field of economics that methods, norms, and even concerns construed to be related to religious belief have no place in the scientific study of economics. Recently, the situation seems to be changing, however. A decade ago, a group of Christian Catholic social thinkers engaged in dialogue with free-market economists concerning the morality of market activity. As a result, this interdisciplinary exchange inspired the conception of a new subdiscipline that sought to synthesize central aspects of theology and economics, thereby giving rise to a new body of scholarship termed economic personalism. The general idea is to promote a humane economic order that benefits from market activity but does not reduce the human person to just another element in economic phenomena. This paper suggests that, under such circumstances, the Christian-Orthodox contribution to further development of this new field of investigation could consist in bringing forward the teaching of the Holy Fathers of Eastern Tradition. It is argued that, in this way, the moral dimension which dominantly defines the Catholic vision of the human person could be surpassed and even transfigured by the spiritual dimension which fully inform the Orthodox vision. Moreover, this pre-eminence of the spiritual determinants of the human person is expected to result in a number of significant changes concerning the way economic personalism is currently conceived (in terms of its subject matter, basic conceptual principles, and general mission)

Raţiune şi credinţă în cercetarea ştiinţifică. Cazul ştiinţei economice

Many of the nowadays scientists think that religion can never come to terms with science.�scientific epistemology, interdisciplinarity, transdisciplinarity, social catholic theology, free-market economics, economic personalism, patristic theology, epistemological transfiguration, spiritualized economics

Despre controversele metodologice din ştiinţa economică

The purpose of this paper is threefold: (1) to examine briefly the history and development of the major methodological controversies in economic sciencemethodological controversy, individualism, holism, personalism, neutralization of controversy

Raţiune şi credinţă în cercetarea ştiinţifică. Cazul ştiinţei economice (III)

Many of the nowadays scientists think that religion can never come to terms with science. In sharp contrast with this widespread opinion, our paper argues that, historically, scientific reasoning and religious belief joined hands in their effort to investigate and understand reality.scientific epistemology, interdisciplinarity, transdisciplinarity, social catholic theology, patristic theology, free-market economics, economic personalism, epistemological transfiguration, spiritualized economics

Raţiune şi credinţă în cercetarea ştiinţifică. Cazul ştiinţei economice (IV)

Many of the nowadays scientists think that religion can never come to terms with science.scientific epistemology, interdisciplinarity, transdisciplinarity, social catholic theology, patristic theology, free-market economics, economic personalism, epistemological transfiguration, spiritualized economics