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Book part
Publication date: 3 December 2018

Rosolino A. Candela

During the socialist calculation debate, Ludwig von Mises and F. A. Hayek made a positive argument regarding the impossibility of economic calculation under socialism. In this…

Abstract

During the socialist calculation debate, Ludwig von Mises and F. A. Hayek made a positive argument regarding the impossibility of economic calculation under socialism. In this study, I argue that the arguments made by Mises and Hayek have normative implications for capitalism. I do so by drawing an analogy between an Austrian account of the market process and a neo-Aristotelian account of human flourishing. Neither economic calculation follows passively from implementing a set of profit-maximizing rules nor does human flourishing follow passively from following a set of universal moral norms (be they of utilitarian, deontological, or natural law inspiration). Both economic calculation and human flourishing are inherently based on individual acts of knowledge creation, actualized only by self-directed individuals. In both cases, the creation of such knowledge is both contextual and specific to the unique circumstances of each individual of a particular time and place. Therefore, to assume that such knowledge exists ex ante, and is objective and transpersonal across time, place, and institutional context renders both economic calculation and human flourishing into a technological problem of given means and given ends, in essence defining both activities out of existence. The possibility of economic calculation and human flourishing are therefore dependent upon a political/legal order that protects the possibility of self-directed knowledge creation in both the economic and moral realms, that is, to say an institutional framework of private property rights.

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Austrian Economics: The Next Generation
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78756-577-7

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Book part
Publication date: 1 October 2020

Tim Gorichanaz

From the perspective of information ethics, one of the purposes of human life is flourishing. This means people ought to be free to engage in creative and flexible actions that…

Abstract

From the perspective of information ethics, one of the purposes of human life is flourishing. This means people ought to be free to engage in creative and flexible actions that allow the fullest realization of their potential as intelligent, decision-making agents – i.e., those actions that a person experiences as meaningful. Researchers have suggested that many people in the post-industrial West experience a lack of meaning in their lives, and this “crisis of meaning” is implicated in many of society's ills; consequently many people are not flourishing as they might. Flourishing relies on information access, processing, and understanding, as well as a particular meaningful experiential dimension of information activities. To speak of information experience, personally meaningful activities are experienced as self-constructive ones, characterized by focused curiosity and presence, and which have a central practice that is supported by peripheral practices. Examples of personally meaningful information behavior from the serious leisure hobby of ultramarathon running are discussed as illustration. In reaching for a more ethical information society, we should seek to infuse more of our information activities with deeper personal meaning.

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Information Experience in Theory and Design
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83909-368-5

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Book part
Publication date: 27 July 2018

Timothy Rutzou

The relationship between ontology, realism, and normativity is complex and contentious. While naturalist and realist stances have tended to ground questions of normativity in…

Abstract

The relationship between ontology, realism, and normativity is complex and contentious. While naturalist and realist stances have tended to ground questions of normativity in ontology and accounts of human nature, critical theories have been critical of the relationship between ontological and normative projects. Queer theory in particular has been critical of ontological endeavors. Exploring the problem of normativity and ontology, this paper will make the case that the critical realist ontology of open systems and complex, contingent, conjunctural causation deeply resonates with queer theory, generating a queer ontology that both allows for and undermines ontological and normative projects.

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Critical Realism, History, and Philosophy in the Social Sciences
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78756-604-0

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Book part
Publication date: 20 November 2013

Rhonda G. Craven and Anthony Dillon

This chapter critically analyses the current participation of Indigenous Australian students in higher education and identifies new directions for seeding success and enabling…

Abstract

Purpose

This chapter critically analyses the current participation of Indigenous Australian students in higher education and identifies new directions for seeding success and enabling Indigenous students to flourish in higher education contexts.

Methodology

Statistical reports, government reports and the scholarly literature were analysed to elucidate the nature of participation of Indigenous students in higher education, identify strategies that are succeeding, identify issues that need addressing and explicate potentially potent ways forward.

Findings

The findings have important implications for theory, research and practice. The results of this study demonstrate, that while increasing numbers of Indigenous Australian students are accessing higher education, they still are not participating at a rate commensurate with their representation in the Australian population. The findings also suggest new ways to enable Indigenous Australians to not only succeed in higher education, but flourish.

Research implications

The findings imply that more needs to be done to seed success in increasing the numbers of Indigenous Australian students in higher education to be representative of the population and ensuring participation in higher education enables Indigenous students to succeed and flourish. The findings also imply that there is a dire need for further research to identify key drivers of success.

Implications

The study supports the need for increasing the number of Indigenous Australians participating in higher education and enhancing higher education strategies to enable Indigenous students to succeed and flourish.

Social implications

Enhancing the participation of Indigenous students in higher education internationally can help to contribute to the well-being of individuals, Indigenous communities and nations.

Originality/value

This chapter provides an up to date analysis of the nature of Indigenous Australian participation in higher education and identifies potentially potent new ways forward to seed success that have international implications.

Details

Seeding Success in Indigenous Australian Higher Education
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78190-686-6

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Book part
Publication date: 5 December 2013

Ilma Barros-Pose

This chapter is motivated by the author’s desire to show that appreciative inquiry (AI) has developed over the course of its history by responding to client needs, gradually…

Abstract

This chapter is motivated by the author’s desire to show that appreciative inquiry (AI) has developed over the course of its history by responding to client needs, gradually enlarging the scope of its capabilities, tracing the evolution of AI from a strengths-based approach into a catalyst for flourishing and wholeness. The purpose is to share how AI has inspired the business community to embrace generative language and increase awareness of the larger system in which it operates. The chapter reviews a series of cases – including Rava Packaging (to incorporate sustainability), Nutrimental Foods (a whole system intervention), Telefonica (to increase employee commitment), and the São Paulo State Federation of Industries (to support Millennium Development Goals) – in which the author and others facilitated. The interventions involved positive dialogue and appreciative interviewing. Through its capacity for generativity, AI has created greater commitment to and engagement within organizations, stronger collaboration among multiple stakeholders that benefits business and society, and deeper and lasting commitment to profound transformation in service of flourishing. The chapter contributes to a better understanding of how, at each stage in its evolution, AI has supported business by helping to expand its positive narrative and helping organizations become agents for world benefit.

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Organizational Generativity: The Appreciative Inquiry Summit and a Scholarship of Transformation
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78190-330-8

Book part
Publication date: 19 February 2020

Morten T⊘nnessen

Recent efforts to go beyond gross domestic product as a measure of economic performance raise important questions about the nature of the economy, including: what is the best…

Abstract

Recent efforts to go beyond gross domestic product as a measure of economic performance raise important questions about the nature of the economy, including: what is the best measure of a sound, flourishing economy, and what is the purpose of ‘doing well’ in economic terms? One possible measure of the soundness of an economy is the extent to which it results in better lives for humans – a thought that has inspired measures such as the Human Development Index, among others. In the bigger picture, a sound, flourishing economy should also be consistent with good, and perhaps optimal, lives for non-humans, and well-functioning ecosystems. On this measure, economics should not be an altogether anthropocentric enterprise. To go beyond anthropocentric notions of economic performance, a degree of integration between economics, philosophy and biology is required, with Umwelt theory and biosemiotics indicating a way forward. A merely economic outlook can easily lead to the commodification of each and every organism and natural resource, thus neglecting the agency, interests and intrinsic value of animals and other non-humans. To truly ‘serve all’ in an Anthropocene-era world, where the living conditions of practically all organisms on the planet are affected by human economic activities, economists need to acknowledge that there are economic stakeholders beyond humans. This would make economics more compatible with current outlooks in normative ethics with regard to the value of animals, biodiversity, etc., and could be part of a radical reconceptualization of the nature of the economy, in which economic value is situated within value theory in a wider sense.

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Innovation and the Arts: The Value of Humanities Studies for Business
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78973-886-5

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 16 January 2023

Adaora I. Onaga and Kemi Ogunyemi

Given the special challenges identified for businesses and health systems during a pandemic, the authors look in this chapter at various qualities and virtues that enable…

Abstract

Given the special challenges identified for businesses and health systems during a pandemic, the authors look in this chapter at various qualities and virtues that enable flourishing post pandemic. The classical virtues of humility, fortitude, and patience are discussed alongside others more specific to a post pandemic situation – endurance, adaptability, flexibility, and toughness – and necessary for sustaining healthy businesses and profitable health systems.

Having in mind how principles and practices can be value-driven and people-centred, the authors review the ethics and principles that have guided major medical decisions over time. Several of these are insufficient for human flourishing or eudemonia and, if the authors are to ensure that foundational principles for business and healthcare are fully oriented to moral ends, then a greater turn towards the right ethical standards for all human actions is important post pandemic.

In this chapter, the authors reflect on varying personal narratives of the pandemic experience, as well as the chapter content of the book contributors, to suggest collective lessons for humanity. The authors conclude that increased flexibility, with new ways to be accountable, sustainable, and ethical, is essential. The authors also identify that, to meet the challenges of remote working, including working from home, more team spirit, solidarity, and loyalty are needed.

Education towards understanding the ethical foundations of responsibility and sustainability is important. It would enhance the acquisition of virtues that move emotions, knowledge, choices, and action towards promoting the flourishing of and protecting human beings, human society, and planet, and towards increasingly orienting business profits towards the good.

Details

Responsible Management of Shifts in Work Modes – Values for Post Pandemic Sustainability, Volume 2
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80262-723-7

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Book part
Publication date: 30 March 2022

Jérémy Vachet

Abstract

Details

Fantasy, Neoliberalism and Precariousness
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80382-308-9

Book part
Publication date: 6 July 2011

Barry Halm

Ivanitskaya, Glazer, and Erofeev (2009) suggest that “the most fundamental element of any organization that helps the organization to survive is the individual person” (p. 109)…

Abstract

Ivanitskaya, Glazer, and Erofeev (2009) suggest that “the most fundamental element of any organization that helps the organization to survive is the individual person” (p. 109). It is the motivation of human capital that makes a health care organization come to life. Health care is a unique industry; its accomplishments are directly dependent upon the competencies and technical skills of its employees. “When people in the workplace fulfill their organizational roles, then the organization thrives” (Ivanitskaya et al., 2009, p. 110). Health care systems will require organizations that thrive and exhibit characteristics of continuous growth, expressing excessive levels of energy and an immense capacity for flourishing. Anticipating the challenges of the next decade, health care organizations must achieve a higher degree of employee engagement to enhance organizational performance and profitability. The data analyzed for this chapter indicate that employees who are engaged are more enthusiastic and aspired to achieve both individual and organizational success. The chapter concludes by suggesting five operating practices to establish an employee engagement culture – defining the employee's role in fulfilling the organization's purpose, selecting employees with capability and passion, supporting and valuing the employee, creating sustainable reward systems, and developing feedback and reinforcement mechanisms.

Details

Organization Development in Healthcare: Conversations on Research and Strategies
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-85724-709-4

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 30 March 2022

Jérémy Vachet

Abstract

Details

Fantasy, Neoliberalism and Precariousness
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80382-308-9

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