Abstract

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” and favor material sufficiency instead of financial efficiency. Pope Francis’s encyclical letter “Laudato si’” is consistent with and supports St. Francis’s views, which emphasize the frugality of consumption and acknowledging the intrinsic value of nature. The overall vision of St. Francis can be characterized as “The Commonwealth of Life” based on a God-centered, spiritual way of living and acting. The paper suggests that the models of a sufficiency-oriented community economy are relevant for realizing St. Francis’s legacy in today’s reality of climate change described by climate scientists as the “Hothouse Earth” pathway.

Highlights

  • Francis’s views, which emphasize the frugality of consumption and acknowledging the intrinsic value of nature

  • The paper suggests that the models of a sufficiency-oriented community economy are relevant for realizing St

  • There are many well-functioning and innovative community economy models in the world that organize their economic activities in a place-based, substantive way and strive for ecological sustainability (Zsolnai 2002)

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Summary

Introduction

We can say that modern economics aims to maximize economic profit and in doing so it cultivates human desires, develops markets, and favors instrumental value and self-interest-based ethics. This is the exact opposite that St. This is the exact opposite that St The paper does not follow the research program of studying and interpreting Franciscan economic thought (e.g., Couturier 2007; Mitchell 2009) Rather, it explores the implications of Francis’s views for an alternative conception of the economy. Francis’s views on the economy is reconstructed using new approaches and insights from contemporary economic research

The Substantive View of the Economy
Frugality
Sufficiency and Community
The Commonwealth of Life
Findings
Discussion
Conclusions

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