From Rational to Spiritual in the Economic Thought

Abstract

Abstract The paper examines the evolution in the patterns of human economic behavior across the history of economic thought. The author considers the development of the Homo Economicus concept in the view of the scarcity problem in economics and the Homo Socialis concept, with its extreme manifestation - Homo Sovieticus, attested in the former socialist countries of the world. In this context, the author examines the phenomenon of societal constraint on personality. Another prototype of economic behavior - Homo Informaticus and, its boundary manifestation - Homo Interneticus are discussed in the view of the informational constraint phenomenon. The author introduces the Homo Creativus ‘character’, whose behavior is characterized by the attempt to overcome the rational mind constraint. The paper considers the need to adopt the Homo Spiritualis paradigm within the frame of economic thought - a need already highlighted by notorious scholars. According to the writer the urge to develop this paradigm is implicitly determined by the spreading of the underground economy, the globalization and virtualization of the human activity, their impact on human personality. In her approach of the Homo Spiritualis concept the author supports the view that spirituality should not be confused with religion, although the two are related. In practical terms the issue of incorporating spirituality into economics and business courses is approached.