«Ora et Labora»: Phronēsis Manageriale e Regola Benedettina

Abstract

This paper explores the potential usefulness of the concept of practical wisdom in the development of business ethics and the debate concerning corporate social responsibility (CSR). Managerial disciplines encounter difficulties in defining their ethical approach to decision making if they do not have a strong ethical substratum. As the managerial function is not only a technical process, the Aristotelian dianoetic virtue of phronesis (practical wisdom), which is not simply a question of knowledge but the fruit of experience, reflection and self-cultivation, can play a considerable role in defining the ethical responsibility of managers and can be helped by spiritual capital. The Benedictine Rule is a good example of the secular sediment of spiritual capital, and is analyzed here as a spring of practical wisdom for management from two points of view: the practical wisdom of monastery leaders (abbots, priors, deans, etc.) and the practical wisdom of a monk, whose cenobitic life must be characterized by wise behavior in terms of both liturgical and practical compliance. The paper ends by underlining the possibility of using the approach to practical wisdom in developing the concept of CSR and, in particular, the modernity of the Benedictine Rule as a source of practical wisdom for management.