Transforming faith in corporate capitalism through business ethics

Abstract

Although faith is typically associated with religious experience, it is the contention of this paper that people are faith-guided creatures, and the practice of business is itself based on an experience of faith – not a religious faith, but an existential faith, by which we mean a deeply held belief embedded in one’s understanding of what the fundamental nature of reality is and how one ought to act. In our contemporary industrialized society, the dominant system for organizing work is corporate capitalism, which, as we see it, is neither inherently good nor bad. Corporate capitalism, however, has been infused with a normative faith that gives primacy to profit maximization and personal enrichment, and in so doing opens the door to corrupting forces that debase business. In this paper, we will suggest that business ethics can infuse corporate capitalism with a transforming faith that affirms a personal dignity through service to the greater good.