Benedetta Giovanola

Personhood and Human Richness: Good and Well-Being in the Capability Approach and Beyond

This paper aims at developing the Capability Approachs (CA) underlying philosophical anthropology and ethics by focusing on the work of its major exponents, Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum. I first discuss CAs critique of happiness as subjective well-being and defend the idea of ‘flourishing’ which ultimately refers to the Aristotelian concept of eudaimonia. I then focus on the notions of ‘good’ and ‘well-being’ and address the problem of the compatibility between a substantive notion of the Good (expressed through universal moral values) and individual preferences. I thus tackle the issue of adaptive preferences (which is investigated both from a methodological and an ethical perspective) and suggest that the process of adaptation should be thought in the dynamic frame of the constitution of the self. Therefore, in the second half of the paper I investigate the CAs idea of personhood and focus on some important assumptions behind its underlying anthropological model – above all the notion of ‘human richness’. As a result, I first point out the dynamic dimension of personhood, according to which individuals are ‘becoming themselves’ in search of self-realisation and construction of their identities. Second, I highlight its relational dimension, according to which every one is the expression of the anthropological richness and at the same time represents the highest possibility of richness for every other one.

Ethics, Economic Organizations, and Human Flourishing: Lessons from Plato and Aristotle

This paper seeks to show the importance of the thought of Plato and Aristotle for today’s economics and business, especially in the light of the global financial and economic crisis. Our aim is twofold. On a general level, we illustrate the intrinsic connection between ethics and economic processes and organizations. On a more detailed level, we describe several specific values and principles highlighted by both Greek philosophers that can play a fundamental role in today’s organizations and business leadership. To this end, the first two sections examine Plato and Aristotle’s reflection on economics and riches and analyse how they relate to human flourishing (Sect. 18.2) and social justice (Sect. 18.3). Sect. 18.4 and Sect. 18.5 focus on several specific values and principles examined by Plato and Aristotle that can be key in enabling economics to foster the good of the individual and society. More specifically, Sect. 18.4 describes the notions of virtue, self-moderation and excellence, whereas Sect. 18.5 focuses on self-knowledge and wisdom, which are strictly interrelated. The concluding section shows how the values and principles described in the previous sections can play a fundamental role in today’s economic organizations and business leadership.

Ethics and Public Administration: On the Italian Case and Beyond

In Italy the theme of ethics and public administration has not yet found expression in a shared ethical-normative perspective and a systematic regulative framework that might help to formulate suitable principles and promote good practices. The present contribution will first provide an overview of the Italian situation, and then show the need for a philosophical foundation of the relationship between ethics and public administration. Following this theoretical foundational reflection, it will then analyze the applicative and practical aspect of the relationship, by highlighting the importance of the virtue of integrity, and the praxis of communication.

Sen and Nussbaum on Human Capabilities in Business

In recent years there have been several important critical investigations aimed at overcoming the flaws in economics and business. With regard to economics, different approaches and criticisms have shown that cognitive, ethical, and social limits are always present when agents (and thus economic agents too) make a choice.1 These considerations also tie in with a sharp criticism of the standard notion of rationality and the idea of homo oeconomicus, as they are understood in mainstream economic theory. With regard to business, as well, many inquiries that were focused on the analysis of decision-making within organizations have shown that individual and collective choices are limited or enhanced by ethical, cognitive, and social elements that play a fundamental role in a company’s organization and activity