Laszlo Zsolnai, Bernadette Flanagan and Luk Bouckaert published a paper entitled “Spirituality and Ethics” in the Journal of Management, Spirituality & Religion (2022, Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 234–236).
The authors emphasize that in Western ethics ethical action is considered to be a cognitive exercise. Western ethical theories provide abstract models to be applied by moral agents (deontology, consequentialism, virtue ethics). But the main problem is that behaving unethically is not due to a lack of ethical knowledge, but the ineffectiveness of ethical motivation – as the findings of moral psychology demonstrate.
The authors argue that if we would improve the ethicality of our decisions and actions, we should develop a more inclusive, holistic, and peaceful state of consciousness. The paper suggests that spiritually inspired moral agents can develop and implement business models that are built on the spiritual commitment and intrinsic motivation of managers and employees to serve the common good.