Philosophy Applied to the Economy : Towards Cosmopolitan Governance and Sustainability; Saving the World and the Economy by Changing its Philosophical Principles

This article argues that the current crisis of environmental degradation and global inequality is caused by the dominance of the philosophical principles of individualism and neo-liberalism in public and private economic decision-making since the 1970s. This crisis can be overcome by a transition towards the principles of community, solidarity and sustainability. This is fully in line with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. Citizens should transform into responsible world-citizens which show respect for nature and animals. Corporations should transform into good-citizen-corporations. Protestant ethics and its values of integrity, hard work and personal calling may help to transform our economic systems towards genuine sustainable development. In teaching economics not only economic rationality should be discussed but also political ideology, values and ethical conceptions that shape the formation of economic theory and practice