CST & Business: A Primer

We are interested in offering an intensive summer seminar for PhD students and faculty in business. The primary goal of the summer camp is to build a foundation of the key concepts in Catholic social thought and their relevance to the various disciplines in business, such as finance, accountancy, management, and marketing. We hope to attract a diverse, international group of scholars. A secondary goal is therefore to build a community, where young scholars can realize that these issues to not have to be “off the table” in order to succeed in a secular field like business and in which people can finds others with similar interests and reflect critically upon hared principles.

In our seminar/workshop, we hope to consider, through a close reading and discussion of various encyclicals, how business can contribute to integral human development. In particular, our framework is to link the three pillars of Catholic social teaching to the shared purpose, priorities and practice of business: (i) the shared purpose of business is to contribute to human flourishing, based on the infinite moral worth of every person as made in the image of God. (ii) the shared priority of business is to cooperate with all stakeholders in solidarity, such that everyone involved benefits and with a particular focus on those with the greatest needs. (iii) the shared practice of business is to practice subsidiarity towards integral human development, such that each person can best develop their skills and talents and help others to do the same.