Abstract
Every kind of economic system has corrupting factors or fatal weak points. Although remarkably productive, capitalism suffers from a systemic degeneration rooted in the egocentric selfinterestedness of its participants. Communism, on the other hand, preaches social responsibility while inhibiting the will to work. Herein lies the fundamental problem of contemporary economic ethics: is it possible to heighten the will to work and thereby realize the tremendous output of a capitalist system and, at the same time, instill a “one for all, all for one” attitude that is the true hallmark of a communist system? The ideas of Japanese economic ethicists Sontoku Ninomiya, Eiichi Shibusawa, and Chikuro Hiroike offer a paradigmatic elucidation. Taking a consistent, universal approach to nature and man, Ninomiya called for individuals to work hard at their occupation according to their self-interest while thinking sincerely about their duty to secure society. Shibusawa believed that moral leadership in the economic realm stemmed from mastery of Rongo( The Analects of Confucius). Hiroike propounded a unified theory of morality and economy by synthesizing his personal experiences with the teachings of the world’s five great sages -- Amaterasu Omikami, Buddha, Confucius, Socrates, and Christ. He believed that “morality, which is the principle of spiritual life, and economy, which is the principle of material life, originated from the law of nature” and have inseparably intimate relations. The purpose of moralogy in economics in what Hiroike calls “triadic goodness” -- all parties, “the person concerned, the other party, and the third party,” should truly benefit. In order to embrace triadic goodness, whose center is “a humble, soft, and broad mind,” and avoid the stiff, narrow minded egocentricity of monadic goodness, we need to understand “hardships as the grace of God.”
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Marx, K., Engels, F. (1963): The Communist Manifesto, New York: Russel and Russel Publishing Company.
Ninomiya, S. (1977): Complete Works of Sontoku Ninomiya, ed. by Shintaro Sasaki, Vol 1–36, Tokyo: Ryukoku Shobo.
Northrop, F.S.C.,(1946): The Meeting of East and West, an Injustice Concerning World Understanding,New York: Macmillian.
Wells, H.G., (1961): The Outline of History,New York: Garden City Books.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1993 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Shitahodo, Y. (1993). The Japanese Tradition of Economic Ethics. In: Dunfee, T.W., Nagayasu, Y. (eds) Business Ethics: Japan and the Global Economy. Issues in Business Ethics, vol 5. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8183-7_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8183-7_12
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-4309-2
Online ISBN: 978-94-015-8183-7
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive