The Witherspoon Institute
Virtuosity in Business by Kevin T. Jackson
The University of Pennsylvania Press has recently published Virtuosity in Business: Invisible Law Guiding the Invisible Hand by Kevin T. Jackson, Daniel Janssen Chair in Corporate Social Responsibility at Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium, and Senior Fellow of the Witherspoon Institute.

The recent global financial crisis raises pressing issues that are not exclusively economic. The health of the economy, Kevin T. Jackson contends, reflects the moral health of the wider culture: ethics must be considered along with economics to understand world markets, especially now that globalization and other forces have increasingly complicated the regulation of transnational corporate conduct. Virtuosity in Business calls on businesspeople and ethicists to expand their thinking by stressing the profound relevance of philosophy to business and economics.

Virtuosity in Business shows that ethics has been the overriding problem for business and that it is the only enduring solution. Drawing on a variety of philosophical sources, including Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, and Jean-Paul Sartre, Jackson applies the concept of virtue to the competitive realm of the marketplace. Virtuosity, in all realms of human endeavor, is not merely a display of technical skill or adherence to conventional norms. The invisible law of virtuosity, which discourages misconduct and rewards good corporate citizenship, guides ethical firms and wise entrepreneurs toward greater success by playing a constructive part in the human enterprise.

A pioneering work in the contemporary philosophy of business, Virtuosity in Business revivifies business ethics to address concerns arising from the global financial crisis, such as restoration of faith in the market, respect for human rights, and environmental sustainability.

"A valuable contribution to a broader, deeper, and more systematic conception of business ethics. Jackson's emphasis on virtuosity rightly makes the point that business needs to be, and to be seen as, a noble activity." - Georges Enderle, University of Notre Dame

Virtuosity in Business
can be purchased through University of Pennsylvania Press.

The Witherspoon Institute is an independent research center that works to enhance public understanding of the moral foundations of free and democratic societies. Located in Princeton, New Jersey, the Institute promotes the application of fundamental principles of republican government and ordered liberty to contemporary problems through a variety of research and educational ventures. To support the Witherspoon Institute, please follow the contribution instructions or donate online via PayPal.