Theology, Philosophy, Ethics, Spirituality and Economics: A Call to Dialogue
Overcoming Greed, Dishonesty and Delusion:
Reclaiming the Moral and Spiritual Roots of Economics
Kamran Mofid*
A paper presented at
AN INTERFAITH DAY IN LONDON
Into the Heart of the World
Sponsored by
International Association for Religious Freedom; with World Congress of Faiths & Religions for Peace
Hosted at
London Central Mosque & The Islamic Cultural Centre 7 December 2011
Introduction and Abstract
The topic which I wish to address here is vast; all I can reasonably hope to do is paint a picture with very broad brushstrokes. I wish to argue that economic and business decisions impact many aspects of our lives, whilst they also raise important moral and ethical concerns which call into question what it is to be a human being. I will argue that decision-makers (contrary to what is mostly practised today) need also to concern themselves with the world of heart, mind and spirit.
Although self-interest is an important source of human motivation, driving the decisions we make in the marketplace every day, those decisions nevertheless have a moral, ethical and spiritual dimensions, because each decision we make affects not only ourselves but others too.