Consumerism, Marketing, and the Cardinal Virtues
| dc.contributor.author | Engelland, Chad Anthony | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2023-11-21T01:55:10Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2023-11-21T01:55:10Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2018 | |
| dc.description.abstract | "This research article is the fruit of ongoing dialogue between a marketing professor and philosophy professor, who are also father and son. In fall 2014, they decided to bridge the methodologies of their professions in order to humanize the business enterprise. After repeated conversations, they integrated their respective methodologies in a common vision. The result is their 2016 article, which respects the standard models of marketing literature while integrating it within a deeper philosophical and anthropological framework in terms of the cardinal virtues. The fruit of their conversation is a truly interdisciplinary work, combining the scientific discipline of marketing (UNESCO 5311.05) with the humanistic discipline of philosophy (UNESCO 7202.04). The interdisciplinary dialogue, which was born of mutual goodwill, addresses the ethical challenges of consumerism by identifying the epistemological foundations of marketing in a richer anthropology. In the encyclical, Caritas in veritate, Pope Benedict XVI articulates an understanding of human life and commercial affairs in terms of the concept of gift, but he notes with displeasure that what stands in the way of seeing the giftedness of things is consumerism: “Charity in truth places man before the astonishing experience of gift. Gratuitousness is present in our lives in many different forms, which often go unrecognized because of a purely consumerist and utilitarian view of life” (n. 34). Benedict goes on to quote John Paul II’s Centesimus Annus: “It is therefore necessary to create life-styles in which the quest for truth, beauty, goodness and communion with others for the sake of common growth are the factors which determine consumer choices, savings and investments” (n. 36). In light of this urgent need to rethink consumer choices, the authors rigorously examine the timely and socially relevant topic of consumerism and discuss the four ways in which consumerism undermines individuals and society. In particular, consumerism exploits four weaknesses in human nature: it confuses wants with needs, prizes convenience over meaning, foments the desire to outdo others in consumption, and focuses attention on the transitory over the enduring. The authors apply virtue as a unifying principle and show how the four cardinal virtues — moderation, courage, justice and prudence — counter the fourfold tendency of consumerism. They then describe how these virtues can be implemented by consumers and producers so as to result in a more effective achievement of the common good. As a result of this application, both consumer decision-making and producer marketing action should work to promote human flourishing. To observe marketing methodology, the authors employed the dominant decision making model of the profession and offered the paper as a conceptual rather than empirical paper. To observe philosophical methodology, the authors drew from classical philosophical anthropology and virtue theory to ground ethical directives in human nature. The result is a paper that respects both the exigencies of the marketing profession and the expectations of the philosophical profession. Brian Engelland, the marketing professor, is the Edward J. Pryzbyla Chair of Business and Economics and Ordinary Professor of Marketing in the Busch School of Business and Economics at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, USA. He specializes in the decision-making process of marketing executives. He has authored over seventy refereed publications and six books, won multiple teaching awards and been named as a fellow of the Marketing Management Association. In 2013 he was the recipient of the Lifetime Contributor to Marketing Award by the Society for Marketing Advances. Chad Engelland, the philosophy professor, is an assistant professor of philosophy and graduate director of the MA program in philosophy at the University of Dallas in Irving, Texas, USA. He specializes in philosophical anthropology, phenomenology, metaphysics, and philosophy of language. He has authored over twenty-five refereed publications and three books. In 2018, he won a Haggerty Teaching Excellence Award". | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://159.69.0.167/jspui/handle/123456789/462 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
| dc.subject | Philosophical Anthropology | en_US |
| dc.subject | Artes y humanidades | en_US |
| dc.title | Consumerism, Marketing, and the Cardinal Virtues | en_US |
| dc.type | Article | en_US |
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