맹자와 깨어있는 자본주의

Abstract

This paper aims to show the philosophical relation between Conscious Capitalism that pursue the benefit of all the stakeholders and Mencius’ “Enjoying together with everyone.” Supporter of Conscious Capitalism believes that human nature is fundamentally good. This capitalism is often confused with Corporate Social Responsibility. The former, however, denies the argument that the corporate should only seek for maximization of the profit of shareholder. On the other hand, Corporate Social Responsibility does not throw away that argument. Also, in Conscious Capitalism, every act of the corporate is consistent under the primary purpose of the firm. However, Corporate Social Responsibility sometimes needs business man to do social activity which is nothing to do with the primary purpose of the firm. Mencius, like Conscious Capitalism, pursue the happiness of all people, and he calls it, “Enjoying together with everyone.” But his theory surpasses Conscious Capitalism in that he used the word “enjoy(happiness)” instead of “profit.” And he, like supporters of Conscious Capitalism, put a great importance on emotion. Philosophy of Mencius suggests the process of “good human nature→emotion→enjoying together with everyone.” And his theory deserves to be the philosophical ground of Conscious Capitalism in 21st century.