Germán Scalzo

This article explores a Neo-Aristotelian approach to stakeholder theory grounded in the virtue of justice and the concept of the common good. While mainstream stakeholder theory integrates normative and instrumental dimensions, it faces persistent conceptual challenges—particularly concerning stakeholder identity and the lack of principled criteria for distinguishing between stakeholder types, their normative claims on a firm, and their relative importance. In response, this article takes a virtue ethical approach that proposes the virtue of justice as the key epistemological and moral foundation for stakeholder identification and corporate responsibility. In particular, it redefines stakeholder classification based on the different parts of justice, namely, distributive justice for organizational stakeholders, commutative justice for commercial stakeholders, and political justice for civic or public stakeholders. Finally, the article addresses the challenge of reasonability in stakeholder theory by showing how Aristotelian rhetorical knowledge—based on shared narratives and endoxa —connects philosophical principles with actual business practices. This justice-based framework enhances the moral coherence and practical applicability of stakeholder theory, enabling firms to navigate ethical complexity while contributing meaningfully to the development of persons, organizations, and society at large.

This work expands upon Leonardo Polo’s anthropological proposal regarding human work as a distinctive entrustment from Creator to each created person. Situated within philosophical anthropology as a branch of knowledge devoted to a deeper understanding of the human being, it delves into the highest human dimension—the personal act of being—as the heart of this dedication, and breaks down the appeal to destiny. The goals to which human beings aspire are innumerable, but they all ultimately depend on the first, the ultimate one. In light of the manifestative dimension—which in Polo’s framework corresponds to the order of human essence, distinct from yet intrinsically related to the personal act of being, and encompasses the sphere of human actions, possessions, and material, intellectual, and virtuous gains—this study, according to the view of work as an entrustment, offers a philosophical inquiry surrounding the ultimate destiny of work and the roles that other persons and the divine Person play in this search.

Este libro surge de una serie de talleres y seminarios organizados por la Universidad Panamericana como parte de la Cátedra Interamericana Laudato si’. A partir de la encíclica del papa Francisco, el texto aborda la crisis socioambiental como una manifestación de una crisis más profunda: la pérdida de la dimensión sagrada del mundo y la desconexión del ser humano con Dios, la naturaleza y el prójimo. Dividida en tres apartados, en el primero se establece un marco teológico y filosófico sobre la crisis ecológica, analizando la crítica del Papa a la modernidad y proponiendo una ética renovada. Luego, explora la “cultura del descarte” desde distintas perspectivas, incluyendo la discapacidad, la discriminación de género y la exclusión de los ancianos, además de plantear una economía más humana y sostenible. En el tercer apartado se hace un llamado a la esperanza, rescatando enseñanzas de los pueblos originarios, reflexionando sobre la vida urbana sostenible y promoviendo una visión de la humanidad como cocreadora de un futuro mejor. A través de diversas voces académicas y estudiantiles, este libro busca propiciar un cambio de paradigma y fomentar un compromiso real con la ecología integral, respondiendo al llamado del papa Francisco a cuidar nuestra casa común con una educación transformadora.

Current approaches in decision making, influenced by rationalist and pragmatist paradigms, offer notable strengths but fail to adequately address human growth, moral depth, and relational dynamics. Rationalist models emphasize universal principles and cognitive processing, offering structured approaches at the expense of human relationality and cultural diversity. Pragmatist approaches focus on adaptability and social context and provide flexibility, but their morally relativistic stance leads to ethical inconsistency. To address these gaps, we integrate Leonardo Polo’s transcendental personalist philosophy and the Inter-processual Self (IPS) Theory to redefine decision making as an opportunity for personal and relational growth. Grounded in anthropological insights, this framework prioritizes the human person as the center of moral action and decision making, fostering personal and relational growth through the transcendentals of personal love, knowledge, and freedom. We argue that this enriched perspective addresses critical limitations of existing models, enabling decision making to serve as a source of systemic wisdom and sustainable growth. By applying this framework to organizational contexts, we show how it enhances personal growth, and the persons’ transcendent motivation for virtues involving inter-relational growth and wisdom. Our approach offers a holistic and transformative lens to rethink decision making as a catalyst for individual and collective flourishing, providing actionable insights to meet contemporary challenges in business and society.

En la modernidad se desarrolla una antropología del equilibrio que exagera el afán humano de libertad y provoca una crisis antropológica materializada en el principio del resultado. Con ánimo de superar ese reduccionismo, el presente artículo retoma la narrativa del don —primero social, luego moral— para enriquecerla con una propuesta trascendental. El objetivo es mostrar que, aunque el hombre es un ser necesitante, lo más radical —en cuanto ser trascendentalmente abierto y respaldado donalmente— es su capacidad donal. Este respaldo antropológico puede conducir a una renovación de la economía, capaz de abrir nuevas alternativas.