Enlightened Self-Interest

Individualism, Community, and the Common Good

Thomas J. Bussen, Henry Biggs, Timothy Bono

• Publisher: Georgetown University Press
• Year: 2024
• Print ISBN: 9781647123901, 9781647123901
• eBook ISBN: 9781647123918
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business Ethics
• Index: Business

Insights into a compassionate alternative to a ruthlessly self-interested capitalist culture

Societally sanctioned competition for money, power, and fame promotes selfishness, personal alienation, and widespread inequality, especially in market-oriented economies. Yet many of those engaging in this competitive individualism—the competition for rewards and limited resources—yearn to act directly to promote a more civil, equitable, and sustainable society.

Enlightened Self-Interest offers evidence-based insights into the societal and individual consequences of this cultural practice and an actionable alternative to it. This meticulously researched and empirically rooted reexamination of hypercompetition and zero-sum thinking presents inspiring examples of people who have reclaimed their own lives by contributing to a more civil, equitable, and sustainable society. They model the vision of enlightened self-interest, merging self-interest with other interests in pursuit of the common good, resulting in widely shared benefits.

Enlighted Self Interest provides a compelling case for incremental change and a series of actionable recommendations to jump-start a personal transition and to become part of a collective radical evolution.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Introduction: An Anti-American Love Letter
• Part 1: Culturally Extreme: Vertical Individualism in the American Context
• Part 2: Money, Power, and Fame: The Unholy Trinity of American Extremism
• Part 3: Society and Self: Prospects and Pathways to Enlightened Self-Interest
• References
• Index
• About the Authors