中欧社会论坛 - China Europa ForumWisdom in leadership from a philosophical point of view
Auteurs : Prof.dr.Hendrik Opdebeeck – University of Antwerp (Centre for Ethics)
What do we learn now from this search for possible sources of philosophical wisdom. The interesting thing with the philosophical perspective of Luc Ferry is the fact that he starts with the problem of finitude. By the wisdom of religious systems (Christianity for instance) this fear for death is countered in a particular way. For instance by the Christian faith in the physical resurrection after death when man again encounters whom he loved. Remarkably, however, is that the search for wisdom to get rid of our fear for death from the beginning also was prominently present in both Western and Eastern philosophy. Both in stoicism, with the remarkable parallels with Buddhism, as in modernity with, for example, Kant and in post-modernity after Nietzsche with a philosopher like Levinas, ultimately a trans-cultural response of wisdom as love for the other or as compassion, is articulated. The fear for death confronts man with his question concerning the meaning of life or the demand for meaningfulness in general. However this fear for death does not prevent man to look for a rational interpretation of wisdom to get an answer for the existential fear for death. Compassion for the other as the articulation of the meaning of life, whether you are reflecting from an eastern philosophical point of view or from a stoic, Kantian or Levinasian one, therefore can be seen as a cross-cultural interpretation of what wisdom really means.
It’s interesting to see how this wisdom of compassion not only is applicable in response to man’s existential fear for death but also as a guide for the question how today one can manage a company in a wise way. The background of the risk of bankruptcy of a company in a era of global financial and economic crisis, creates a similar fear for finitude as the fear for death for a human being. It is remarkable therefore that in management literature nowadays more and more the concept of compassionate leadership is put forward. This means that more and more compassion is also expressed as a trans cultural source of wisdom in management.