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Sustainable Development and Well-Being: A Philosophical Challenge

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Listed:
  • Mollie Painter-Morland

    (Nottingham Business School
    IEDC-Bled School of Management)

  • Geert Demuijnck

    (EDHEC Business School)

  • Sara Ornati

    (Nottingham Trent University)

Abstract

This paper aims at gaining a better understanding of the inherent paradoxes within sustainability discourses by investigating its basic assumptions. Drawing on a study of the metaphoric references operative in moral language, we reveal the predominance of the ‘well-being = wealth’ construct, which may explain the dominance of the ‘business case’ cognitive frame in sustainability discourses (Hahn et al. in Acad Manag Rev 4015:18–42, 2015a). We incorporate economic well-being variables within a philosophical model of becoming well (Küpers in Cult Organ 11(3):221–231, 2005), highlighting the way in which these variables consistently articulate a combination of ‘objective’ and ‘subjective’ concerns. We then compare this broad understanding of well-being with the metaphors operative in the sustainable development discourse and argue that the sustainability discourse has fallen prey to an overemphasis on the ‘business case’. We proceed to draw on Georges Bataille to challenge the predominance of these value priorities and to explore which mindshifts are required to develop a more comprehensive understanding of what is needed to enable ‘sustainable development’.

Suggested Citation

  • Mollie Painter-Morland & Geert Demuijnck & Sara Ornati, 2017. "Sustainable Development and Well-Being: A Philosophical Challenge," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 146(2), pages 295-311, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:146:y:2017:i:2:d:10.1007_s10551-017-3658-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-017-3658-4
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    2. Elizaveta A. Belousova, 2022. "Economic well-being: Semantic environment and research contexts at a municipal level," Journal of New Economy, Ural State University of Economics, vol. 23(4), pages 46-68, January.
    3. Mollie Painter & Sally Hibbert & Tim Cooper, 2019. "The Development of Responsible and Sustainable Business Practice: Value, Mind-Sets, Business-Models," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 157(4), pages 885-891, July.
    4. Emmanouela Mandalaki & Marianna Fotaki, 2020. "The Bodies of the Commons: Towards a Relational Embodied Ethics of the Commons," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 166(4), pages 745-760, November.
    5. Nitha Palakshappa & Sarah Dodds & Suzanne Grant, 2024. "Tension and Paradox in Women-Oriented Sustainable Hybrid Organizations: A Duality of Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 190(2), pages 327-346, March.
    6. Michael S. Aßländer & Tobias Gössling, 2017. "Thematic Symposium: Business Ethics, Peace and Environmental Issues (T0004)," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 146(2), pages 255-256, December.
    7. Patrina Whyte & Geoffrey Lamberton, 2020. "Conceptualising Sustainability Using a Cognitive Mapping Method," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-20, March.
    8. Señoret, Andrés & Ramirez, Maria Inés & Rehner, Johannes, 2022. "Employment and sustainability: The relation between precarious work and spatial inequality in the neoliberal city," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    9. de Souza, Michele & Pereira, Giancarlo Medeiros & Lopes de Sousa Jabbour, Ana Beatriz & Chiappetta Jabbour, Charbel Jose & Trento, Luiz Reni & Borchardt, Miriam & Zvirtes, Leandro, 2021. "A digitally enabled circular economy for mitigating food waste: Understanding innovative marketing strategies in the context of an emerging economy," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    10. Christian Garmann Johnsen, 2021. "Sustainability Beyond Instrumentality: Towards an Immanent Ethics of Organizational Environmentalism," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 172(1), pages 1-14, August.
    11. Valentina Gomes Haensel Schmitt & Jean Pierre Seclen Luna, 2022. "Presentacion editorial: La Innovacion hacia la Construccion de un Futuro Sostenible(Editorial presentation: Innovation towards Building a Sustainable Future)," Revista Internacional de Gestión del Conocimiento y la Tecnología (GECONTEC), Revista Internacional de Gestión del Conocimiento y la Tecnología (GECONTEC), vol. 10(3), pages 1-12, September.
    12. Andrea M. Prado & Ronald Arce & Luis E. Lopez & Jaime García & Andy A. Pearson, 2020. "Simulations Versus Case Studies: Effectively Teaching the Premises of Sustainable Development in the Classroom," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 161(2), pages 303-327, January.

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