Prof. Michael F. Hull, New York
October 31, 2006
The moral criteria for the “entrepreneur”—for one who exercises enterprise and takes risks in business—hardly differ from the moral criteria for any other person. An entrepreneur, like everyone else, is obliged by the natural moral law to be virtuous, and “it belongs to every virtue to do good and to avoid evil” (St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae, II-II, q. 79, a. 1). Likewise, he is obliged to follow the law of love: “love and do what you will” (St. Augustine, Ser. 7 de 1 Ioa.). The entrepreneur, like any other man, is in dire need of redemption and grace, of cooperating in the salvation of his soul; he, like any other man, is in dire need of things that the world and its riches cannot offer him, of things that are above.
To be sure, it is only possible to speak of the entrepreneur within the context of a free market, for entrepreneurship is impossible within the context of communism or socialism. And although communism and socialism have shown themselves to be systems that demean rather than uplift human dignity because of their fundamental misunderstanding of man’s nature and their systemic misconstrual of the virtue of justice, a free market is not a market without law. Laissez-faire capitalism would also demean human dignity and ignore justice. But a free market, governed by law, allows man to maximize the yield of his productive efforts, if he so chooses. As the late Pope John Paul II pointed out in Centesimus annus (May 1, 1991): “Organizing such a productive effort, planning its duration in time, making sure that it corresponds in a positive way to the demands which it must satisfy, and taking the necessary risks—all this too is a source of wealth in today’s society. In this way, the role of disciplined and creative human work and, as an essential part of that work, initiative and entrepreneurial ability becomes increasingly evident and decisive” (no. 32; emphasis original).
As the late Holy Father also pointed out in Sollicitudo rei socialis (December 30, 1987), the entrepreneur ought to act not only for his own good but also for the common good. “It should be noted that in today’s world, among other rights, the right of economic initiative is often suppressed. Yet it is a right that is important not only for the individual but also for the common good. Experience shows us that the denial of this right, or its limitation in the name of an alleged ‘equality’ of everyone in society, diminishes, or in practice absolutely destroys the spirit of initiative, that is to say the creative subjectivity of the citizen” (no. 15).
The “spirit of initiative,” however, in no way mitigates the entrepreneur’s obligation to his fellow men or to God. Adam Smith’s amoral market in The Wealth of Nations (1776) cannot serve as a bellwether for Catholics. The Seventh Commandment as it is explained in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (part three, section two, article 7) cannot be ignored. And as we know from our Lord’s encounter with the rich man, who forfeited his opportunity to follow the Lord, the accumulation of wealth, even if earned without any violation of the Decalogue, is far from man’s greatest potential (Matt 19:16–30; Mark 10:17–31; and Luke 18:18–30). The evangelical counsels —poverty, chastity, and obedience— freely embraced bring one closer to perfection than the mere fulfillment of moral precepts. While the counsels are not asked of all, it is clear that their pursuit is more profitable than that of material gain or any other gain, for that matter (see Matt 19:11–12).
It is imperative to mention at least three general moral criteria to guide the entrepreneur, the principles of legal, distributive and especially commutative justice notwithstanding. First, the dignity of all men must be respected. One’s fellow men are to be treated according to the standard given by St. Paul when he commends Onesimus to Philemon, “no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord” (Phlm 16). Second, in economic choices the common good must be considered, not merely profit. This “is not a matter of the duty of charity alone, that is, the duty to give from one’s ‘abundance,’ and sometimes even out of one’s needs . . . . [T]he decision to invest in one place rather than another, in one productive sector rather than another, is always a moral and cultural choice” (CA, no. 36, emphasis original). And third, creation must be respected. The earth has “its own requisites and a prior God-given purpose, which man can indeed develop but must not betray” (CA, no. 37).
Perhaps morality vis-à-vis the entrepreneur—the one who exercises enterprise and takes risks in business—is best illustrated in literature, specifically in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (1843). Ebenezer Scrooge, the protagonist whose life will be transformed through a night of apparitions, is first visited by the ghost of his deceased business partner Jacob Marley. Marley appears dragging a seemingly endless chain. “The chain he drew was clasped about his middle. It was long, and wound about him like a tail; and it was made (for Scrooge observed it closely) of cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses wrought in steel.” As their conversation continues, Scrooge is surprised that Marley was not at peace: “‘But you were always a good man of business, Jacob,’ faltered Scrooge, who now began to apply this to himself. ‘Business!’ cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. ‘Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!’”
Thus, we can say readily that the entrepreneur, like the rest of us, must inform his conscience as he practices his trade and ever recall that exercising enterprise and taking risks does not exempt him from justice and charity. St. Paul reminds us that if we have not charity we have nothing (1 Cor 13:3). Moreover, he reminds us of the Lord’s own example, which we honor above all others, wherein he who was rich became poor for our sake, so that by his poverty we might become rich (2 Cor 8:9). The entrepreneur must keep ever in his mind as a safeguard Jesus’ words: “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his soul?” (Mark 8:36).