Entrepreneurship in selected conceptions of social life: libertarianism and Catholic social teaching

Abstract

 Entrepreneurship is a concept that is ambiguously defined. It is therefore interesting to point out the differences and possible similarities in the perception of the essence of entrepreneurship from two different conceptions of community life: libertarianism and Catholic social teaching. The basic research methods that allowed explanations to be obtained were critical analysis and comparison of the conceptions in available sources and research. In the light of documents of Catholic social teaching, entrepreneurship is an important factor in the development of communities, with emphasis on the necessity of taking ethical foundations into account. By pointing to the common good and the dignity of the human person as the overriding principles, qualities such as skilful community building, solidarity and action on behalf of the poor play a fundamental role in assessing entrepreneurship. Libertarians are ontological, ethical and methodological individualists emphasising personal freedom and private property, and stressing the correlation between the right to property and the right to freedom. Sharing the conviction of the important role of entrepreneurship and the free market, they place emphasis on certain ideas they specifically define, such as the concept of self-ownership and the principle of non-aggression; they describe freedom and self-realisation as acting at one’s own discretion, for one’s own purposes with the only limitation being the non-violation of the rights of other individuals. In effect, they criticise the view of society as being more than just the sum of individuals. In Catholic social teaching a different justification for entrepreneurship is proposed, as an opportunity to include as many people as possible in the creation of the common good, thereby reducing the number of those marginalised and excluded.