Ethical principles and the 2008 crisis: moving towards a reorganisation of the system

Abstract

The author invokes “ethical principles”, these being understood as the essential feature in the social nature of man and as a fundamental condition of human behaviour which require all men to act according to “justice” based on “right reason”.” “Right reason” provides “rules of conduct” capable of general validity in practical applications, and gives human beings a shared “capacity of judgement”. “Ethical principles” raise all humans to a higher level compared to any other beings, thus bestowing “equal dignity” on each person. “Ethical principles” and “equal dignity” both shed light on the social reality of our times and help to discern the variety of situations that can arise from the application and fulfilment of Humans Rights, especially at this critical moment that emerges cyclically in the global capitalist system: the “cyclical crisis”. Having established the above assumptions, the author briefly analyses the causes of the “current economic crisis”, focusing on conceptual and historical aspects.