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DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/er.2021.06.003

The Honourable Merchant—Why We Need to Educate Not Only Our Minds, But Also Our Hearts

Date: June 30,2021 |Hits: 2849 Download PDF How to cite this paper

Gabriele Sigg

Freelancer, Berlin, Germany.

*Corresponding author: Gabriele Sigg

Abstract

Until the present time, it has been a widespread belief that solving economic problems requires stronger enforcement of rules and creating more laws. Instead of the former bartering system of commerce, today we have fixed prices and instead of a “handshake sealing the deal” between tradesmen, we use written contracts. Formal rules in different formats are supposed to minimize human greed and other failures of human character that can show up in commerce and trade. The “formalization” of the world however has not really solved these human problems, and it has overlooked an important aspect: The Person (Arendt) and their subconscious cultural patterns and character flaws. While traditional economies not only taught special knowledge or a craft, but also felt obliged to shape the learner’s character, modern society and businesses fail to combine these two important features. In the theoretical traditions of Plato, Aristotle, Adam Smith, Hannah Arendt, Emile Durkheim and Georg Simmel, this article aims to show the interrelationship between the acting individual and formal rules of society within the category of “The Person” (Arendt). Therefore, the author presents the thesis that a person’s character is more important in its contribution to society than following formal rules. In order to support the thesis, the author provides examples from commerce and trade at the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, Turkey, which she examined in her Ph.D.-Thesis. Therefore, the “Education of the Person” in form of “Emotional Education” and “Education of the Heart” should be reintegrated in our education systems.

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How to cite this paper

The Honourable Merchant—Why We Need to Educate Not Only Our Minds, But Also Our Hearts

How to cite this paper: Gabriele Sigg. (2021). The Honourable Merchant—Why We Need to Educate Not Only Our Minds, But Also Our Hearts. The Educational Review, USA5(6), 172-181.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/er.2021.06.003

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