Unshackling Imagination: How Philosophical Pragmatism can Liberate Entrepreneurial Decision-Making

John F. McVea () and Nicholas Dew ()
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John F. McVea: University of St. Thomas
Nicholas Dew: Naval Postgraduate School

Journal of Business Ethics, 2022, vol. 181, issue 2, No 3, 316 pages

Abstract: Abstract Despite the evident importance of imagination in both ethical decision-making and entrepreneurship, significant gaps remain in our understanding of its actual role in these processes. As a result, scholars have called for a deeper understanding of how imagination impacts value creation in society and how this critical human faculty might more profoundly connect our theories of ethics and business decision-making. In this paper, we attempt to fill one of these gaps by scrutinizing the underlying philosophical foundations of imagination and applying them to the challenges facing entrepreneurs attempting to create new value in an increasingly unpredictable and kaleidic world. Accordingly, we apply a view of imagination developed by the pragmatist philosopher John Dewey to the radically subjective economic philosophy of G.L.S Shackle. As a result, we develop a concept of imagination which we believe can be both significant and hopeful for research at the intersection of business ethics and new value creation.

Keywords: Pragmatism; Imagination; Entrepreneurship (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1007/s10551-021-04967-1

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