 | Buijs, Govert On the Economic Trinity Book Chapter van Beuningen, Cor; Buitendijk, Kees (Ed.): Finance and the Common Good, pp. 69-75, 2019, ISBN: 9789463727914. Abstract | Links | BibTeX @inbook{Buijs2019, title = {On the Economic Trinity}, author = {Govert Buijs}, editor = {Cor van Beuningen and Kees Buitendijk}, url = {https://www.moralmarkets.org/book/finance-and-the-common-good/ https://www.moralmarkets.org/2019/on-the-economic-trinity/ https://www.moralmarkets.org/2017/market-transactions-trust-society/}, isbn = {9789463727914}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-07-16}, booktitle = {Finance and the Common Good}, pages = {69-75}, abstract = {In this chapter Govert Buijs argues that the failure of institutional order – by which he explicitly refers to the financial sector – is at the origin of populism and political unrest. He argues that restoring the ‘economic trinity’ is the first step towards a revitalisation of relationships within society.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inbook} }
In this chapter Govert Buijs argues that the failure of institutional order – by which he explicitly refers to the financial sector – is at the origin of populism and political unrest. He argues that restoring the ‘economic trinity’ is the first step towards a revitalisation of relationships within society. |
 | Verbrugge, Ad; Buijs, Govert; van Baardewijk, Jelle Het Goede Leven en de Vrije Markt; Een Cultuurfilosofische Analyse Book Lemniscaat, 2018, ISBN: 9789047709589. Abstract | Links | BibTeX @book{Verbrugge2018, title = {Het Goede Leven en de Vrije Markt; Een Cultuurfilosofische Analyse}, author = {Ad Verbrugge and Govert Buijs and Jelle van Baardewijk}, url = {https://www.moralmarkets.org/nl/book/het-goede-leven-en-de-vrije-markt/}, isbn = {9789047709589}, year = {2018}, date = {2018-11-01}, publisher = {Lemniscaat}, abstract = {De vrije markt is overal: ze verspreidt zich over de wereld en haar rol in ons persoonlijke leven is groter dan ooit. We kunnen kopen wat we willen, en het welvaartsniveau was nog nooit zo hoog. Toch dringt zich de laatste tijd steeds meer de vraag op naar de schaduwkanten van de globaliserende markt.Draait alles om geld verdienen en consumeren? En kunnen we ons op de lange termijn wel een dergelijke economische bedrijvigheid blijven veroorloven? Brengt de vrije markt in haar huidige vorm het goede leven dichterbij, of staat ze de verwerkelijking daarvan juist in de weg of misschien beide tegelijk? En wat is dan ‘het goede leven’? Deze laatste vraag is van oudsher een kernvraag binnen de filosofie. Langs het gedachtegoed van filosofen uit alle tijden (van Aristoteles tot Heidegger, van Kant tot Arendt, en van Bentham tot Nussbaum) en aan de hand van hedendaagse boeken en films bespreken Verbrugge, Buijs en Van Baardewijk in dit boek het thema van het goede leven en de vrije markt. Ze zetten aan tot nadenken en maken de weg vrij voor een nieuw perspectief op de vrije markt.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {book} }
De vrije markt is overal: ze verspreidt zich over de wereld en haar rol in ons persoonlijke leven is groter dan ooit. We kunnen kopen wat we willen, en het welvaartsniveau was nog nooit zo hoog. Toch dringt zich de laatste tijd steeds meer de vraag op naar de schaduwkanten van de globaliserende markt.Draait alles om geld verdienen en consumeren? En kunnen we ons op de lange termijn wel een dergelijke economische bedrijvigheid blijven veroorloven? Brengt de vrije markt in haar huidige vorm het goede leven dichterbij, of staat ze de verwerkelijking daarvan juist in de weg of misschien beide tegelijk? En wat is dan ‘het goede leven’? Deze laatste vraag is van oudsher een kernvraag binnen de filosofie. Langs het gedachtegoed van filosofen uit alle tijden (van Aristoteles tot Heidegger, van Kant tot Arendt, en van Bentham tot Nussbaum) en aan de hand van hedendaagse boeken en films bespreken Verbrugge, Buijs en Van Baardewijk in dit boek het thema van het goede leven en de vrije markt. Ze zetten aan tot nadenken en maken de weg vrij voor een nieuw perspectief op de vrije markt. |
 | Buijs, Govert De heilige drie-eenheid van het economisch verkeer Journal Article Christen Democratische Verkenningen, 2017 (3 / herfst), pp. 44-52, 2017. Abstract | Links | BibTeX @article{Buijs2017, title = {De heilige drie-eenheid van het economisch verkeer}, author = {Govert Buijs}, url = {https://www.tijdschriftcdv.nl/inhoud/?jaar=2017&nummer=3}, year = {2017}, date = {2017-10-01}, journal = {Christen Democratische Verkenningen}, volume = {2017}, number = {3 / herfst}, pages = {44-52}, abstract = {Het economisch verkeer draait bij de gratie van de eerbiediging van een drie-enig contract: het formeel-juridische contract, het vertrouwenscontract en het samenlevingscontract. Het vertrouwenscontract en het samenlevingscontract zijn echter de afgelopen periode verwaarloosd, met alle gevolgen van dien. Er is een vernieuwingsagenda voor (financiële) instellingen en hun personeel nodig die herstel van die contractbreuk beoogt. Net als bij het theologische leerstuk van de drie-eenheid vooronderstelt dit herstel een ommekeer. En als er één inzicht is dat vele wereldreligies en filosofische stromingen delen, dan is het dit: een ommekeer is niet gemakkelijk, maar beslist mogelijk.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} }
Het economisch verkeer draait bij de gratie van de eerbiediging van een drie-enig contract: het formeel-juridische contract, het vertrouwenscontract en het samenlevingscontract. Het vertrouwenscontract en het samenlevingscontract zijn echter de afgelopen periode verwaarloosd, met alle gevolgen van dien. Er is een vernieuwingsagenda voor (financiële) instellingen en hun personeel nodig die herstel van die contractbreuk beoogt. Net als bij het theologische leerstuk van de drie-eenheid vooronderstelt dit herstel een ommekeer. En als er één inzicht is dat vele wereldreligies en filosofische stromingen delen, dan is het dit: een ommekeer is niet gemakkelijk, maar beslist mogelijk. |
 | Buijs, Govert Remembering the Future – Religion, social capital and the development of the West Book Chapter van der Braak, André; Wei, Dedong; Zhu, Caifang (Ed.): Religion and Social Cohesion. Western, Chinese and Intercultural Perspectives, pp. 21 - 40, VU University Press, Amsterdam, 2015. Abstract | Links | BibTeX @inbook{Buijs2015, title = {Remembering the Future – Religion, social capital and the development of the West}, author = {Govert Buijs }, editor = {André van der Braak and Dedong Wei and Caifang Zhu}, url = {http://vuuniversitypress.com/16-dtlas/119-religion-and-social-cohesion}, year = {2015}, date = {2015-04-16}, booktitle = {Religion and Social Cohesion. Western, Chinese and Intercultural Perspectives}, pages = {21 - 40}, publisher = {VU University Press}, address = {Amsterdam}, abstract = {In this paper it is argued that religion can provide social capital in various ways: by fostering certain norms of cooperation and by providing some substantial ideas about a good, a humane society. Moreover, it can stimulate people to experiment with new social forms and social initiatives. This is attested by an interpretation of the role Christianity has played in the development of Western society, giving rise to what can be called ‘burgher culture’, centered around a set of basic values. However, the developmental impulses that came out of the Christian tradition have at the same time been subject to various shadows that have been hard to counter, but that undermine time and again the central tenets of the burgher culture. Attention for the role of social capital, and freedom of religion as part of a larger freedom of civil society, can be at least one of the possible remedies and may keep the future open to constant new humanizing possibilities.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inbook} }
In this paper it is argued that religion can provide social capital in various ways: by fostering certain norms of cooperation and by providing some substantial ideas about a good, a humane society. Moreover, it can stimulate people to experiment with new social forms and social initiatives. This is attested by an interpretation of the role Christianity has played in the development of Western society, giving rise to what can be called ‘burgher culture’, centered around a set of basic values. However, the developmental impulses that came out of the Christian tradition have at the same time been subject to various shadows that have been hard to counter, but that undermine time and again the central tenets of the burgher culture. Attention for the role of social capital, and freedom of religion as part of a larger freedom of civil society, can be at least one of the possible remedies and may keep the future open to constant new humanizing possibilities. |
 | Buijs, Govert Christianity and the Vicissitudes of European Burgher Culture: an Anamnetic Exercise Journal Article 41 (2), pp. 103-132, 2013. Abstract | Links | BibTeX @article{Buijs2013, title = {Christianity and the Vicissitudes of European Burgher Culture: an Anamnetic Exercise}, author = {Govert Buijs}, doi = {dx.doi.org/10.1080/09637494.2013.811161}, year = {2013}, date = {2013-04-19}, volume = {41}, number = {2}, pages = {103-132}, abstract = {In this article I offer an historic reconstruction of the way Christianity, with the concept of agape/caritas as a lodestar, has shaped the ‘burgher culture’ in Western Europe that to a large extent has remained typical for western society up to the present day. The socio-moral infrastructure of this burgher culture consists of a specific ‘coalition’ of various values that are at the same time distinct and interconnected: among these are freedom, equality, solidarity, peace, dignity of labour, promise-keeping, associative life. This burgher culture, however, is only weakly developed theoretically (Althusius being the exception here) and in practice turns out to be fragile. Its critics have been much better able to voice their criticism than its defenders have been able to articulate its own logic, which hence tends to become ‘forgotten’. One can discern five different temptations that may have the effect of undermining the socio-moral infrastructure of burgher culture. Amid the often theoretically elaborated and practically attractive dynamics of these temptations, Christian social and political thought, as developed particularly in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, is a moderating, preserving and challenging force within this culture.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} }
In this article I offer an historic reconstruction of the way Christianity, with the concept of agape/caritas as a lodestar, has shaped the ‘burgher culture’ in Western Europe that to a large extent has remained typical for western society up to the present day. The socio-moral infrastructure of this burgher culture consists of a specific ‘coalition’ of various values that are at the same time distinct and interconnected: among these are freedom, equality, solidarity, peace, dignity of labour, promise-keeping, associative life. This burgher culture, however, is only weakly developed theoretically (Althusius being the exception here) and in practice turns out to be fragile. Its critics have been much better able to voice their criticism than its defenders have been able to articulate its own logic, which hence tends to become ‘forgotten’. One can discern five different temptations that may have the effect of undermining the socio-moral infrastructure of burgher culture. Amid the often theoretically elaborated and practically attractive dynamics of these temptations, Christian social and political thought, as developed particularly in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, is a moderating, preserving and challenging force within this culture. |
 | Buijs, Govert Worldview, the credit crisis and the “unity of life”; From “framework” to “deep commitment” Journal Article Bulletin for Christian Scholarship, 77 (1), pp. 1-9, 2012, ISBN: 2304-8557. Abstract | Links | BibTeX @article{Buijs2012, title = {Worldview, the credit crisis and the “unity of life”; From “framework” to “deep commitment”}, author = {Govert Buijs}, url = {https://www.moralmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/Buijs2012.pdf}, doi = {10.4102/koers.v77i1.186}, isbn = {2304-8557}, year = {2012}, date = {2012-06-30}, journal = {Bulletin for Christian Scholarship}, volume = {77}, number = {1}, pages = {1-9}, abstract = {The term ‘worldview’ harbours different dimensions that are not always clearly distinguished. A worldview can be considered to be a personal matter, but it may also be a more collective phenomenon, as it can manifest itself for example within a certain sphere of life (e.g. politics or economics) as a full-blown ideology or a more implicit ‘embedded worldview’. A second distinction can be made between the dimension of a deep, existential commitment and that of an encompassing mental framework, between spiritual inspiration and a more or less intellectually coherent system. There may be tensions between these various dimensions. Having a worldview as a person may imply being in conflict with other worldviews that are embodied in certain social fields. How can people deal with these conflicts? One can easily be seduced to avoid the conflicts and to shift gears between them. With the credit crisis and economics used as an illustration, this article explores some of the techniques that people – consciously, semi-consciously or unconsciously – may employ to navigate the differences between various social domains and their inherent worldviews. In order to support people to regain some unity, the notion of worldview may still be helpful, but interpreted primarily as ‘deep commitment’.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} }
The term ‘worldview’ harbours different dimensions that are not always clearly distinguished. A worldview can be considered to be a personal matter, but it may also be a more collective phenomenon, as it can manifest itself for example within a certain sphere of life (e.g. politics or economics) as a full-blown ideology or a more implicit ‘embedded worldview’. A second distinction can be made between the dimension of a deep, existential commitment and that of an encompassing mental framework, between spiritual inspiration and a more or less intellectually coherent system. There may be tensions between these various dimensions. Having a worldview as a person may imply being in conflict with other worldviews that are embodied in certain social fields. How can people deal with these conflicts? One can easily be seduced to avoid the conflicts and to shift gears between them. With the credit crisis and economics used as an illustration, this article explores some of the techniques that people – consciously, semi-consciously or unconsciously – may employ to navigate the differences between various social domains and their inherent worldviews. In order to support people to regain some unity, the notion of worldview may still be helpful, but interpreted primarily as ‘deep commitment’. |