Principles of Moral Economy in Protestantism

Abstract

Attitudes of a worldview character always live in society. In the worldview of individual persons, we find the cultural characteristics of different peoples, which, in turn, is related to the development of material history, as well as the emergence and organization of certain methods of social production. Beliefs in which the basic meaning of life values is expressed affect the public organization of human economic activity. Cultural foundations shape the behavior of humans in society, and therefore always carry moral norms, that is, moral grounds that constitute the implementation of moral principles in specific forms of human behavior. Moral principles are not limited to the sphere of individual consciousness, they permeate society and organize social life. If we turn to the role of ethical principles of the economic activity of society, then we will get to conduct of this activity related to cultural traditions, ideological attitudes, with the world of motivations and values in general. Morality is the Alpha and Omega of a socially useful economy. Morality determines the worldview. The worldview, in turn, forms the conception of society, in which culture and its component - legal culture, in particular economic culture, crystallizes. Christians pinned their hopes in economic life on the application of moral principles, thus forming the bases of a moral economy. The Christian ideal of the national economy is based on justice. Christians evaluate economic relations by the criterion of service to people. Therefore, the economy is perceived as a phenomenon of spiritual life, as spiritual creativity, providing space place to individual freedom. Here it is necessary to comprehend the ideas, objectives, values and traditions of economic activity from the point of view of Christianity.

Keywords

• moral economy
• moral principles
• christians