Skip to main content

Centre for Business Ethics and Sustainability hosts International Society for MacIntyrean Enquiry Conference 2024

International Society for Mac Intyrean Enquiry Conference 2024 Photo 1

'Ethics and the Role of Organisational, Political and Spiritual Leadership in Overcoming the Conflicts of Modernity' was the theme of this year's conference, which included keynote lectures from distinguished speakers and colloquia seminar sessions where conference attendees could present their papers to an engaged audience.

Organised by Professor Kleio Akrivou, Director of the CBES, and Dr Matthew Sinnicks, Associate Professor in Human Resource Management and Organisational Behaviour at the University of Southampton, more than 50 members of ISME, an organisation dedicated to discussing, exploring and identifying the theoretical and practical pursuit of the human good in areas ranging from philosophy, social sciences and business, attended.

The first keynote lecture was delivered by Professor Sophie Grace Chappell, Professor of Philosophy at the Open University, on the topic of 'Irreversible Enlightenments: a Reading of Plato's Meno'. The subsequent keynote lectures were on the topics of 'Humanomics: a MacIntyrean Offshoot' and 'MacIntyre, the Concept of a Practice and the Development of a Canon in Political Philosophy', delivered by Professor Deirdre Nansen McCloskey (Isiah Berlin Chair in Liberal Though at the Cato Institute, Distinguished Professor Emerita of Economics and History and Professor Emerita of English and Communication at the University of Illinois, USA) and Professor Jonathan Wolff (Fellow of the British Academy, Alfred Landecker Professor of Values and Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government and Governing Body Fellow at Wolfson College, University of Oxford) respectively.

The conference was also interspersed with opportunities to explore the Whiteknights campus' beautiful Harris Gardens, before wrapping up with a fine dining experience at the Meadow Suite. Many attendees commented how insightful and well-organised they felt the conference had been, with plans already in progress to host the next ISME conference in 2025 in the USA.

Speaking after the conference, Professor Akrivou commented: "I am delighted that the fruitful ISME Conference 2024 and its excellent presentations and colloquia had such an international scope, including so many diverse voices. As both an ISME member and the 2024 Conference Secretary on the Central Committee, and on behalf of the University of Reading and Henley Business School's Centre for Business Ethics and Sustainability, I am very pleased with the diversity and thought-provoking contributions and academic exchanges on the theme 'Ethics and the Role of Organisational, Political and Spiritual Leadership in Overcoming the Conflicts of Modernity'.

The attendance of numerous first-year ISME early career researchers, alongside experienced tenured academics, underscores the fantastic work presented and the relevance of neo-Aristotelian virtue ethics applied in management, organisational and public life. This also highlights the exceptional organisational support from my colleagues involved in co-ordinating this international conference at the university, ISME and beyond."

Published 6 August 2024
Topics:
Department news

You might also like

Dr Arthur Li nominated for Buckley and Casson AIB Dissertation Award

29 April 2022
Dr Li will present his work, titled General manager succession in multinational enterprise subsidiaries, at the AIB Annual Conference in July.
Department news

Knowledge Transfer Partnership project with FinTech company rated ‘Outstanding’

3 February 2022
A partnership project between Henley Business School's ICMA Centre and FinTech company Dynamic Planner has been rated 'Outstanding' by Innovate UK
Henley news Department news

Dr Irina Heim presents new research on policy in oil and gas regions at conference

1 July 2022
Dr Irina Heim, a member of the Centre for Euro-Asian Studies (CEAS), has published an article titled 'Environmental and Socio-Economic Policies in Oil and Gas Regions: Triple Bottom Line Approach'.
Research news Department news