Date

8-9-2024

Department

Rawlings School of Divinity

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in Theology and Apologetics (PhD)

Chair

Mark D. Allen

Keywords

Human Flourishing, Rational Choice Model, Behavioral Economics, Augustine, Adam Smith, Utility, Use and Enjoy

Disciplines

Economics | Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion

Abstract

Economics as defined by Lionel Robbins (1932), is a science which studies human behavior as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses. While human behavior relates to how wants and desires are coordinated given decision-making mechanisms, social customs and political realities of society, the natural end of individual human actions should be eudaimonia (human flourishing). However, since sin has affected both our emotive and cultural plausibility structures, thereby leading to a distortion in our wants and desires and ability to desire the good, this has led to a generation that is self-ruling, self-creating and self-evaluating. The disorder in desires caused by humanity’s sinful nature is an aspect that economic decision-making mechanisms/systems cannot capture. The research will expound a biblical approach to economic behavior that embraces the work of Augustine. It will integrate insights from behavioral economics and ground them in a robust ethical framework such as the one provided by Augustine. It will seek to show how we can develop a more comprehensive understanding of economic behavior that promotes true human flourishing.

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