Spirituality as reinforcement of people-focused work: a philosophical foundation

Abstract

This conceptual article aims to provide a philosophical foundation for why spirituality reinforces prosocial motivation and people-focused work (PFW). Much research refers to the fact that many workers’ reasons for working are spiritually based. Research has shown that spirituality provides a motivation oriented to the needs of others and an intellectual and affective “openness” to those around us that reinforces cooperation, acting as a “social glue”. Explanations have been given for this effect of spirituality, particularly psychological explanations. However, there is still no philosophical explanation. This article provides a philosophical foundation for the motivation oriented to the needs of others (prosocial motivation) generated by spirituality, previously discovered and analyzed by philosophers like Plato, and in particular Aristotle, by explaining what it is and how the human spirit acts. The paper concludes that the reinforcement of PFW produced by spirituality derives from the “openness to … ” that essentially constitutes the activity of human spirit as “actuality”.