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Unshackling Imagination: How Philosophical Pragmatism can Liberate Entrepreneurial Decision-Making

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Abstract

Despite the evident importance of imagination in both ethical decision-making and entrepreneurship, significant gaps remain in our understanding of its actual role in these processes. As a result, scholars have called for a deeper understanding of how imagination impacts value creation in society and how this critical human faculty might more profoundly connect our theories of ethics and business decision-making. In this paper, we attempt to fill one of these gaps by scrutinizing the underlying philosophical foundations of imagination and applying them to the challenges facing entrepreneurs attempting to create new value in an increasingly unpredictable and kaleidic world. Accordingly, we apply a view of imagination developed by the pragmatist philosopher John Dewey to the radically subjective economic philosophy of G.L.S Shackle. As a result, we develop a concept of imagination which we believe can be both significant and hopeful for research at the intersection of business ethics and new value creation.

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Notes

  1. We would like to thank one of our reviewers for bringing to our attention the enduring tension between a Popperian and Kuhnian view of progress. Exploring the philosophical differences between ‘normal’ and ‘revolutionary’ entrepreneurship is a topic in its own right and is outside the scope of this paper.

  2. To fully capture this point, Buchanan & Vanberg provide the following thought experiment:

    “Assume that no goods exist, and that persons are described by certain talents, capacities and skills that enable them to produce consumable goods from nature… [T]rade will take place when persons recognize that their wellbeing can be enhanced by producing and exchanging rather than producing for their own consumption only… [T]here is an added requirement, that any participant exercise imagination in choosing to specialize in production with the ultimate purpose of achieving an increase in well-being through exchange. Think of the choice calculus of a person in this setting. What can I produce that will prove of exchange value with others? … Individuals would use their own imagination, their own assessment of the potential evaluations of others, in producing goods wholly divorced from their own consumption … This seeking to satisfy others through producing marketable value as an indirect means of producing value for themselves—this characteristic behavioral element in a market order was central to Adam Smith’s insight.” (Buchanan & Vanberg, 1991, p.181–182).

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The authors did not receive support from any organization for the submitted work. No funding was received to assist with the preparation of this manuscript. The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

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  1. Schulze School of Entrepreneurship, University of St. Thomas, 2115 Summit Ave, St Paul, MN, 55105, USA

    John F. McVea

  2. Graduate School of Defense Management, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA, 93943, USA

    Nicholas Dew

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  1. John F. McVea
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Both authors contributed equally to this paper conception and design. Material preparation and analysis were performed by JFM and ND. The first draft of the manuscript was written by both authors and both commented on previous versions of the manuscript. This paper was prepared with the help of Research Assistant Erin O’Connor.

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Correspondence to John F. McVea.

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McVea, J.F., Dew, N. Unshackling Imagination: How Philosophical Pragmatism can Liberate Entrepreneurial Decision-Making. J Bus Ethics 181, 301–316 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-021-04967-1

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