Corporate philosopher : fundamentação teórica para atuação do filósofo nas organizações

Abstract

Amazement is the origin of philosophizing, according to Plato and Aristotle. The theoretical face of Philosophy, so rich and the foundation of other knowledge, is in disrepute. In the educational area, Law No. 11,684/08 made the teaching of Philosophy mandatory in the High School curriculum. In higher education, with the reduction of curricula, super-specialization and progressive distance learning, it became marginalized. Its applied phase, however, seems to take on new contours. Clinical philosophy has been a reality for years. And Exame magazine, in September 2004, reported the hiring of philosophers by business consultancy companies, as a market differentiator given the abundance of professionals with MBAs, and due to ethical concerns regarding the growth of algorithmization and artificial intelligence. The Corporate Philosopher (and its variation, the Chief Philosophy Officer) appears. A few years later, companies in Silicon Valley and Portugal began to embrace innovation, delegating the philosopher to also build solutions for happiness and organizational well-being. In Brazil, at most, organizations turn to the philosopher for specific lectures, demanding motivational reflections: this professional is still seen as essentially theoretical, with little adherence to practical issues. Wishing to be inserted in the contemporary context, the company, with the philosopher, supports itself in the face of constant demands, such as inclusion and diversity, happiness and well-being of employees, leadership and emotional development, recognition of differences, accessibility, freedom and equality, identity institutional, ethics and social responsibility, innovation in organizational methods and processes, ESG (environmental, social and governance) practices, compliance, institutional brand and reputation. The aim of this work is to theoretically substantiate this action based on: a) a philosophical-psychoanalytic reflection on the issue of identity; b) Michel Foucault's concept of Self-Care, in an ethical-aesthetic perspective that provides, not only to subjects, but to organizations, a continuous exercise of self, in a permanent work of inventing a style, such as the “aesthetics of existence ”, combined with the idea of self-knowledge inserted in Plato’s thought (especially in the work Alcibiades I); c) the theoretical combination of the ethics of otherness (Emmanuel Levinas), the ethics of responsibility (Jean-Paul Sartre) and ecosophy (Félix Guattari) in the face of the demands of an organizational culture inserted in contemporary times; and d) the idea of happiness in Aristotle, Stoicism, Epicureanism and positive psychology. Finally, this work will also demonstrate, based on experience in two organizations, what are the possible responsibilities of a Corporate Philosopher, in the Brazilian context, with the creation of a Happiness Management Program, especially in attention to the function of philosophy, such as advocated by Foucault, namely: questioning all phenomena of domination and power (of a paranoid order) at any level and in any form in which they present themselves.