In a recent post for the Choose Humanities blog and in light of the recent banking scandals in the UK, doctoral student Jonathan Lewis writes about the importance of a historically-inflected study of ethics today. Lewis’s post, entitled “Learning your lessons: what the Humanities could teach the bankers,” addresses not only the need for more socially- and ethically-minded bankers, but also argues that the development of such bankers relies on the integration of history and ethics:

“Perhaps the study of history could assist in the development of a social and ethical conscience in the banking sector. History can tell us why we have inherited the patterns of belief we have and why current actions in the banking sector are morally delinquent.”

Lewis emphasizes that “an ethical approach to banking is more than a ‘code of ethics’,” claiming what is needed is a balance of external regulation and “self-formation, which demands that the financial sector as a whole takes responsibility for developing its own social conscience.” Such self-formation is something the humanities – and history in particular – are important in developing.

Read more at Choose Humanities.