Abstract
Pope Francis argues for a shift to a new economic model that is in the service of
the human life and is "more attentive to ethical principles" (LS 189). He does not endorse a
specific model except that he provides conditions, principles, and frameworks by which its
ethos must be grounded against. As part of his pastoral approach and his vision of a
synodal Church, he invites everyone to participate and contribute to this discussion
because "not all discussions of doctrinal, moral or pastoral issues need to be settled by
interventions of the magisterium" (AL 3). It is within this papal invitation of discoursing
this new economic model where this paper aims to contribute particularly on the
centrality of the anthropological criterion.
The first section explores the meaning of his articulation on economics; situating it within
the economic discourse of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. The second section
focuses on the anthropological criterion as problematized by the identification of the
homo economicus as self-interested. The third section draws a theoretical framework from
substantivist economics in forwarding the desired economic ethos while the fourth section
provides praxeological inputs and argues that homo economicus can be prosocial when the
culture that is embedded in a particular economic model is put together to nurture such
ethos.