Communities Benedictine

Machines were no longer instruments of slavery but tools of liberation, a gift from God, and it became important therefore to understand them, to improve them, and to build new ones. The machine culture was particularly nursed in Benedictine abbeys, but gradually it went outside their walls, spread into neighbouring urban communities, and entered the shops of artisans and artists. And finally it also knocked at the doors of universities. 

A further very pertinent insight of the Rule, implicit rather than explicit, is what may be termed Benedictine Peace . Importantly, Benedictine Peace does not involve a grand programme of action, but rather concerns each person seeking to create peace in his or her immediate community, a culture of peace arising from personal inner peace The Benedictine ideal of the human being is not that of one... 

It is interesting to compare the work practices at W. L. Gore and Associates to those of Benedictine business practice described in Chap. 6. The most noticeable difference is that the Gore practices do not explicitly arise from a base community that has values external to those of the business. Bill Gore s ideas seem to have originated from his reflection on his previous work experiences at a large chemical company. However, there are also a number of notable likenesses. First, both Gore... 

The engineering business practices of both W. L. Gore and Associates and Benedictine communities have so far been more studied than emulated. However, it is very encouraging that enterprises that are both ethically and technically very successful can arise on the basis of very different founding principles. They should be an inspiration to all seeking to promote the ethical practice of engineering. 

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