Dr. Marta Rocchi presented on October 14 her thesis "Finance Ethics in Light of MacIntyre's Moral Philosophy: A Proposal Based on Practice, Unity of Life, and Tradition". Her doctoral study, directed by the Professor of Business Ethics and Dean of the School of Economics, Ignacio Ferrero, proposes a revision of the ethics of financial activity under the light of Alasdair MacIntyre's Philosophy moral philosophy.

In an attempt at ethical regeneration of financial activity, in this work, Rocchi carries out an ethical analysis of finance from the point of view of the virtue ethics tradition. This current has experienced a renaissance with the work of Alasdair MacIntyre. This philosopher systematically studied the history of virtue in order to understand what caused the subsequent fragmentation and obscuring of the Aristotelian tradition. His proposal moral recovers the vocabulary of virtues for the contemporary research .

The recent financial crisis has had among other consequences the emergence of a widespread clamor for a greater presence of ethics in the financial world, says Dr. Rocchi. The academic believes that economic theory has sought to be a science in the style of the natural sciences, pretending to become an amoral, technical and scientific discipline , and adds that the training of students and professionals of finance has sought to adopt a scientific and utilitarian model , excluding the presence of the intentionality of the agent; this model can change in the light of virtue ethics, this approach as a basis for the development of an ethics of the financial sector.

By way of reflection, the Italian researcher affirms that a doctoral thesis is not only a set of pages, but a long road with uphill slopes and with moments when the path is not very clear. In this sense Rocchi affirmed: "A very important role is played by the relationship with the director of the thesis , which has the compass so that the PhD student does not lose its orientation".

Dr. Rocchi's work was recognized by the panel, which awarded her a grade of A cum laude. The board of the thesis was formed by: the professor of the University of Navarra, Domènec Melé, as president of the board; the professor of the University of Bergamo, Sante Maletta; the professor of Durham University, Geoff Moore; the professor of the University of Navarra, Antonio Moreno; and the professor of the University of S. Thomas, Martin Schlag.