ABSTRACT
Mainstream business thinking provides rational and universal systems of thought and action. These contemporary strategists have much in common with the thinkers of the 18th century Enlightenment that looked for the single best solution to a problem and then attempted to introduce it to all of mankind, often with evangelical zeal. Business anthropologists can profit by looking at the struggle between the Enlightenment and Romanticism. By doing so, the chauvinism of much business thinking can be tempered and business anthropologists will find strategies and rationales for advancing their cause. Social planners and business anthropologists can learn a lot from Mumford. He points to the limitations of technology and warns of the changes they initiate. The Age of Enlightenment advocated rational thought and universal solutions to the world's problems. Seductive though this thinking may be, it overlooks profound differences that should be considered when social architects and business strategists offer suggestions.
