This chapter comprises a historical survey of the main religious and societal changes that occurred in the 11th and 12th centuries, including the founding of new religious orders (Cistercians, Augustinian canons).

Aftercorporate human rights obligations were justified in general terms in the previous chapter, this chapter defines their nature and extent further. The question is approached, first, by distinguishing different obligation types in a general manner, briefly defining negative and positive obligations, passive and active obligations, general and special obligations, and perfect and imperfect obligations. The chapter then zooms in on human rights obligations in particular. It discusses in detail the tripartite duty structure correlating with human rights and how the three types of human rights obligations – the obligation to respect, protect, and fulfil human rights – may be interpreted to apply to corporations.

During the first decades of the twentieth century, Gestalt psychology provided a major alternative and challenge to structuralism (Chapter 5), functionalism (Chapter 10), and behaviorism (Chapter 13). Founded in Germany by successors to the psychologists discussed in Chapter 6, Gestalt psychology moved west in the 1930s and became an important influence on the development of American psychology. Gestalt is a German word that means shape or form. Initially the three founders of Gestalt psychology, Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, and Wolfgang Köhler, were interested in perception. Later their interests broadened to include learning, problem-solving, and cognition. One of their colleagues, Kurt Lewin, adopted a Gestalt approach in an innovative field theory, which he employed to address a wide variety of topics and concerns in child development, industrial management, rehabilitation, and social psychology. The term Gestalt has entered the English language and is widely used by psychologists and non-psychologists to refer to the whole of something.1

As we have seen, the laboratory psychology tradition, using controlled experimentation, originated in Germany. The German psychologists used experiments to find general laws of how the human mind worked, and psychologists like Edward Titchener brought that tradition to the United States. A very different tradition started in Britain, where the methods used were only rarely controlled laboratory experiments, and instead careful observation in natural settings was preferred. The British tradition also emphasizes individual differences rather than general laws. In this chapter, we cover the pioneering work of the British cousins Charles Darwin and Francis Galton. We discuss Darwin’s work on biological evolution but also his psychological ideas, particularly in regard to emotion. Galton’s mind meandered across many disciplines, from meteorology to criminology, but fortunately for psychologists, he contributed research methods, data analysis techniques, and important findings besides.

The last chapter of the textbook briefly reflects on the road travelled so far in BHR and the challenges that still lie ahead. Despite significant acheivements in improving corporate accountability for human rights in recent years, there is still a lot to be done to improve the situation of affected rights-holders on the ground. However, in the light of the rise of right-wing populism and the global Covid-19 pandemic, the global environment for human rights protection has become more, rather than less challienging in recent years. On a positive note, businesses can be progressive forces in promoting human rights in these challenging contexts. Recent incidents of companies engaging in human rights advocacy and activism demonstrate that a growing number of companies are willing to use their leverage to push for pro-social and human rights issues. In such situations, crisis can become an opportunity for ethical renewal.

This chapter discusses the exciting thought of 9th-century philosopher and theologian John Eriugena Scottus, with particular attention to his views on faith and reason and an in-depth discussion of his masterpiece The Division of Nature (Periphyseon).

BHR is a fast-evolving interdisciplinary field and naturally its focus expands over time and new subdiscussions start to emerge. Such new discussions often appear at the intersection between BHR and other fields. This chapter briefly outlines four selected emerging discussions within the BHR field, namely: the intersection between BHR and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the relevance of climate change for BHR, gender perspectives on BHR, and BHR in post-conflict and transitional justice contexts.

This chapter offers a survey of three authors who exerted a strong influence on medieval theology: John Cassian (who transmitted the spirituality of the Egyptian Desert Fathers to the Latin West), Boethius (whose Consolation of Philosophy is discussed in some detail) and Pseudo-Dionysius (who is the father of apophatic theology).