Abstract
Insuperable socio-economic and ecological crises demonstrate the need to challenge economic growth ideology that is often embedded in contemporary tourism science. By borrowing from Buddhist philosophy this essay describes inconsistencies in economic theorizing due to its adoption of the Cartesian ontology implying a mechanistic thinking form. Following philosopher Brodbeck (2014), economic science is neither an empirically exact science nor value-free but represents an implicit ethics. To build on this, the elements of a post-mechanistic economic theory are sketched (Brodbeck, 2001). The applicability of this concept is corroborated by instances of current tourism research. After reinterpreting the homo economicus and the nature of money an agenda for a transformative tourism science building upon post-Cartesian economic thinking and Buddhist philosophy is elaborated. © 2023 The Author(s)