Catholic Social Thought and Liberal Institutions: Freedom with Justice / Edition 2

by Mario Bunge

Overview

Increasingly, the religious leaders of the world are addressing problems of political economy, expressing concern about the poor. But will their efforts actually help the poor? Or harm them? Much depends, Michael Novak asserts, upon what kind of institutions are constructed, that is, upon realism and practicality.

His thesis may be simply stated: Although the Catholic Church during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries set itself against liberalism as an ideology, it has slowly come to admire liberal institutions such as democracy and free markets. Between the Catholic vision of social justice and liberal institutions, Novak argues, there is a profound consonance (but not identity). Both celebrate realism, respect for institutions, and prudence or practical wisdom. The Catholic tradition adds to liberal individualism a strong communitarian sense.

This book was first published in 1984 as Freedom with Justice. This new edition adds both a lengthy introduction carrying forward the original argument and a long concluding chapter on Pope John Paul IPs controversial new encyclical of early 1988, Sollicitudo Rei Socialis.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780887387630
Publisher:	Transaction Publishers
Publication date:	01/30/1988
Edition description:	2nd ed
Pages:	311
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Michael Novak

Table of Contents

1: Catholic and Liberal; 1: Theology and Economics: The Next Twenty Years; 2: Perfect Enemy of Good: Against Utopianism; 3: An Awareness of Sin: The US Catholic Bishops and the US Economy; II: The Development of Catholic Social Thought (1848–1982); 4: The Architects of Catholic Social Thought; 5: A Quintessential Liberal: John Stuart Mill; 6: From Politics to Economics: Leo XIII and Pius XI; 7: The Development of Nations: John XXIII and Paul VI; 8: Creation Theology: Pope John Paul II; III: Ethos, Virtues, and Institutions: The Future Development of Catholic Social Thought; 9: Catholic Social Thought in the Future: Toward a Theology of Commerce and Industry; 10: Liberation Theology in Practice; 11: The Communitarian Individualin American Practice; 12: International Economics; 13: Pope of Liberty, Pope of Creativity: John Paul II

Editorial Reviews

"An important contribution to our critical understanding of the possibilities for dialogue and mutual influence between Catholic social thought and Anglo-American liberalism." —John Langan, S.J., Journal of American Academy of Religion "He rightly chides theologians for being so often absorbed in moral questions regarding just distribution that they fail to attend to the positive moral impact of the productivity of capitalism in the creating of goods, new wealth, and jobs." —William French, Journal of Religion "Novak is to be commended for raising the question of liberty in connection with economic justice. . . . This volume makes a significant contribution to the discussion of Catholic social thought and contemporary economic policies." —John T. Pawlikowski, O.S.M., Theology Today

From the Publisher