Catholic social thought and business ethics: catholic social thought and business ethics; the application of 10 principles.

Abstract

Catholic Social Thought is a treasure trove of moral wisdom formulated to inform the conduct of believers. This doctrine is designed to help form the consciences and guide the actions of people the world over, not the least of who are those responsible for leading business institutions.

**********

Introduction

The Magisterium, or teaching authority of the Catholic Church, provides a comprehensive body of doctrine to guide those of the faith. This guidance extends to the moral aspects of economic activity. The resources of Catholic Social Thought (CST) have been underutilized in this regard, however. The moral wisdom they provide has simply not been tapped into sufficiently. This paper is an attempt to rectify the situation. My goal is to link 10 themes of CST to their applications to present day political/economic realities.

Ten Themes of Catholic Social Thought

Trinitarian Love: God's Existence and Nature

It is evident from the normative expression of the Christian faith found in the Church's Creeds that the Christian worldview is theistic--i.e., the touchstone proposition is the belief in the existence of one supremely powerful, transcendent and personal God. The theism of Christianity is thus distinguishable from worldviews that deny the existence of God (atheism), that hold that many gods exist (polytheism), that believe that everything that exists is God (pantheism), or that assert that the God who created the Universe has now fully withdrawn himself (deism). But Christianity differs from the theism of Judaism and Islam in its belief that the New Testament discloses in Jesus Christ a person both fully God and fully man--i.e., God became incarnate in his only begotten son Jesus Christ.

To understand the basic Christian beliefs about man and the universe, to understand the fundamental assumptions that make the Christian see the world as he or she does, the place to naturally begin is with God. That is, since the Christian worldview is theocentric, insight is particularly sought into the Being at the center of this belief system.

What is God's nature? What has God done? What is God continuing to do? The first item of the Catechism provides a concise summary of the Catholic vision or understanding of reality:

God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself [who God is] in a

plan of sheer goodness freely created man [what God did] to make

him share in his own blessed life [why God made man]. For this

reason, at every time and in every place, God draws close to man.

He calls man to seek him, to know him, to love him with all his

strength. He calls together all men, scattered and divided by

sin, into the unity of his family, the Church [how God

accomplishes his purposes]. To accomplish this, when the fullness

of time had come, God sent his Son as Redeemer and Savior. In his

Son and through him, he invites men to become, in the Holy

Spirit, his adopted children and thus heirs of his blessed life

[3:1].

Human Personhood: Sacred, Social, Inclined to Evil

"God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him: male and female he created them" (Genesis 1:27). Human beings are the crowning glory of God's creative work in the universe. We are the only creatures on Earth that God has willed for its own sake and everything has been created by God for us. In a word, man has been loved into existence by God, formed in the very likeness of God and deliberately designed as male and female.

The vocation of being human is to come to the fullest development of the distinctive human powers of intellect and will by knowing truth and loving goodness. The supreme truth is God and the supreme goodness is God. Therefore, the ultimate purpose is to know and love God, and since our imperishable soul destines us eternally, to enjoy Him forever. In short, God made human beings for loving fellowship with Himself. Settling on anything less than this communion leaves the human heart restless [3:30].

There are a number of profound implications to the fact that by virtue of being human men and women are made in the image of God.

* The end for which we have been created confers an unsurpassable and inalienable dignity on us. As a child of God, made by God and for God, the human person is a sacred or holy being.

* The human person is in possession of inherent and inviolable rights. Violating those rights is a grave moral failure. For example, to wantonly kill (murder) another human being whose life is sacred is an attack on God, in whose image the person is made.

* Human beings are of infinite worth. Every person's value is immeasurable and God knows each person in intimate detail.

* In the light of God all human beings are equal. Conditions such as race, gender and societal position are of no significance to God in establishing our worth.

* Human beings occupy a special place in the order of creation. The great privilege of being stewards of God's creation is accompanied by the onerous responsibility of emulating God's providence.

Human beings are inherently social beings. This is clear from the Genesis account of creation; "it is not good for man to be alone" [Genesis 2:18] and from the Catechism "God did not create man a solitary being" [3:383]. How deeply is our nature social? We could not come into existence unless other human beings procreated us. We would not stay in existence unless other human beings maintained us in it. We have needs that we cannot supply ourselves. We have powers, such as the ability to teach, that can never be used except in relation to others. Without other human beings none of us would ever reach maturity. The documents of the Second Vatican Council concisely state the understanding: "For by his innermost nature man is a social being; and if he does not enter into relations with others he can neither live nor develop his gifts" [Gaudium et spes: 12].

The essential question of the human condition is how freedom will be used. Will human beings give their hearts to God, voluntarily returning his love, or will they turn away from God? The doctrine of original sin says that our first parents tragically decided to reject their divine destiny and that their fall from goodness has been transmitted to all subsequent generations so that we exist in a state of fallenness. "Man has a wounded nature inclined to evil" [3:407]. Though originally created by God for fellowship with him, human beings have rebelled against God. Christianity asserts that the reality of our condition is that we have chosen to be alienated from God.

Authentic Liberty: Adhering to Natural Moral Law

The theological doctrines of the Catholic faith, as summarized in the Creeds, are not given as an end in themselves. Right belief (orthodoxy) is meant to result in right practice (orthopraxy). The linchpin proposition of Christianity is this: Jesus Christ was God incarnate but was nevertheless crucified and for our sake he was resurrected from the grave. The Church honors this fact and thereby stays true to its Founder, in formulating the Catechism. "The first and last point of reference of this catechesis will always be Jesus Christ himself, who is 'the way, the truth and the life'" [3:1698].

Morality is not just a way of behaving but is more essentially a way of being. This brings out Catholicism's commitment to metaphysical and moral realism. What this means is that the starting point in thinking about our lives and our world is with things in reality, not with things imagined. Reflection is on the world of real existence, which men have not made or constructed, with the idea that the knowledge gained of this reality is the only reliable guide to human conduct. That is, sanity, and thus the possibility of sanctity, depends on adapting one's self to ultimate reality. Metaphysics uncovers this reality. Morality is a right response to the discovery. What one ought to be and do is based on what [metaphysically] is.

In the Christian worldview God's creation is thought to be ordered, structured and law-governed. It is believed that just as there are natural laws governing the physical world, so too, there are natural moral laws which apply to the human soul. God built both sets of laws into the very structure of reality. Human beings thus feel the physical laws press on their beings (e.g., effects of gravity), and they feel God's moral code, patterned on his own holiness, pressing on them (e.g., stirrings of conscience).

What are some of the characteristics of the natural moral law?

* Teleological: The most important question of our moral lives is: What is the summum bonum, the greatest good or ultimate end? What are our lives for, in an ultimate sense? The Catechism answers, "we all want to live happily; in the whole human race there is no one who does not assent to this proposition" [3:1718], but then goes on to disclose wherein true happiness lies--"the joy of the Trinitarian life" [3:1721].