SUMMER FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
ON
CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING:
ISSUES OF JUSTICE
 
Catholic Social Thought and Human Work

Eugene McCarraher
Humanities and Augustinian Traditions
Villanova University

Description:

This seminar will introduce participants to the history and variety of Catholic social thought on work, poverty, and solidarity. We will trace the development of the Church's modern social tradition from its conflicted origins in the 19th century to its conflicted state in the first years of the 21st. This tradition has attempted to forge a coherent Catholic response to industrial and post-industrial capitalism from a variety of sources: a medievalist conception of labor, markets, and community life; an evolving debate about "the natural" and "the technological"; a tension between poverty as a spiritual ideal and poverty as a social evil; an attempt to find a "third way" distinct from capitalism and socialism.

I hope that the assigned readings will both exemplify these conflicts and sharpen our understanding of the issues at stake. Thus, I would contend that an appreciation of the history of Catholic social thought is essential for its future development.

Texts:

By Little By Little - Pages 235-248
Dorothy Day, 1983.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf
Falvey Call Number: HN37.C3D358 1983

It All Goes Together - Pages 122-134 and 157-162
Eric Gill, 1944.
New York: The Devlin-Adair Company
Falvey Call Number: N7445.G5

The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism - Pages 333-360
Michael Novak, 1982.
New York: Simon and Schuster Publications
Falvey Call Number: HB72.N68 1982

Oppression and Liberty - Pages 56-124
Simone Weil, 1958.
London: Routledge and Kegan Paul LTD.
Falvey Call Number: HX266.W3813.1958