Analyzing the Morality of Owning and Suspending Patent Rights for COVID-19 Vaccines in the Light of Catholic Social Teaching

2021 ◽  
pp. 002436392110504
Author(s):  
Vivencio O. Ballano
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Social Transformation ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Pharmaceutical Companies ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
Moral Principles ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Preferential Option ◽  
The Common

Using the Roman Catholic Church’s set of moral principles on social concerns called Catholic social teaching (CST) and utilizing some secondary data and scientific research literature, this article examines the morality of India and South Africa’s request to the World Trade Organization (WTO) to temporarily suspend the property rights and patents of top pharmaceutical companies to their vaccines to allow low-income countries to locally manufacture them to save the lives of the poor during this COVID-19 pandemic. Applying the theological method of “See-Judge-and-Act,” this article argues that the suspension of patents for COVID vaccines is morally justifiable in the light of CST’s principles on the universal destination of earth’s goods, the common good, and preferential option for the poor. The top pharmaceutical companies cannot claim absolute ownership to their vaccines as they do not totally own and fund the entire development and production process. Furthermore, the right to private ownership and patents has a social dimension and must serve the common good and welfare of the poor, especially in times of global emergency such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Patent holders have a moral obligation to promote the common good and save the lives of the poor which must prevail over their capitalist quest for profit. This article recommends that Catholics and Christians must join this crusade for the suspension of patents as part of their spirituality of social transformation. Summary: Applying the Roman Catholic Church’s set of moral principles on social concerns called CST and utilizing some secondary data and scientific research literature, this article examines the morality of India and South Africa’s request to the World Trade Organization to temporarily suspend the property rights and patents of top pharmaceutical companies to their vaccines to allow low-income countries to locally manufacture them to save the lives of the poor during the current pandemic. Applying the theological method of “See-Judge-and-Act,” this article argues that the suspension of patents for COVID vaccines is morally justifiable in the light of CST’s principles on the universal destination of earth goods, the common good, and preferential option for the poor. It recommends that Catholics and Christians must join this crusade for the suspension of patents as part of their spirituality of social transformation. Short Summary: This article argues that patents of the top pharmaceutical companies to their COVID-19 vaccines must be suspended as requested by India and South Africa in the WTO in the light of CST’s moral principles on the universal destination of earth’s goods, the common good, and preferential option for the poor.

Development within the limits of order, 1820–70

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Toye
Keyword(s):  
French Revolution ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Natural Rights ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Nineteenth Century France ◽  
The Common ◽  
State List ◽  
The French Revolution

After the upheavals of the French Revolution, Enlightenment thinkers were blamed for loosening the bonds of society. In nineteenth-century France, Saint-Simon advocated a social compromise whereby scientists and artists planned the path of progress while the propertied classes retained political power albeit acting as trustees for the interests of the poor. Comte called for a scientific sociology to inform the design of political institutions. In Britain, Bentham rejected the doctrine of natural rights in favour of the principle of utility, while J. S. Mill flirted with Comte’s positivism briefly. Marx made little impact and socialism came in the guise of Fabianism and middle-class trusteeship for the poor. In Germany, Hegel interpreted the French Revolution as a phase in a moral struggle for freedom and called for freedom to be reconciled with the idea of the common good embodied in the state. List envisaged the common good as protectionist trade policy.

scholarly journals Luther and Economic Questions

1910 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 131-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Alfred Faulkner
Keyword(s):  
Common Good ◽  
Kingdom Of God ◽  
The Other ◽  
Word Of God ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Special Knowledge ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Church

There are two facts to be borne in mind in regard to Luther's whole attitude to social and economic questions. The first is that ordinarily this was a territory to be confined to experts, in which ministers should not meddle. He believed that a special knowledge was necessary to deal with some of these matters, and that they had better be left to those to whom Providence had assigned them, whether the jurists, those clever in worldly knowledge, or the authorities. The other fact is that the Church after all has social duties, and that Church and clergy must fight flagrant abuses and try to bring in the Kingdom of God on earth. The Church must use the Word of God against sin and sinners, and so by spiritual ministries help the needs of the time. The authorities on their part shall proceed by strict justice against evil doers. But there is another fact here which it is necessary to mention to get Luther's whole attitude, viz., that the State's function is not simply to administer justice, but to secure the general weal. They shall do the very best they can for their subjects, says Luther. “The authorities shall serve their subjects and use their office not petulantly [nicht zu Mutwillen] but for the advancement of the common good, and especially for the poor.” The princes shall give laws which shall limit as far as possible social misery and national dangers. They should listen to the proposals of the Church to this end, and on the ground of wise counsels of churchmen, do away with old laws and make new ones.

How Virtue-Theoretic Arguments May Be Used in the Justification of Policy

Politics ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 129-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judi Atkins
Keyword(s):  
Common Good ◽  
Law And Order ◽  
Policy Initiatives ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
Moral Principles ◽  
The Common ◽  
Initial Exploration

Politicians frequently deploy moral principles in the justification of policy. While many thinkers have examined the use of consequentialist and deontological arguments in politics, the role of virtue-theoretic principles is relatively under-theorised. Drawing on the work of MacIntyre, this article offers an initial exploration of how such principles are deployed in political argument, with particular emphasis on policies in the area of community. It will be shown that virtue is linked to the idea of the common good, which governments seek to promote through a range of policy initiatives relating to such issues as law and order and citizenship.

Elites and the Constitution of Jesuit Identity

2018 ◽  
pp. 176-192
Author(s):  
Patrick Goujon
Keyword(s):  
Common Good ◽  
Political Support ◽  
Society Of Jesus ◽  
Religious Order ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Common ◽  
Social Project

The attitude of Jesuits toward elites sheds light on their relationship to society at large, considered as a relationship between an “interior” and an “exterior”: the “interior” projects itself toward the “exterior” in its mission, while the “exterior” is attracted toward the “interior” to ensure recruitment (vocations) and financial and political support (apostolic foundation). The Society of Jesus, as a religious order, a religious utopia, enlists the elite in two ways: not only interior to its ranks but also towards the exterior, and not only as potential recruits (vocation) or support (foundation) but also in making them, by means of the colleges, a way of attaining the objective of contributing to the “common good.” Jesuits integrate and invert the values of the elite, maximizing their qualities in the service of a social project serving the poor: the just governance of society.

scholarly journals Stay-at-Home Orders and the Common Good

2020 ◽  
pp. 002436392095165
Author(s):  
Cynthia Jones-Nosacek
Keyword(s):  
Common Good ◽  
Death Rate ◽  
Healthcare Systems ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Common ◽  
To Receive ◽  
Essential Service ◽  
At Home

COVID-19, also known as SARS-CoV-2, began in Wuhan, China, late November or early December, 2019 and has since spread rapidly throughout the globe, being declared a health emergency of international concern a month later and a pandemic on March 11, 2020. It is highly contagious with a death rate up to twelve times that of the flu, even higher where the healthcare systems have been strained. To reduce the spread, states have implemented stay-at-home declarations, limiting social gatherings, and closing churches. However, some have argued that churches are an “essential service” and should be reopened in order that the faithful to be able to receive the sacraments, in particular the Eucharist. I will argue that this goes against the Catholic doctrine of the common good and care for the poor and vulnerable. Summary: COVID-19 has caused a pandemic strained health care resources. In response, the US instituted stay-at-home orders which included the closing of places of worship. Within reason, this falls under the Catholic doctrine of the common good and caring for the poor and vulnerable.

Teaching Catholic Stakeholder Thinking Using the Open-Ended Case Method

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 259-284
Author(s):  
Carlo Carrascoso ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Development ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Personal Development ◽  
Meaningful Work ◽  
Case Method ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Fast Pace ◽  
The Common ◽  
Integral Human Development

Today’s managers face a competitive and globalized marketplace, with a multitude of stakeholders demanding their time and attention. The fast pace of this environment can overwhelm them and may interfere with their desire for meaningful work and an integration of their personal and professional values. This paper addresses this challenge by combining stakeholder theory and Catholic Social Tradition to form Catholic Stakeholder Thinking. Possessing values that are shared by managers of diverse faiths and beliefs, it explains how key Catholic social tenets and the resulting normative obligations inform managerial responsibilities to stakeholders. Catholic Stakeholder Thinking is taught and reinforced through the open-ended case method, an approach which encourages managers to critically examine the complexities of an issue. This determines whether their decisions promote integral human development and the common good in solidarity with the poor. The open-ended case method approach anchored in Catholic Stakeholder thinking sharpens managers’ skills and may contribute to personal development. Because of its shared focus on integral human development and the common good in solidarity with the poor, it can be used by managers of good will who hold different (or no) religious affiliations.

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