The Contradictions of Catholic Neoconservatism

2020 ◽  
pp. 85-98
Author(s):  
Jesse Russell
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Public Image ◽  
Social Teaching ◽  
The Public ◽  
Democratic Capitalism ◽  
The Social ◽  
Anglo American ◽  
Social Teachings ◽  
American Catholic

This chapter details the rise and fall of perhaps the most unusual bloc within the neoconservative movement: the Catholic neoconservatives. It traces how Michael Novak's best seller The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism (1982) caused Catholic neoconservatives to shift American Catholic discussion of economics to a defense of “democratic capitalism” as the purest distillation of Catholic social teaching. This argument was reinforced when another Catholic neoconservative, George Weigel, seized the public image of John Paul II for political purposes with the publication of Weigel's biography Witness to Hope (1999). Once the neoconservatives were able to speak for conservative Catholicism in America, they rallied American Catholic celebrities to their positions on foreign interventionism, support for multinational corporations, and Jewish ultranationalism. Integral to this campaign was the success of Catholic neoconservatives in fashioning an American Catholic understanding of political philosophy, starting with the social teachings of St. Thomas Aquinas. In The Hemisphere of Liberty, Novak dwells on a statement made by the English Catholic classical liberal Lord Acton in order to present St. Thomas as the “First Whig.” This was part of an arduous effort to reconcile medieval political philosophy with the neoconservative understanding of Anglo-American liberalism.

‘Everything Belongs to God’

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter Rech
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Public Good ◽  
Economic Inequality ◽  
Private Ownership ◽  
Social Conflicts ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
Wealth Redistribution ◽  
Social Teachings

This chapter examines and contextualizes Sayyid Qutb’s doctrine of property and social justice, which he articulated at a time of deep social conflicts in Egypt. The chapter describes how Qutb, along with other writers concerned with economic inequality in the 1920s–40s such as Hasan al-Banna (1906–1949) and Abd al-Razzaq al-Sanhuri (1895–1971), conceptualised private ownership as a form of power that must be limited by religious obligations and subordinated to the public good. The chapter further shows that Qutb made this notion of restrained property central to a broader theory of social justice and wealth redistribution by combining the social teachings of the Qur’an with the modern ideal of the centralized interventionist state. Arguably this endeavour to revitalise the Quranic roots of Islamic charity and simultaneously appropriate the discourse of modern statehood made Qutb’s position oscillate between legalism and anti-legalism.

Muriel Spark's Early Fiction

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Bailey
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Public Image ◽  
Critical Study ◽  
Social Critique ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
Stage Play ◽  
Insight Into

This book presents a detailed critical analysis of a period of significant formal and thematic innovation in Muriel Spark’s literary career. Spanning the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s, it identifies formative instances of literary experimentation in texts including The Comforters, The Driver’s Seat and The Public Image, with an emphasis on metafiction and the influence of the nouveau roman. As the first critical study to draw extensively on Spark’s vast archives of correspondence, manuscripts and research, it provides a unique insight into the social contexts and personal concerns that dictated her fiction. Offering a distinctive reappraisal of Spark’s fiction, the book challenges the rigid critical framework that has long been applied to her writing. In doing so, it interrogates how Spark’s literary innovations work to facilitate moments of subversive satire and gendered social critique. As well as presenting nuanced re-readings major works like The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, it draws unprecedented attention to lesser-discussed texts such as her only stage play, Doctors of Philosophy, and early short stories.

Social teachings and practices of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Ukraine

2021 ◽  
pp. 6-15
Author(s):  
V. Kuryliak
Keyword(s):  
Human Person ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Seventh Day Adventist ◽  
Educational Activity ◽  
Social Teaching ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Teachings ◽  
High Level ◽  
Life On Earth

The article provides an overview of the social practices of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The level of Adventist participation in educational, health, philanthropic and political activities is analyzed. It is determined that the educational activity of Adventists is based on the integration of Christian values into the educational process in order to educate a purposeful person who is able to serve God and society at a high level. Adventist medical and health activities are aimed at preventing physical illness, as it is believed that the disease is easier to prevent than to cure. Adventists practice charity through the officially established Adventist Relief and Development Agency, which believes that the Church’s assistance to society must meet not only the spiritual but also the physical needs of man. Adventist participation in politics is not approved, but it is not forbidden. This is due to the conflict and rivalry that arises in the political race, so it is desirable to use your talents in those areas that bring peace and good to society. It is stated that the central idea of the social teaching of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is the protection of freedom of conscience and the dignity of the human person. Thus, by putting the principles of social doctrine into practice, the Seventh-day Adventist church premises become the Church’s social laboratories, through which the faithful of this denomination achieve two goals. The first of them is aimed at spreading their own religious beliefs and teachings, and the second – following the example of Christ, who during his life on earth served the physical needs of society around him. As a result of the study, the document “Social Teaching of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Ukraine” aims to implement the Church’s two goals: educational and charitable, the implementation of which allows the denomination to positively represent themselves in Ukrainian and world society.

Another Voluntarism

Legitimacy ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 43-66
Author(s):  
Paul Weithman
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Social Contract ◽  
Political Legitimacy ◽  
Social Contract Theory ◽  
The Public ◽  
Corporate Body ◽  
The Social ◽  
Real Work ◽  
Moral Claims ◽  
Philosophical Questions

John Rawls’s presentation of his famous principle of legitimacy raises a number of exegetical and philosophical questions which his texts leave unresolved. The key to their solution lies in a claim Rawls makes about the character of political power. Rawls uses language familiar from social contract theory to describe that power, saying that it is the power of the public as a corporate body. This chapter considers but ultimately rejects the suggestion that Rawls’s treatment of legitimacy is Lockean. Rather, Rawls follows Kant in thinking that talk of a contractual incorporation is best understood as a way of expressing fundamental moral claims about the object of a constitution, about citizens’ standing, and about legislators’ duties. These are the claims that do the real work in Rawls’s account of legitimacy. To show this, the chapter lays out Kant’s conception of the social contract and argues that we can draw on that conception to understand Rawls’s account of political legitimacy. It then spells out the philosophical pay-offs of the reading offered here by showing how it solves some textual puzzles and how Rawls’s account differs from others that have recently been defended in political philosophy. The chapter concludes by mentioning some lingering questions about Rawlsian legitimacy.

scholarly journals The Principles of Catholic Social Teaching: A Guide for Decision Making from Daily Clinical Encounters to National Policy-Making

2017 ◽  
Vol 84 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Shields Wright
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Catholic Social Teaching ◽  
Human Person ◽  
Social Teaching ◽  
Faith And Reason ◽  
Clinical Encounters ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Teachings

Catholic social teaching (CST), a branch of moral theology, addresses contemporary issues within the political, economic, and cultural structures of society. The threefold cornerstone of CST contains the principles of human dignity, solidarity, and subsidiarity. It is the foundation on which to form our conscience in order to evaluate the framework of society and is the Catholic criteria for prudential judgment and direction in developing current policy-making. With knowledge of these social principles, in combination with our faith, we will be more armed and informed as to articulate the Catholic vision of reality, the truthful nature of the human person and society, to apply and integrate the social teachings in our everyday administrative and clinical encounters, and through the virtue of charity take action within the social, political, and economic spheres in which we have influence. Summary The Church's social encyclicals are a reflection upon the issues of the day using the light of faith and reason. They offer commentary on the ways to evaluate and address particular social problems—also using natural law principles—in the areas of politics, economics, and culture. Quotes were selected from the encyclicals that define and expand upon the primary principles for the purpose of representing them for study, reflection, and use in everyday personal and business encounters and decision making for healthcare professionals.

scholarly journals Augmented Virtual Reality: Playing Architect

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Miller
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Black Male ◽  
White Male ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Public Image ◽  
The Public ◽  
Young Black Male ◽  
The Social ◽  
Alternative Understanding

This thesis sits at the intersection of identity and technology by considering what it means to assume the role of architect as the young black male. The public image of the architect is represented instead, by the white male figure and distributed in a narrative of individualist and ego. However, a critique of the ego through introspection and auto-biographical context gives alternative understanding to the social, cultural, racial and political discourse for the minority seeking autonomy. Framed in modern blackness, design in research becomes a process of appropriation where the architect can be challenged by notions of new softwares where platforms are built instead of foundations. Research that began largely about architecture and virtual reality - instead concludes with urgent questions involving the architect and the tools he interfaces - opening avenues for critical discourse on identity, autonomy, anonymity, and devices.

The American Bishops' Letter on the U.S. Economy---Revisited

1991 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-92
Author(s):  
Charles R. Dechert ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Social Economy ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Voluntary Service ◽  
Social Doctrine ◽  
The Social ◽  
Bureaucratic State ◽  
Social Teachings ◽  
American Catholic ◽  
The U.S

The American Catholic Church has attempted to apply and extend the social teachings of the Universal Church in light of American conditions and political culture, most recently in the 1986 Pastoral Letter on Catholic Social Teaching and the U.S. Economy, promulgated after six: years of analysis, debate, and amendment. Moving from an emphasis on government responsibilities for economic well-being and social welfare to a family-centered social vision stressing mediating groups and voluntary service, the American Church asserted a perennial social doctrine reaffirmed and extended in Pope John Paul II's Centesimus Annus. The latter calls on a century of experience that has demonstrated the failures of the bureaucratic state and "real socialism," the utility of a market economy in allocating resources efficiently, and the shift from a land-based social economy to one founded on knowledge and skill.

NAFTA & the Alien Tort Claims Act: Making a Case for Actionable Offenses Based on Environmental Harms and Injuries to the Public Health

2006 ◽  
Vol 32 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 381-404
Author(s):  
Kevin Scott Prussia
Keyword(s):  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
The United States ◽  
Developing Nations ◽  
Environmental Standards ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
Legal Mechanism ◽  
Domestic Law ◽  
Legal Barriers

Multinational corporations often wield more power than many of the world's nations. Their immense wealth and political capital make them almost hegemonic entities. These domineering enterprises are often able to undertake profit-making endeavors, particularly involving the consumption or extraction of natural resources, in developing nations with little or no regulation, and often without meeting the social and environmental standards adhered to in the United States.The emergence of multilateral free trade agreements, specifically within the developing world, has further enhanced the ability of multinational corporations to proliferate their business. Concomitant with the rise of free trade, political and legal barriers to multinational entry into the economy of developing nations are rapidly disappearing. In addition, many nations are unwilling and unable to protect their citizens from environmental abuses through domestic law. Therefore, finding a legal mechanism capable of checking the hegemonic power of multinational corporations is extremely important to the vitality of most developing nations.

scholarly journals Identifying Opinion Leaders on Twitter during Sporting Events: Lessons from a Case Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 141 ◽  
Author(s):  
José M. Lamirán-Palomares ◽  
Tomás Baviera ◽  
Amparo Baviera-Puig
Keyword(s):  
Rank Correlation ◽  
Public Image ◽  
Sporting Events ◽  
Relational Dynamics ◽  
The Public ◽  
Spearman’S Rank Correlation ◽  
Spearman’S Rank Correlation Coefficient ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Twitter Users

Social media platforms have had a significant impact on the public image of sports in recent years. Through the relational dynamics of the communication on these networks, many users have emerged whose opinions can exert a great deal of influence on public conversation online. This research aims to identify the influential Twitter users during the 2016 UCI Track Cycling World Championships using different variables which, in turn, represent different dimensions of influence (popularity, activity and authority). Mathematical variables of the social network analysis and variables provided by Twitter and Google are compared. First, we calculated the Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient among all users (n = 20,175) in pairwise comparisons. Next, we performed a qualitative analysis of the top 25 influential users ranked by each variable. As a result, no single variable assessed is sufficient to identify the different kinds of influential Twitter users. The reason that some variables vary so greatly is that the components of influence are very different. Influence is a contextualised phenomenon. Having a certain type of account is not enough to make a user an influencer if they do not engage (actively or passively) in the conversation. Choosing the influencers will depend on the objectives pursued.

scholarly journals Augmented Virtual Reality: Playing Architect

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Miller
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Black Male ◽  
White Male ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Public Image ◽  
The Public ◽  
Young Black Male ◽  
The Social ◽  
Alternative Understanding

This thesis sits at the intersection of identity and technology by considering what it means to assume the role of architect as the young black male. The public image of the architect is represented instead, by the white male figure and distributed in a narrative of individualist and ego. However, a critique of the ego through introspection and auto-biographical context gives alternative understanding to the social, cultural, racial and political discourse for the minority seeking autonomy. Framed in modern blackness, design in research becomes a process of appropriation where the architect can be challenged by notions of new softwares where platforms are built instead of foundations. Research that began largely about architecture and virtual reality - instead concludes with urgent questions involving the architect and the tools he interfaces - opening avenues for critical discourse on identity, autonomy, anonymity, and devices.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document