SOCIAL PROGRESS AND INTEGRAL HUMAN DEVELOPMENT: ON HAPPINESS, WELFARE AND DIGNITY

This article examines philosophical assumptions of whether and how happiness could become a goal of political action and standard for assessing government’s performance. It is argued that solidarity and care for the common good require the political economy of citizenship balanced with affirmation of the dignity of the human person in the form of basic human rights. The rule of law and fair procedures should be complemented with the concern for character development into citizenship and mature civic commitment. This unfolds both in faith-based and secular attempts to imagine and measure human development in terms beyond GDP index and economic statistics. To succeed these attempts must be based on an adequate anthropology, draw their strength from a sound moral source and inspire mature ethical agency. Catholic social thought conceives of integral human development as a way of envisaging social arrangements that foster flourishing of the whole person and each person. It is based on the vision of the human being as an image of God and draws its energy from the idea of “good society” in which respect for the dignity of the human person and care for the common good of all people are central to political and social life. KEY WORDS: Integral human development, common good, dignity, good society, human rights, social progress

Contributive Justice and Ecology

This paper reflects the viewpoint of a member of the ecology and creation desk of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. Contributive justice is proposed as a beacon that should guide all actions that aim to address the injustices in the world—chiefly, the challenges related to natural resources and the care for the environment. This care requires an enabling context: being cautious with the meritocratic narrative; implementing good governance; avoiding a paternalist stance according to which one relies totally on the state’s action and, instead, going beyond what is a strictly legal requirement and even beyond reciprocity for the sake of solidarity and for protecting the commons. In conclusion, genuine gratuitousness—in this case, as applied to water management—is presented as a key contribution for society. The text is rooted in the recent magisterium and in the 50-year-old synodal document Justice in the World.

Human Rights and Multilateral Diplomacy. A perspective of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development on the Right to Life

The article describes the contribution and activities of the Pontifical Department for the Promotion of integral human development. The Holy See as a subject of international law participates in multilateral negotiations, especially in international organizations such as the United Nations, making a concrete effort to promote the right to life, which today is often denied or even combated as a limitation of other (false) rights recognized as new human rights.