POSC 171
LOVE, TRUTH, AND THE ECONOMY: A REFLECTION ON BENEDICT XVI’S CARITAS IN VERITATE
John M. Breen
1. List two or three points or arguments posited in the material that struck you (if available cite the specific researcher/investigator and specific page).
i. The economy is part and parcel of human activity and precisely because it is human, it must be structured and governed in an ethical manner.” Indeed, every economic decision has a moral dimension because every economic decision carries with it a moral consequence. This moral dimension extends not only to the activity of service providers, manufacturers, and financiers, but also to consumers who must recognize that purchasing is always a moral and not simply economic act. (page 994-995)
ii. Without truth, without trust and love for what is true, there is no social conscience and responsibility., and social action ends up serving private interets and the logic of power, resulting in social fragmentation. Without truth, deeds, no matter how well intentioned, will be blind, and without love, knowledge of the truth will be sterile. (page 1005-1006)
iii. Charity goes beyond justice, because to love is to give, to offer what is “mine” to the other; but it never lacks justice, which prompts us to give the other what is “his”, what is due him by his reason of his being or his acting. I cannot “give” what is mine to the other, without first giving him what pertains to him in justice. If we love others with charity, the first of all we are just towards them. (Caritas in Veritate)
2. Indicate whether or not you agree with these points and explain why you hold this view.
i. Agree. What one purchases and the amount one consumes not only reflect the values that the consumer holds dear and the kind of lifestyle she thinks is worth living; her actions also have repercussions for others, both in the immediate chain of distribution and beyond.
ii. Agree. There are many examples of this phenomenon
John M. Breen
1. List two or three points or arguments posited in the material that struck you (if available cite the specific researcher/investigator and specific page).
i. The economy is part and parcel of human activity and precisely because it is human, it must be structured and governed in an ethical manner.” Indeed, every economic decision has a moral dimension because every economic decision carries with it a moral consequence. This moral dimension extends not only to the activity of service providers, manufacturers, and financiers, but also to consumers who must recognize that purchasing is always a moral and not simply economic act. (page 994-995)
ii. Without truth, without trust and love for what is true, there is no social conscience and responsibility., and social action ends up serving private interets and the logic of power, resulting in social fragmentation. Without truth, deeds, no matter how well intentioned, will be blind, and without love, knowledge of the truth will be sterile. (page 1005-1006)
iii. Charity goes beyond justice, because to love is to give, to offer what is “mine” to the other; but it never lacks justice, which prompts us to give the other what is “his”, what is due him by his reason of his being or his acting. I cannot “give” what is mine to the other, without first giving him what pertains to him in justice. If we love others with charity, the first of all we are just towards them. (Caritas in Veritate)
2. Indicate whether or not you agree with these points and explain why you hold this view.
i. Agree. What one purchases and the amount one consumes not only reflect the values that the consumer holds dear and the kind of lifestyle she thinks is worth living; her actions also have repercussions for others, both in the immediate chain of distribution and beyond.
ii. Agree. There are many examples of this phenomenon