Option for the Poor and for the Earth: Catholic Social Teachings. By Donal Dorr. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2012. Pp. vi + 522. $38.00.

This chapter examines various eco-justice perspectives against mountaintop removal in the twenty-first-century movement, including influences from Catholic social teachings and mainline Protestant social justice work. Many of these efforts first emerged in the War on Poverty era, transitioning into activism against strip mining in the later twentieth century. Advocates of this position often cast resistance to mountaintop removal in a broader historical perspective of activism against social injustice. Mountaintop removal, they argue, constitutes a violation of the rights of the poor and needy, exploiting the lives and labor of rural Appalachians in favor of economic profits. The chapter provides specific accounts of individuals and organizations that offer this perspective in their work against mountaintop removal.

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Allowing the Poor to Share the Earth

Journal of Moral Philosophy ◽

10.1163/174552411x588982 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 8 (3) ◽

pp. 335-352 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Thomas Pogge

Keyword(s):

Environmental Degradation ◽

Natural Resource ◽

Global Fund ◽

Resource Depletion ◽

The Poor ◽

The Earth ◽

Urgent Task ◽

Institutional Mechanism ◽

Natural Resource Depletion

AbstractTwo of the greatest challenges facing humanity are environmental degradation and the persistence of poverty. Both can be met by instituting a Global Resources Dividend (GRD) that would slow pollution and natural-resource depletion while collecting funds to avert poverty worldwide. Unlike Hillel Steiner's Global Fund, which is presented as a fully just regime governing the use of planetary resources, the GRD is meant as merely a modest but widely acceptable and therefore realistic step toward justice. Paula Casal has set forth various ways in which this step might be improved upon. Solid counter-arguments can be given to her criticisms and suggestions. But to specify the best (effective and realizable) design of an appropriate global institutional mechanism with some confidence, economists, political scientists, jurists, environmental scientists, and activists would need to be drawn in to help think through the immense empirical and political complexities posed by this urgent task.

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Philosophical Expositions of Leadership and Human Values in Catholic Social Teachings: Resolving Nigeria’s Leadership Deficit and Underdevelopment

Open Journal of Philosophy ◽

10.4236/ojpp.2013.33059 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 03 (03) ◽

pp. 391-400

Author(s):

Ani Casimir ◽

Onah Nkechinyere ◽

Rev.Canon Collins Ugwu ◽

Maudline Okpara

Keyword(s):

Human Values ◽

Catholic Social Teachings ◽

Social Teachings

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Aesthetization of the christian ethical ideal in o. wilde's fairy tale «The Happy Prince»

Vìsnik Marìupolʹsʹkogo deržavnogo unìversitetu. Serìâ: Fìlologìâ ◽

10.34079/2226-3055-2020-13-22-11-16 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (22) ◽

pp. 11-16

Author(s):

Vitaliia Aleksenko ◽

Keyword(s):

Fairy Tale ◽

Ancient Philosophy ◽

Christian Doctrine ◽

Dead Bird ◽

The Poor ◽

The Earth ◽

Christian Love ◽

The Aesthetic ◽

The Relationship ◽

Precious Stones

The paper explores the problem of the relationship between the ideas of aesthetics and the Christian doctrine of active love in the famous tale written by O. Wilde. The research which emphasizes the Christian basis of the author's outlook became the methodological basis of the present study on the background of a detailed analysis of various assessments of the writer's position, interpreted as an immoral aesthete and as a supporter of socialist ideas or a recipient of ideas of ancient philosophy of spiritual beauty. The study proves this in detail, analyzing the plot and figurative solutions of the fairy tale «Happy Prince», taking into account the traditional Christian symbols. Thus, the image of the Prince-Statue, decorated with gold and precious stones, is interpreted as a symbol of Christ, who gives his splendor and power to save the poor. It is also reminiscent of the words of Christ, who tells a young rich man who seeks perfection to sell his wealth and give money to the poor. The very values of the earthly world, gold and precious stones, luxurious things made of them, are transparently interpreted in an ironically reduced tone. The confirmation of the fact that the aestheticization of being yields to the hidden spiritual greatness of Christian love and self-sacrifice is also that that the values of the earthly world, gold and precious stones are transparently interpreted in an ironic tone in the fairy tale. The swallow, being the ancient symbol of the Renaissance, this bird was lured by the perishable beauty of idols and tombs of Egypt, the biblical symbol of captivity. The swallow finds its purpose in the service of the Prince, scattering his precious clothes to the poor. And here the ethical criterion turns out to be higher than the aesthetic one. They are not rewarded on the Earth: the bird dies of the cold, and the remains of an unpresentable statue of the prince are demolished, the decisive word to belong to the professor of aesthetics. However, the angel of God brings the most precious things he has found in this city to the heavenly palaces of the Lord: the tin heart of the Prince, torn by grief, and a dead bird. By analyzing the writer's ideological system with implicit implications, Wilde's position is quite obvious: despite his apparent admiration for the aesthetics of beauty, the writer rejects ultimately the doctrine of aesthetics and exalts Christian values, setting out his concept in the style of a parable.

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Roman Catholic Tradition and Ritual and Business Ethics

Spiritual Goods Faith Traditions and the Practice of Business ◽

10.5840/spiritgds20019 ◽

2001 ◽

pp. 69-85

Author(s):

Barbara Hilkert Andolsen

Keyword(s):

Work Force ◽

Roman Catholic ◽

Business Leaders ◽

Contingent Work ◽

Clerical Workers ◽

Work Arrangements ◽

Catholic Social Teachings ◽

Table Fellowship ◽

Catholic Tradition ◽

Social Teachings

Clerical workers are an important segment of the work force. Catholic social teachings and eucharistic practice shed useful moral light on the increase in contingent work arrangements among clerical workers. The venerable concept of "the universal destination of the goods of creation" and a newer understanding of technology as "a shared workbench" illuminate the importance of good jobs for clerical workers. However, in order to apply Catholic social teachings to issues concerning clerical work as women's work, sexist elements in traditional Catholic social teachings must be critically assessed. Participation in the Eucharist helps shape a moral stance of inclusivity and sensitivity to forms of social marginalization. While actual practice fails fully to embody gender or racial inclusivity, participation in the inclusive table fellowship of the Eucharist should make business leaders question treating contingent workers as a peripheral work force.

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