"Law and the Catholic Social Tradition"

I'm teaching a seminar this upcoming quarter (8 weeks) at the University of Chicago called "Law and the Catholic Social Tradition."  I'm very grateful to all those MOJ readers and bloggers who e-mailed suggestions about readings and structure.  (Although I wondered if any students would be interested, it appears that it will fill up.) 

Obviously, there are serious limits to what can be done in 8 weeks, and I'm sure there are tons of issues (e.g., the death penalty, abortion, environmentalism) that I'm missing.  I ended up trying to focus on themes rather than issues.  I ended up relying on the Compendium more than on particular encyclicals.  (Clearly, something is lost by doing this.)  And, I also tried, where appropriate, to incorporate both the "progressive" and "conservative" takes on the tradition, and to put them in conversation with each other (e.g., Bainbridge v. Sargent).  We'll see how it goes!  (Note:  This is still subject to change, so if you have suggestions, feel free to pass them on.)

If anyone is interested, the readings follow the jump . . .

Week One (March 28):           Introduction

1. Pope Benedict XVI, Deus caritas est (Nos. 1, 20-22, 25-29).
2. Avery Cardinal Dulles, Catholic Social Teaching and American Legal Practice, 30 Ford. Urb. L. J. 277 (2002).
3. John A. Coleman, S.J., Neither Liberal Nor Socialist:  The Originality of Catholic Social Teaching, in Coleman, ed., One Hundred Years of Catholic Social Thought:  Celebration and Challenge (1991).
4. George Weigel, Centissimus Annus:  The Architecture of Freedom, in Michael Novak, et al., eds., A Free Society Reader:  Principles for the New Millennium (2000).
5. Compendium Nos. 1-5, 160-208.

Week Two (April 4):               Foundations

1. Russell Hittinger, Introduction to Modern Catholicism, in John Witte, Jr. & Frank S. Alexander, The Teachings of Modern Christianity on Law, Politics, & Human Nature (2006).
2. Pope John Paul II, Veritatis splendor (1993)(Nos. 31-53, 95-97).
3. John Courtney Murray, S.J., We Hold These Truths:  Catholic Reflections on the American Proposition (1988) (

   Ch.

   13).
4. Arthur Leff, Unspeakable Ethics, Unnatural Law, 1979 Duke L. J. 1229 (1979) (excerpt).
5. Compendium Nos. 20-59.

Week Three (April 11):          The Human Person and Human Rights

1. Francis Canavan, S.J., The Image of Man in Catholic Social Thought, in Kenneth L. Grasso, et al., eds., Catholicism, Liberalism & Communitarianism:  The Catholic Intellectual Tradition and the Moral Foundations of Democracy (1995).
2. Jean Bethke Elshtain, The Dignity of the Human Person and The Idea of Human Rights:  Four Inquiries, 14 J. L. & Rel. 53 (1999-2000).
3. Richard W. Garnett, Christian Witness, Moral Anthropology, and the Death Penalty, in Erik Owens, et al., eds., A Call for Reckoning:  Religion and the Death Penalty (2004) (excerpt).
4. Zachary R. Calo, Catholic Social Thought, Political Liberalism, and the Idea of Human Rights.
5. Compendium Nos. 105-59.

Week Four (April 18):             Family, Society, and State

1. Richard W. Garnett, The Story of Henry Adams’s Soul:  Education and the Expression of Associations, 85 Minn. L. Rev. 1841 (2001) (excerpt).
2. Jean Bethke Elshtain, Catholic Social Thought, the City, and Liberal

   America

   , in . Kenneth L. Grasso, et al., eds., Catholicism, Liberalism & Communitarianism:  The Catholic Intellectual Tradition and the Moral Foundations of Democracy (1995).
3. James G. Dwyer, Parents’ Religion and Children’s Welfare:  Debunking the Myth of Parents’ Rights, 82 Cal. L. Rev. 1371 (1994) (excerpt).
4. John Courtney Murray, S.J., We Hold These Truths:  Catholic Reflections on the American Proposition (1988) (

   Ch.

   9).
5. Compendium Nos. 209-54, 377-92, 406-27.

Week Five (April 25):             Religious Freedom

1. Pope Paul VI, Dignitatis humanae (1965).
2. Catholic Charities of

   Sacramento

   v. Superior Court (2004).
3. Van Orden v. Perry (2005).
4. Andrew Koppelman, Is It Fair To Give Religion Special Treatment?, 2006 Ill. L. Rev. 571 (excerpt).
5. John Courtney Murray, S.J., We Hold These Truths:  Catholic Reflections on the American Proposition (1988) (

   Ch.

   2).
6. Compendium Nos. 69-71, 421-27.

Week Six (May 2):                  Law, Politics, and Morality

1. St.

   Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae (excerpt).
2. Gregory A. Kalscheur, Moral Limits on Morals Legislation:  Lessons for

   U.S.

   Constitutional Law from the Declaration on Religious Freedom, 16 S. Cal. Interdisc. L. J. ___ (2006) (excerpt).
3. John Paul II, The Participation of Catholics in Political Life (2002).
4. Robert George, Public Morality, Public Reason, First Things (2006).
5. Geoffrey R. Stone, Religious Rights and Wrongs,

   Chicago

   Tribune, June 26, 2006.
6. Compendium Nos. 393-405.

Week Seven (May 9):             The Economic Order

1. United States

   Conference of Catholic Bishops, Economic Justice for All (1986).
2. Richard John Neuhaus, Property and Creativity, in Michael Novak, et al., eds., A Free Society Reader:  Principles for the New Millennium (2000).
3. Mark Sargent, Utility, the Good, and Civic Happiness:  A Catholic Critique of Law and Economics, 44 J. Catholic Leg. Stud. 35 (2005).
4. Stephen M. Bainbridge, Catholic Social Thought and the Corporation (2003).
5. Compendium Nos. 323-376.

Week Eight (May 16):            Lawyers and Work

1. Amy Barrett, Speech to Graduates of

   Notre

   Dame

   Law

   School

   (May 2006).
2. Elizabeth Rose Schiltz, Should Bearing a Child Mean Bearing All the Cost?  A Catholic Perspective on the Sacrifice of Motherhood and the Common Good, Logos (forthcoming 2007).
3. Gregory A. Kalscheur, Ignatian Spirituality and the Life of the Lawyer: Finding God in All Things – Even in the Ordinary Practice of the Law (2006).
4. John Breen, The Catholic Lawyer and the Meaning of Success, 40 Cath. Law. 227 (2001).
5. Thomas L. Shaffer, Roman Catholic Lawyers in the

   United States

   (2006).
6. Compendium Nos. 255-322.