Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Liberalisms and the Scope of Catholic Social Thought
To me it is clear that more than a thin conception of the good is needed to ground a just society. But I do not think that all liberalisms rely on a thin conception of the good. Martha Nussbaum’s conception of human flourishing is a far thicker conception of the good than that of John Rawls (though it is a secular conception). (Nussbaum is a religious Jew, but she does not believe religion should play a public role in grounding religious judgments). I wonder about the utility of arguing that Catholic social thought is politically (as opposed to theologically) superior to all forms of secular liberalism. Does such a claim contradict the claim of Catholic social thought to appeal to all human beings?
https://mirrorofjustice.blogs.com/mirrorofjustice/2009/07/liberalisms-and-the-scope-of-catholic-social-thought.html