A Study of Economic Justice in the Writings of Karol Wojtyla (Pope John Paul II)

Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1997 The Third Way: A Study of Economic Justice in the Writings of Karol Wojtyla (Pope John Paul II). Woodard King Mott rJ Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Mott, Woodard King Jr, "The Third Way: A Study of Economic Justice in the Writings of Karol Wojtyla (Pope John Paul II)." (1997). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 6509. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/6509 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 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THE THIRD MAY: A STUDY OP ECONOMIC JUSTICE IN THE WRITINGS OF KAROL WOJTYLA (POPE JOHN PAUL II) A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy In The Department of Political Science by Woodard King Mott, Jr. B.A., Louisiana State University, 1983 M.A., Louisiana State University, 1987 August 1997 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 9808766 UMI Microform 9808766 Copyright 1997, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition Is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. f for M, G, C. il miglior fabbro. 11 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. I TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS....................................... ii ABSTRACT..............................................iv INTRODUCTION ....................................... 1 CHAPTER I ............................................ 13 The Philosophical Anthropology of Karol Wojtyla CHAPTER I I ........................................... 51 Love, Righteousness and Justice CHAPTER I I I ......................................... 105 The Third Way: Karol Woj tyla' s Theory of Economic Justice CHAPTER I V .......................................... 158 Quaerite Dominum: The Prophetic Stance CHAPTER V ........................................... 205 Conclusion WORKS CITED ......................................... 255 VITA ............................................... 265 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT Pope John Paul II, bora Karol Wojtyla, has written extensively about the human person and how that person acts in the world. Beginning with Wojtyla's doctoral dissertation presented at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas on the Catholic mystic St. John of the Cross and continuing through the most recent best seller, Crossing the Threshold of Hope. Christian personalism has pervaded Wojtyla's writings, encyclicals, and public utterances. Wojtyla's perspective on economic justice, as shaped by his Christian personalism, is the subject of this dissertation. A systematic investigation of Wojtyla's theory of economic justice reveals a third way of economic life. Grounded in a particular interpretation of human nature influenced, as it is, by both the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church and the twentieth century phenomenologist Max Scheler, Wojtyla moves towards proclaiming an economic reality based upon love (agape) . Love will then form the basis for an ethical evaluation of economic behavior. In the end, Wojtyla wishes to create a certain shared solidarity based upon a common human condition. In his discussion of economic justice he believes it is also possible to speak both of the universal transcendent reality that does not change and the relative demands of justice in the world. iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. f INTRODUCTION Pope John Paul II, born Karol Wojtyla on May 18, 1920, in Wadowice, Poland, attempts to articulate a view of economic justice to a world he considers marked by needless human suffering. In an effort to ameliorate this situation, Wojtyla makes moral judgments concerning economic and social matters, especially "when the fundamental rights of the person or the salvation of souls requires it."1 Wojtyla goes on to insist that the most influential economic theories of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (capitalism and communism) have increased economic and social disequilibrium, and debilitated human existence.2 As a Pole who experienced the oppression of World War II and the subsequent Communist takeover, Wojtyla survived to discuss the evils of modernity. He lived through Nazi totalitarianism, the expansion of Stalinist communism in Poland, and Edward Gierek's communist regime in Poland. xCatechism of the Catholic Church. "The Social Doctrine of the Church" (Liquori, MO: Liquor! Publications, 1994), 2420:581. 2Cf. Talks of John Paul II. foreword by his eminence John Cardinal Krol "Recognition of the Inherent Dignity of Each Person," To His Excellency, Dr. Kurt Waldheim, Secretary-General of the United Nations Organization (Boston: St. Paul Editions, 1979) From the Vatican, December 2, 1978. l j - Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2 Each of these political experiences has contributed to Wojtyla's particular interpretation of a just political community. Wojtyla attributes this merging of realms of human activity to the extensive and comprehensive scientific and technological advancement of contemporary society.1 In fact, drawing upon these historical experiences, Wojtyla makes a powerful connection between economic justice and social justice. The link between these two ideas comes from Wojtyla's recognition that it is difficult, if not impossible, to address questions of social justice without considering economics. While the development of economic activity and growth in production are meant to provide for the fulfillment of the human person, Wojtyla describes a situation contrary to that progressive idea. Accordingly, he advances the personalistic principle as a prescription for economic justice consistent with the true dignity and meaning of the human person. "So the development of my studies centered on man--on the human person--can ultimately be explained by my pastoral concern. And it is precisely from a pastoral point of view that, in Love and Responsibility, I formulated the concept of a personalistic principle."4 3Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter ( Exercens) (May 5, 1981) Joannes Paulus II P.M. 4John Paul II, Crossing the Threshold of Hope. "Human Rights," Edited by Vittorio Messori (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1994), 200. I» Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. I 3 Wojtyla argues that human love can serve as an ethical basis for economic decisions. Wojtyla approaches the question of economic justice from the perspective of both scholar and priest. Thus, he has experienced both the disinterested, objective philosophical approach that marks the academy and the passionate, pastoral approach characteristic of the priest. The combined effect of this treatment provides another contrast to traditional economists. Specifically, Wojtyla reveals a scholarly and priestly tradition that is concerned with the human person.5 Wojtyla's educational background includes work at the gymnasium in Wadowice, at the Jagiellonian

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