Empirical Foundations of the Common Good: What Theology Can Learn from Social Science

by Daniel K. Finn

Overview

The idea of the common good was borrowed by the Fathers of the early Catholic Church from the rich philosophical traditions of ancient Greece and Rome. It has been a fundamental part of Catholic thinking about social, political, and economic life throughout the Catholic intellectual tradition, from Augustine and Aquinas to modern Catholic social thought in the encyclicals of popes in recent centuries. Yet this history has been rooted in the traditions of philosophy and theology. With the rise of the social sciences in the nineteenth century as distinct disciplines no longer limited to the methods of their philosophical origins, humanity has learned a great deal more about the human condition. Empirical Foundations of the Common Good asks two questions: what have the social sciences learned about the common good? how might theology alter its understanding of the common good in light of that insight?
In this volume, six social scientists, with backgrounds in economics, political science, sociology, and policy analysis, speak about what their disciplines have to contribute to discussions within Catholic social thought about the common good. Two theologians then respond by examining the insights of social science and exploring how Catholic social thought can integrate social scientific insights into its understanding of the common good. This volume's interplay of social scientific and religious views is a unique contribution to contemporary discussion of what constitutes "the common good."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780190670054
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	07/03/2017
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Daniel K. Finn is Professor of Theology and Clemens Professor of Economics at St. John's University, Collegeville, Minnesota. He is a former president of the Society of Christian Ethics, the Catholic Theological Society of America, and the Association for Social Economics. His books include Christian Economic Ethics: History and Implications.

Table of Contents

Contributors
Forward
Introduction

Chapter 1 Contributions of Contemporary Political Science to an Understanding of the Common Good
Matthew Carnes, S.J.

Chapter 2 What Can Economists Contribute to the Common Good Tradition?
Andrew M. Yuengert

Chapter 3 Public Policy and the Common Good
Mary Jo Bane

Chapter 4 The Contribution of Sociology to Catholic Social Thought and
The Common Good
Douglas V. Porpora

Chapter 5 Contributions of Economic Theory to an Understanding of the
Common Good in Catholic Social Thought
Charles K. Wilber

Chapter 6 Public Service, Public Goods, and the Common Good
Argentina as a Case Study
Gerardo Sanchis Muñoz

Chapter 7 What Can Social Science Teach Catholic Social Thought
About the Common Good?
David Cloutier

Chapter 8 What Theology Should and Should Not Learn from the Social Sciences about the Common Good
Mary L. Hirschfeld

Editorial Reviews

"At the end, the reader can see what theology might learn from social science" — Nick Spencer, Studies in Christian Ethics

"Christian ethicists should clear space on their shelves for this important, multidisciplinary volume that highlights how the social sciences can enrich our theological understanding of the common good." — Daniel J. Daly , Journal of Catholic Social Thought

"Finn and the contributors to this excellent volume have produced a series of self-contained yet related essays that are precise, clear and richly informative without being pedantic or abstract. Throughout, the essays recognize that the common good is a both a prescriptive and abstract principle, without a method for achieving its goal, and also recognize that the social sciences are more concerned with moral dimensions of equity, fulfillment and order than is often acknowledged. Working in conversation, the limitations of both approaches might be strengthened and the common good advanced." —William Buhrman, International Journal of Public Theology

"This volume is suitable for graduate students or scholars interested in the common good and in CST. The contributors present important terms and movements from within their disciplines in an accessible way. Some of the insights by the social scientists are helpful even to experienced theologians who often engage in interdisciplinary collaboration."—Mary Beth Yount, Reading Religion

"This book is not just a collection of essays. It is a creative, integrated, and very successful attempt to advance the meaning of the common good through an interdisciplinary dialogue of theology and philosophy with the social sciences. This is a major contribution to a better understanding of the core issue of social ethics."—Charles Curran, Elizabeth Scurlock University Professor of Human Values, Southern Methodist University

"This ground-breaking volume is a uniquely helpful resource for theologians, economists, political scientists—indeed anyone eager to understand and promote the common good today. Each essay successfully blends the positive and normative, the empirical and the ethical, to shed light on the full meaning of the common good and the crucial role it can play in our public life. A satisfying exercise of interdisciplinary cross-fertilization, this volume greatly advances the noble enterprise of serious dialogue between theology and the social sciences."—Thomas Massaro, S.J., Professor of Moral Theology, Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University

"The fascinating variety of ways in which the authors in this volume explore the relationship between the Catholic conception of the common good and the contributions of the social sciences make the book an invaluable resource for all Christian thinkers for whom the empirical sciences are not merely tools but can inform and enrich normative ethical ideas. The book is a significant contribution to Christian ethics."-Jon P. Gunnemann, Professor of Social Ethics, Emeritus, Emory University

From the Publisher