UNCC100 -Assignment 1 PDF

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this assignment explains 9 principles of CST and the interrelationship between the self and the community....

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Feature Article: Catholic Social Thought, Self and Community

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Catholic Social Thought The principles of Catholic social thought provide an ethical scaffolding for viewing community which ensures that the benefit of the individual and the common good of all human being unite. It promotes a vision of an ideal society that is based on the Bible and wisdom gathered by the Christian community from experiences of social justice issues through history (Australian Catholic University [ACU], 2017, section.4).

Principles of CST

1. Dignity of the Human Person: This is the foundation of a moral vision for society. The church states that the God has given every human being a set of natural rightsdiscrete image and an innate dignity which must always be upheld (ACU, 2017, section. 3).

Feature Article: Catholic Social Thought, Self and Community

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The principle states that under no circumstances, one can lose their dignity and compromising the human dignity compromises the humanity itself. Human life is therefore sacred. (ACU, 2017, section. 3). 2. The common good: The CST acknowledges that human beings are not only sacred but social and thus humans thrive in relationship to others. The core is that the community should be developed in such way that every person could participate and flourish equally and the dignity of all is maintained (Australian Catholic Social Justice Council [ACSJC], 2017). The rights and duties of individuals and groups should be harmonised under the common good. 3. Preferential option for the poor: This principle is a basic moral test for how the society is reading society from the perspective of the most vulnerable, whose needs should be addressed first (ACU, 2017, section. 3). The principle does not intend to focus on the poor to the exclusion of others, rather calls to prioritize those who are in most need of our solidarity. 4. Stewardship of Creation: The CST identifies the need of respect to the earth and life as a gesture of appraisal for creation. Every human being is a care taker of the earth and is responsible for sharing all the resources the earth gives us (ACSJC, 2017). All human beings depend solely on the Earth for survival, thus it is important to acknowledge the greatness of nature for supporting life and development. 5. Subsidiarity: Subsidiarity is a fundamental need of justice and a requirement for human dignity that all people be assured a minimum level of participation in the community, meaning that everyone should be given fair opportunity to create their own destiny rather than simply accepting others decision (ACU, 2017, section.3). The right to participate is not only for individuals but also to communities and groups.

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6. Universal purpose of Goods: This principle demands the unbiased distribution of resources so that everyone could live a truly human life and fulfil their family need in a worthy manner. People and nations have no rights to apprehend the property when someone else is in need (ACU, 2017, section.3). 7. Participation: the principle of participation is a part of subsidiarity that explains every human being has something unique and important to share with the community. It urges everyone to be an active member of the social and global communities (ACSJC, 2017). 8. Promotion of peace: Peace, according to catholic teaching, is not just the absence of war. Peace stands by virtue of justice and respect to human dignity which upholds mutual respect and confidence between people and communities, at national and global levels (ACU, 2017, section.3). 9. Global Solidarity: The principle of global solidarity acknowledges that all human beings are part of one family and everyone has obligation to promote the rights and development of all people living nearby and to the larger society. At the core of the virtue of solidarity is an understanding of the essence of human interaction and justice (ACU, 2017, section. 3).

Interrelationship between Self and Community

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The principles of Catholic social thought have always tried to find an equilibrium for the whole society by respecting the human dignity, solidarity and prioritising the needs of marginalised and weakest people so that everyone could flourish and live their life truly. The core concept of the CST is a fundamental principle for human flourishing all around the world, however, might exist in different forms. In Africa, for instance, there exists the principle of “Ubuntu”, which means “I am who I am because of who we all are” (ACU, 2017, Section. 2). This view marks the importance of every individual in the overall human flourishing and seeks to eliminate the flourishing of one individual in the expense of other. Similarly, “The Golden Rule” which states that “one should treat others as one would like others to treat one's self”, articulates the fairness in behaving and treating people (ACU, 2017, section.1). The golden rule envisions a community with equity where every individual experience equality.

Human Flourishing and The Good Life Human flourishing is a concept that has been largely misunderstood as living happily, however, there is a significant difference in being happy and flourishing. While happiness expresses the state of mind, pleasure within one’s environment, human flourishing unleashes the idea of process, of both personal and community goals (Triglav Circle, 2017).

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To understand human flourishing, one must cognise Aristotle’s ethics of virtuous living, Eudaimonia. Eudaimonia, according to Aristotle, is living well and faring well by cultivating virtues and reasoning. Every virtue is a disposition to behave in certain ways that lies between two extremes, good and bad. These virtuous actions are known as “The Golden Mean” and depend upon situations (ACU, 2017, section. 4). Aristotle argues that living a good life as a human being would focus to a significant extent of contemplation and acquiring the intellectual knowledge to perform virtuous actions. He claims that person who lives a good life acts rightly and also develops the appropriate state of character from which to perform these rights actions in one’s life and towards the society (ACU, 2017, section. 4). Therefore, a community would flourish if every individual tends to live a virtuous life rather driving pleasure from the false immediate actions.

Human- A Social Animal

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Humans have always lived in groups from the very beginning of human development and use reasoning power to evolve as a social animal. The principles and ideologies of the CST, Ubuntu and Aristotle have acknowledged that human beings are social by nature and they exist in inter-relationship with nature and other people (ACU, 2017, section.2). Therefore, all human beings seek to have a good life, not only for them, but the good life with others. This notion of mutual flourishing derives the common good, which can only be realised in the mutual relationships from which human beings achieve their well-being (ACU, 2017, section. 2). Thus, the individual and the common good are two inseparable entities, and the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

Principles of CST, Individual and the Community The principles of catholic teachings are collective catholic beliefs of human development and flourishing, that, if put into practice, could develop a human community, where the dignity of every individual is respected, the good life of the human person and community is achieved with the participation of all members and the common good is achieved via the principle of subsidiarity and universal purpose of goods (ACU, 2017, section.3). Moreover, CST attempts to deliver a message that all human beings thrive in interrelationship with other and thus the flourishing of one is directly dependent on the other

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(ACU, 2017, section 2). Therefore, CST implicates that the human flourishing is not possible at an individual level, but it goes together with the flourishing of whole community at local and global levels. To sum up, all human flourishing theories tempt to deliver a similar message but with different perspectives. At core of all principles, is the overall development of entire mankind and the better future where every individual could flourish and enjoy the privilege of equity and equality.

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References Australian Catholic Social Justice Council [ACSJC]. (2017). Social Teaching. Retrieved 11 September 2017, from http://www.socialjustice.catholic.org.au/social-teaching Australian Catholic University. (2017). Section.1: The Good Life and the Golden Rule. UNCC100 Unit Materials. Retrieved from https://leocontent.acu.edu.au/file/8e8cfd0c0c07-4862-92c1-118b46d203d4/26/M1-TheGoldenRule.html Australian Catholic University. (2017). Section. 2: I am because we are; Individual and Society. UNCC100 Unit Materials. Retrieved from shttps://leocontent.acu.edu.au/file/8e8cfd0c-0c07-4862-92c1-118b46d203d4/26/M2IndividualAndSociety.html Australian Catholic University. (2017). Section. 3: The History and Principles of Catholic social thought. UNCC100 Unit Materials. Retrieved from https://leocontent.acu.edu.au/file/8e8cfd0c-0c07-4862-92c1-118b46d203d4/26/M3HistoryAndPrinciplesCST.html Australian Catholic University. (2017). Section. 4: Human Flourishing and the Common Good. UNCC100 Unit Materials. Retrieved from https://leocontent.acu.edu.au/file/8e8cfd0c-0c07-4862-92c1-118b46d203d4/26/M4HumanFlourishingCG.html Triglav Circle. (2017). Human Flourishing and Social Justice. Retrieved 11 September 2017, from http://www.triglavcircleonline.org/2005/12/human-flourishing-and-socialjustice/

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