locatelli. justice and markets

8/8/2019 Locatelli. Justice and Markets

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/locatelli-justice-and-markets 1/7

Advancing the Common Good:Does Justice Conflict with Markets?

by Paul ! ocatelli" #!J!Precis

$ased on your theme" % selected as the to&ic of my talk B Advancing the Common Good: DoesJustice Conflict with Markets? % did so for a number of reasons" among them the divergent viewsof this 'uestion!

% begin with some clarifications! (he common good has a rich tradition in Catholic intellectualand social thought! )et as David *ollenback i notes: the Aservice to the common good wascentral to the normative vision of the good life through much of +estern thought" from classicalGreek moral &hiloso&hy!!!@ onward! Common good" a difficult conce&t to gras&" begins with the &ro&osition that each &erson is sacred and social and further that the human rights and dignity" thehuman &otential and well,being of each &erson are achieved in one moral ecology!

#ocial -ustice is the virtue that orients one=s moral actions toward the common good! (he

foundation of social -ustice is a moral vision for society because we share a common humanity andfreedom! Conse'uently" each &erson and social grou& will commit to the good of all because theysee that we are res&onsible for the well,being and 'uality of life of each other!

Decisions and actions of the -ust &erson will habitually advance the good that is simultaneouslycommon for all individuals and the community! Markets are the human institutions" among manyothers" that &rovide a way to relate economicallyBrelationshi&s that can be either -ust or un-ust"de&ending on the habitual orientation of those with the resources and wherewithal to e.changegoods and services!

#ome contend -ustice always conflicts with free market ca&italism! ike all of you" % do not find

this a credible &osition! %t=s not credible to conclude either that the human institutions ofmarkets or ca&italism are a priori un-ust or that cor&orations e.ist solely for self,interest and &rofits for the haves" leaving the have,nots out and e.&loiting them in the &rocess!

/thers" at the o&&osite e.treme" argue that markets are the &rimary" and even the sole" arbiter of -ustice and ethics! ikewise" % do not find that a credible &osition!

Answers to the 'uestion of conflict between -ustice and markets which are com&le. and liesomewhere in between these e.tremes! (oday" % offer three world views that res&ond differentlyto the 'uestion! $y world view" % mean the lens through which one a&&roaches life or the moral &hiloso&hy by which one sees how we ought to live together or the assum&tions one makes about

how things work or should work together!

(he first world view is individual freedom or libertarianism! Markets &rovide the mechanism toe.ercise individual freedom" and they also &rovide the basis for a 0consensus of &ur&ose1 orcommon goals toward which citi2ens severally strive! ii (his Aconsensus of &ur&ose@ ofindividuals acting inde&endently defines the collective good! (he Austrian school best e.em&lifiesthis world view!

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%n this unitarian and libertarian world view" -ustice is limited and defined as fair dealings byindividuals in market &lace! And" in this definition" any limits &laced by government on thefreedom to e.change goods" services or money are readily considered un-ust im&ositions!4ational choice in libertarian economics while driven by Arational selfishness@ 5Ayn 4and6"

individual liberty" &rivate &ro&erty" &ros&erity" &ower" satisfaction" and ha&&iness" &laces the locusof -ustice in the individual and markets! (his &hiloso&hical &osition often a&&ears on editorial &ages of the Wall Street Journal !

(he second world view begins with develo&ment as substantive freedom iii for each &erson! (hisworld view differs substantially from the libertarian view! Amartya #en &rovides the bestarticulation of a Adevelo&ment as freedom@ world view" with social -ustice as one of the goalsof markets!*e argues for develo&ing the ca&abilities of every &erson by eliminating all the sources ofunfreedom on the one hand" and creating freedoms on the other! 7nfreedom includes eliminating"for e.am&le" &overty as well as tyranny" lack of economic o&&ortunities as well as systematic

social de&rivation" neglect of &ublic facilities as well as intolerance or overactive re&ressive states!

8ach &erson gains ca&abilities to &artici&ate in society through five areas of freedom" including 93market ca&italism together with 9; &olitical and 9< social o&&ortunities" as well as 9= access toinformation and 9> &ersonal safety! Develo&ment toward freedom re'uires fair and workabledemocratic systems ensuring civic and &olitical rights" legal mechanisms ensuring human rights"market structures with conditions for access to food" water" educational and health &rovisions"media and other communication access" and &rotection from violence of all sorts!(he third is the 0common good1 world view in which the dignity of the &erson is constitutive ofthe good that is common! %t challenges us to see business and markets through the lens of a -ustice for the common good" sometimes called a -ustice of solidarity!

%t=s a short ste& from #en=s &osition to a -ustice of the common good! Justice is the reality" for #en" that re'uires &olicies and laws which would moderate glaring social ine'uity and &rovide asafety net as well as situate economic develo&ment in democracy and an interconnected" o&enworld

A -ustice of the common good" likewise noted as -ustice of solidarity" begins" not with anorientation of individualism or relativism" but with a commitment to the human dignity of each &erson in moral society! (his commitment calls for an abiding and &ervasive determination toconstruct a more humane and -ust society es&ecially for the marginali2ed and &oor" A because we

are truly res&onsible for all!@iv

#ocial -ustice and markets converge when decisions are made on the grounds of our commonhumanity and freedom! (he lens of -ustice sees life as sacred and social" and orients markets bothto overcome &overty and include the &oor in develo&ment!

John Paul offered a blue&rint for educating to advance the common goodv when he asserted:

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A Catholic university" as any university" is immersed in human society!!! %ncludedamong its research activities" therefore" will be a study of serious contem&orary &roblems in areas such as the dignity of human life" the &romotion of -ustice for all"the 'uality of &ersonal and family life" the &rotection of nature" the search for &eace and &olitical stability" a more -ust sharing in the world@s resources" and a neweconomic and &olitical order that will better serve the human community at anational and international level! 7niversity research will seek to discover the rootsand causes of the serious &roblems of our time" &aying s&ecial attention to theirethical and religious dimensions!vi

ather Peter *ans,Bolvenbach was even more s&ecific when he called for the ideal of a Awell,

educated solidarity@ 9cf a&&endi. attached!! or a further understanding of such an education"% refer you to his /ctober ; address entitled: 0(he #ervice of aith and the Promotion ofJustice in American Jesuit *igher 8ducation!1

%n my discussion of three world views" % have suggested the latest &aradigm may be a &ers&ectiveof a -ustice of solidarity and of the common good that moves the &oor and disadvantaged to a

different &lace in society and in markets! %n both society and market" they move toward thecenter stage of life which will enhance the 'uality of life for the community and each &erson!$ecause the intertwined &roblems of &overty" race" ethnicity" and class are increasing and turninginto our greatest future human rights challenge" we need to work together to analy2e root causesand &ro&ose solutions in the market&lace! (his means including the voices of the &oor" at onelevel for our democracy and society to work and" at another level" for our economic" educational"and legal systems to o&erate -ustly!

Dialogue among &eo&le with this diversity of world views is critical to the un&re-udiced search for truth" for no one &osition contains every certainty about the world" every certainty about howthings work! And o&en and res&ectful dialogue among intelligent &eo&le with varying &oints of

view offers the best chance of discovering truth" of analy2ing root causes" and discoveringworkable solutions!

A&&endi.

An essay on:A well-educated solidarity : community-based learning for the global village

On-line essay for the Ignatian Center, Santa Clara niversity by !aul"ocatelli, S#$# %&&'

Imagine the (orld as a global village in (hich (e reali)e (e are boundtogether in one moral community, sharing res*onsibility for all of +od=screation# e can only imagine this ideal (orld, but (e e*erience over andover, in small and in dramatic (ays, as on ./00, ho( our lives and liberationare bound together# 1his de2nes solidarity as that virtue and transformative

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human e*erience that *uts claims on us to restore and sha*e the globalvillage (ith 3no(ledge, (isdom, and virtue#

Solidarity, ho(ever, raises 4uestions and even controversies# !oliticalideologies and social activism dominate its usage# 5et solidarity=s genuine

meaning, as related to $esuit education, is best articulated, from manysources in scri*ture and Catholic intellectual and social teachings, in Gadiumet Spes of II 6atican Council# Intimately sharing our 7oys and ho*es,su8erings and a9ictions, gifts and education, es*ecially (ith those usuallyecluded from our villages;, is being in solidarity# 1his *assion to be (ithothers ins*ires com*assion#

<nvisioning solidarity as a moral virtue, ather >olvenbach introduced well-educated solidarity as the *aradigm for $esuit education# ?e simultaneouslyraises academic ecellence to a ne( level and shifts the Ignatianeducational 4uestion of How should I live a life of virtue? to How should we

together live lives of virtue in this rapidly globalizing world?

1his ne( 4uestion B ho( should (e together live B gives community-basedlearning CB"; ne( im*ortance for (hen CB" and solidarity converge,teaching and research include learning (ith and from everyone in the globalvillage, including, as ather >olvenbach asserts, those living in the grittyreality= of in7ustice, *overty, and violence#

CB" re4uires a *edagogy of integration and interaction across teaching,research, engagement, accom*animent and moral choices# ell-educatedengagement is 3ey to CB", because evidence sho(s that engagement (ith

community *artners living in the (orld=s gritty realities, enhances3no(ledge, critical and creative thin3ing, and ethical choices#

1o *ut it another (ay, (hen faculty and students learn from and (ith the*oor or marginali)ed, sharing gifts and education, those learning 2nd ne(dimensions to their 3no(ledge and a dee*er enrichment of their o(n lives#hen learning includes engagement, accom*animent in s*irit and fact,moral choice usually follo(s# And community-based research B learning(ith and from, rather than merely about those living in reality= B *rovidesgreater understanding of the root causes of many of the *roblems (e face#

ith CB", *ers*ectives change, mutual res*ect develo*s, and heightenedmoral sensitivity emerges# aculty and students learn the academic value of accom*animent and giving voice to or becoming voices for the voiceless# Inthe 2nal analysis, CB" B an e*erience and instrument of solidarity Bengages students, community *artners, and faculty in the 7oy of learning B

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discovering, communicating, and using 3no(ledge B to fashion a morehumane and 7ust society#

Ahen the heart is touched by direct e*erience,@ ather >olvenbachstated, Athe mind may be challenged to change# !ersonal involvement (ith

innocent su8ering, (ith the in7ustices others su8er, is the catalyst forsolidarity (hich then gives rise to intellectual in4uiry and moral reection#@

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i David *ollenbach" #!J! Christian 8thics and the Common Good! &!,E

ii Milton riedman" Capitalism and Freedom" &!;!

iii Amartya #en" Development as Freedom 9Few )ork" F): 4andom *ouse" 3!

iv John Paul %%" Sollicitudo Rei Socialis" n! <H!

v Po&e John Paul %%" Ex Corde Ecclesiae ! n! 3;! 8ndnotes to 8. Corde: 53=6! Cf! (he Magna Carta of the 8uro&ean

7niversities" $ologna" %taly" #e&tember 3H" 3HH" Iundamental Princi&les!I 53>6! Cf! atican Council %%" PastoralConstitution on the Church in the Modern +orld Gaudium et #&es" n! >: AA# >H 93" &! 3H Declaration on

Catholic 8ducation Gravissimum 8ducationis" n! 3: AA# >H 93" &! E<E! I%nstitutional autonomyI means that thegovernance of an academic institution is and remains internal to the institution Iacademic freedomI is the guaranteegiven to those involved in teaching and research that" within their s&ecific s&eciali2ed branch of knowledge and accordingto the methods &ro&er to that s&ecific area" they may search for the truth wherever analysis and evidence lead them" andmay teach and &ublish the results of this search" kee&ing in mind the cited criteria" that is" safeguarding the rights of theindividual and of society within the confines of the truth and the common good!

vi %bid! n <;!

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