A reinterpretation of justice in Catholic social thought as a lived experience of communal life
Catholic social thought is a living tradition. Insights into justice that are centuries old still apply, but they need to be reexamined in light of historical developments such as democracy, global markets, feminism, the preferential option for the poor, environmental challenges, and the shift of Christianity's growth to the Global South.
Rethinking Justice in Catholic Social Thought invites the reader to engage insights on justice from a range of cultural, religious, and intellectual traditionsfrom African, Hindu, and Buddhist to Scholastic, liberal, Latin American, and Scriptural. The result is an understanding of justice as a lived experience of communal life that entails freedom and dignity for all and equitable access to the common goods of the community.
This volume will help the reader develop a conception of justice that is coherent, comprehensive, faithful to the tradition, responsive to the best contemporary insights, suitable for confronting pressing injustices, and clear enough to be accessible to nonexperts.
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part I: Sources for Re-thinking Justice
1. African Understandings of Justice, Agbonkhianmeghe E. Orobator, S.J.
2. Hindu and Buddhist Understandings of Justice, George Kodithottam, S.J.
3. Justice in Latin American Theology, Maria Inźs de Castro Millen
4. Scripture as a Resource for Re-thinking Justice in Catholic Social
Thought, Anathea Portier-Young
5. Thomas Aquinas' Theory of Justice, Jean Porter
6. How Liberalism Can Contribute to Re-thinking Justice in Catholic Social
Thought, Francis Schussler Fiorenza
7. Justice in Catholic Social Teaching, Lisa Sowle Cahill
8. Experience, Social Location, and Justice, Agnes M. Brazal
9. Justice as a Characteristic of Social Structures, Daniel K. Finn
Part II: Three Constructive Accounts of Justice
10. What Justice Might Be Understood to Entail in Catholic Social Thought
Today, Agbonkhianmeghe E. Orobator S.J.
11. Justice: A Three-Dimensional Account from Catholic Social Teaching, David
Cloutier
12. Justice as a Virtue in Catholic Social Thought, Lisa Sowle Cahill
Part III: A Rough Consensus
13. Toward a Definition of Justice in Catholic Social Thought, Daniel K.
Finn
About the Contributors
Daniel K. Finn is Professor Emeritus of Economics and the Theology at St. John's University and the College of Saint Benedict. He has written several books, including Consumer Ethics in a Global Economy: How Buying Here Causes Injustice There (GUP 2019).
