Catholic Social Teaching: The Anti-Hobbesian

Hobbes has certainly made a comeback. From spearheading the philosophical revolution during the "Enlightenment" to fading from relevence in the 19th century era of common sense, his Radical Individualist/Leviathan State ideology has become the rage. Look at the various and sundry initiatives that Reasonable elites launch in order to promote the Agenda. They extoll the virtue of the Absolute Individual with one hand while Nanny-Stating society to death with the other. Hard to get more Hobbesian than that!

But is Hobbes right?

WCR Editor Glen Argan doesn't think so. His thesis in the current edition of Canada's largest religious weekly demonstrates what Hobbes got wrong. In a word, it's human nature:

Hobbes believed the best form of government was that run by an all-powerful Leviathan who controlled every aspect of people's lives. But most people today who assume that society is a contract among individuals tend to argue for as little government as possible. "Give us an army and police to protect our lives and property, and then leave us alone."

Catholic teaching is clear in rejecting this understanding of society. The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church argues that social contract theory is based on a false understanding of human nature. The origin of society is not found in an agreement among individuals, but in the natural disposition of men and women to live in community (see footnote 197).

Instead of seeing society as a conglomeration of the rights and desires of individuals, Catholic teaching sees the common good as fundamental. In his encyclical Pacem in Terris, Pope John XXIII wrote, "Every civil authority must strive to promote the common good in the interest of all, without favouring any individual citizen or category of citizen."

Who wins?

A question arises. If there is a tendency in social contract theory to see society as the creation of individuals, does not a theory of the common good do the opposite - make the needs of the individual subordinate to those of society? The short answer is no, but. . .

The teaching on the common good does not make either society or the individual primary. Rather, it says the nature of the human person is social. The Second Vatican Council put it this way: "The human person . . . cannot fully find himself or herself except through a sincere gift of self."

One implication of that understanding is that the fully human person is not simply passive, waiting to be served by others. To be fully human means to give of oneself. The Compendium says the common good "requires the constant ability and effort to seek the good of others as though it were one's own good" (n. 167).

We socialize because we're human. Society is not some convenient panzi scheme in which we all participate in order to be safe and end up on top. Society is the sum and summit of all of our human relationships. Let's face it: we find our very personhood when we're in relationship. Even our names were given to us. We live to the fullest only when we participate in those relationships through which we best express our personhood. We're only truly living when we're genuinely loving those in our lives.

That kind of love depends on our continued gift of ourselves to those with whom we're in relationship. Good parents provide the best example of this. Which good parents wouldn't give their children exactly what they need in order to live a wholesome life? Now, I'm no icon of St. Joseph, but I haven't finished my own breakfast yet this week. Frankie has taken the last bite from my plate every morning. Am I going to say no? Of course not!

Now, imagine if others throughout the hierarchy of associations and institutions that compose society nourished their own relationships--and themselves--through such principled self-giving. That society would preserve the common good. Everyone's win would be everyone else's win. We would lift up ourselves by lifting up others. People would awaken to discover that they lived life to the fullest because they loved their neighbors as themselves.

Catholic Social Teaching's vision of the human person and society corresponds with our nature as fallen, yet not irredeemable. It recognizes the scarring of sin while it holds aloft our intrinsic dignity and goodness. It identifies our true nature as social beings created for communion with each other and with our God. It promotes the principles that best allow us to live as we're created to live.

Can CST be any more anti-Hobbesian? Hardly. But as long as it witnesses to the Truth about human beings and human nature, it doesn't have to be.

Let the Reasonable worship the corpse of Hobbes. As for me and my house, we'll make our stand with Christ, his Church, and her social teaching. May more Fools stand with us soon!