Reclaiming Catholic Social Teaching: post 6

"Americans of all ages, all stations of life, and all types of disposition are forever forming associations...In democratic countries knowledge of how to combine is the mother of all other forms of knowledge; on its progress depends that of all the others." Tocqueville: Democracy in America here

We continue week 2's sessions with the final chapter in this section: 'Social life'.

Key points:

• Small associations are a key element in the flourishing human life.
• The existence of such associations, both in the Church and in wider society has been under attack in the modern West.

My summary:

Leo emphasises the importance of what is often described as 'civil society': that type of association or society which is intermediate between the State and the family. In particular in this chapter, Esolen emphasises those associations ('pious societies' such as the Legion of Mary (p. 97) which both focus on the supernatural end of human beings but also on their natural end through friendship and mutual support. It is these associations which have often withered away in modernity, either as a result of deliberate targeting or by social changes.

My critical discussion:

Esolen starts the chapter with a discussion of Tocqueville's identification of small associations as a noticeable strength of nineteenth century US life:

"Americans of all ages, all stations of life, and all types of disposition are forever forming associations...In democratic countries knowledge of how to combine is the mother of all other forms of knowledge; on its progress depends that of all the others." Tocqueville: Democracy in America here

It is certainly true that much Catholic social teaching focuses on this level of social engagement: together with an emphasis on the family, this emphasis on the 'little platoons' ( a phrase from Edmund Burke) is in stark opposition to either individualism or an emphasis on the State. (As such, many of its themes have been taken up in Phillip Blond's Red Toryism or Maurice Glasman's Blue Labour. ) These societies have a natural right to exist which is not delegated to them by the State or even simply by the individual: they are more the basis for individuality and the State rather than the effects of them.

There is, once again, a methodological point to be made here about Esolen: by starting the chapter with a discussion of Tocqueville, he locates Catholic social teaching in history, in particular in the tradition of Western political philosophy and of the canon of Great Books.

Although Esolen, as usual, refers to a number of Leo XIII's documents in this chapter, perhaps the most relevant to read is Quod Apostolici Muneris. 

Questions:

• Changes in the family and in the 'little platoons' of civil society are particularly noticeable in modern societies. Should we see these changes as attacks on their existence or simply as changes, either neutral or even benign?
• Life in Catholic parishes is, according to Esolen, no longer dominated by these 'muscles' of Catholic life (p.97). Is that true? Is it regrettable?

[This is the final post for week 2. Join me on 7 September for the posts on week 3, starting with chapter 6: The Church as Society.]