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Last update: 18/08/15
Classes on Catholic Social Teaching were offered in 2014/15 fortnightly on Wednesdays, commencing at 6pm at the Catholic Chaplaincy centre in Edinburgh.
To express an interest or to find out more about future courses, please contact Elizabeth Drummond Young: elizdrummondyoung@gmail.com
Current offering:
24 August-21 September 2015:
Online course on Anthony Esolen's Reclaiming Catholic Social Teaching. Details here.
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Session 3: commencing 15 April 2015: THIS SESSION IS NOW COMPLETE
ETHICS AND FAITH IN THE REAL WORLD
In Academic and Professional, Business and Public Life
Seminars to be held at the Catholic Chaplaincy, 24 George Square, Edinburgh
From: 6pm to 7.30pm on Wednesday evenings
AIMS OF THE SERIES:
1. To facilitate seminars in which those of us who support the mission of the Albertus Institute can explore together some of our concerns and intellectual interests in the relation between faith and practical ethics in daily life today.
2. To share experience of how we exercise personal moral responsibility in the various areas of our lives and work, and of the role faith plays in our decision-making.
3. To discuss ways in which we can contribute both individually, and through the Institute, to promote more public dialogue about current issues of ethical importance.
Facilitators:
Henry S Thompson — Professor, School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh
Ian E Thompson — Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame Australia
1. April 15th — Exploring challenges we face in our secular and sceptical work environment
Issues of Cultural Relativism, Subjectivism, Cynicism & Scepticism and Personal Uncertainty
— Dr Stephen Watt, University of Edinburgh, Department of Open Studies,
with Henry Thompson and Ian Thompson
2. April 29th — Individual, Team & Corporate Responsibility in Business & Public Life
“Russian Dolls” model of ethics — levels of responsibility and accountability to stakeholders
— Odile Pilley, international consultant in development policies/strategies and postal affairs.
— Dr Elizabeth Drummond Young, University of Edinburgh, Department of Open Studies,
with Ian Thompson and Henry Thompson
3. May 13th — Certainty and Uncertainty in Ethics — Can computers give us moral certainty?
Machines and Humans: practical wisdom & casuistry, ethical decisions versus ethical policy
— Zenon Bankowski, Professor Emeritus of Legal Theory, University of Edinburgh School of Law
with Henry Thompson and Ian Thompson
4. May 27th — Can virtue be taught? — Decision-making in Youth Justice and Child Protection
Acquiring skills in Values Clarification, Ethical Decision Making and Ethical Policy Setting
— Bill Whyte, Professor of Social Work, University of Edinburgh School of Social and Political Science
— Angela Gentile, Development Manager, Circle — Supporting Families in Scotland
with Ian Thompson and Henry Thompson
5. June 17th — Personalist Ethics — Power Sharing & Responsibility in Health Care
Distinguishing in Practice: Good & Evil, Right & Wrong, Virtue and Vice
— Alisdair MacLullich, Professor of Geriatric Medicine, University of Edinburgh Medical School
with Ian Thompson and Henry Thompson
6. June 24th — Poverty & Riches — Human Rights and Our Responsibilities in International Aid
[THIS SESSION HAS BEEN CANCELLED] Freedom & Liberty, Rights & Duties in relation to Globalization and Development
— Philippa Bonella, Head of Communications and Education for SCIAF,
with Ian Thompson and Henry Thompson
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Second Term -2015 (commencing January) THIS SESSION IS NOW COMPLETE
14 January 2015: A recap of key principles in Catholic Social Teaching. This session will offer an opportunity to those who missed the classes in the first term to catch up with some of the key theoretical principles of Catholic Social Teaching. (It will also be suitable for those who'd like a refresher!) (Led by Dr Stephen Watt.) 6pm-8pm (NB: this will be a two hour session.)
Sessions for the remaining evenings in the term will involve more specific applications or aspects of Catholic Social Teaching which will allow us to apply some of the theory discussed in the first term or in the session on 14 January:
28 January 2015: Roger Scruton and Catholic Social Teaching. (Led by Dr Stephen Watt and Dr Elizabeth Drummond Young.) 6pm-7pm.
11 February 6pm-7pm: Lord Drummond Young: Applying natural law
25 February 6pm-7pm: Odile Pilley: Challenging economic ideology: case studies from international organizations.
While working in retail financial services in Scotland in the nineties, post big bang, Odile started wondering about the assumptions behind decision-making in retail financial services. Weren’t a staggering number of people gradually excluded from access to financial services in one of the most sophisticated markets in the world ? Was tax avoidance morally acceptable even if it was legal ? Isn’t the rationale in mergers and acquisitions more often than not personal hubris ? Were decisions rational, as they were portrayed to be, or were they ideologically based ?
She then focused on how to make financial inclusion into an anti-poverty tool, before working for four years in the European Commission (Competition Directorate, State aid, public services and undertakings). Competition is a basic principle in the EU but states are entitled to entrust public services with specific entities. Where is the balance to be struck between public service obligations and competition? Are competition and liberalisation tools or ends per se ? Does public procurement really reach the objectives it is meant to achieve or, more counter intuitively, does it create more problems than it solves ? What about the procurement of public services ?
Subsequently, while employed by a UN specialist agency, she witnessed the harm that the Washington consensus had done to development and the increasing powerlessness of multilateral organisations vis-à vis multinationals and business interests. What can really be done in an interconnected world to reduce imbalances ? What can we, Christians, do when we play a part, however small, in supporting the decision-making process of international organisations so that they work towards the common good ?
In these three cases, Odile will try to illustrate how prayer and exchanges within dedicated groups can inspire those involved in the decision-making process choosing two examples of particular interest to our community in Edinburgh: the joint work of civil servants, NGOs and the Jesuit/Dominican groups in Brussels and the initiatives of the Observatoire de la Finance in Geneva.
11 March Philippa Bonella (Head of Communications and Education, SCIAF) 6pm-7pm
Option for the poor – putting Catholic social teaching into practice. In an interactive workshop, Philippa will share some examples of SCIAF’s work in some of the poorest countries of the world, showing how key principles of Catholic social teaching (human dignity, solidarity, subsidiarity, care for creation) can be put into practice by organisations and by each one of us. She will discuss some of the challenges SCIAF has faced in doing this, and some of the lessons learned.
2015/2016 on:
It is currently planned that a similar pattern of classes will be run in future academic years, with the first term devoted to explaining the theoretical principles of Catholic Social Teaching, and the remaining two terms devoted to both the application of these principles and consideration of more specific aspects of them.
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