Ethics & National Economy

Written in 1917 as part of a symposium of Catholic thinkers on the problem of Christian Natural and International Law, Fr. Pesch's contribution stresses a truth which is as fundamental as it is today neglected: that morality must govern economic life. Taking apart the various aspects of economic activity, Fr. Pesch throws the light of the Moral Law on such topics as the manufacture of material goods, exchange of goods, remuneration and wages, justice in pricing, and - of course - he looks at what he calls the two "absurd consequences" of the individualist, free-market school of thought: Capitalism and Socialism. Heinrich Pesch, S.J. (1854 - 1926) is one of the greatest of philosopher-economists, whose "Solidarism" is based upon the classical and Christian understanding of man and socio-economic life, rooted in the teaching of Aristotle and perfected by St. Thomas Aquinas. His other works include Liberalism, Socialism, and the Christian Social Order (1900) and the monumental Compendium of National Economy, which ran to nearly four thousand pages and earned him recognition as the first Catholic to write a complete, scientific economic treatise. Volume I of his Compendium saw numerous editions and was a standard text in the social science curricula at many Catholic institutions of higher learning. 184 pp. Softcover.