St Mary’s University – Dean of Faculty – Education, Humanities and Social Sciences. Professor of Finance, Public Policy and Ethics.
As well as Dean of the Faculty of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences at St Mary’s University, Philip helps to develop curricula and teaches in fields such as political economy, business ethics and Catholic social teaching. He also works for the Institute of Economic Affairs as Senior Academic Fellow. Click here to view Philip’s full profile
As the UK parliament moves closer to the momentous vote on assisted suicide on 29th November, it is worth taking stock of the arguments. The arguments in favour of the bill fall on each of the grounds of principle, practice and because of the inadequacies of the bill – and you do not have to be Catholic to accept the arguments against.
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One of the areas of work of F. A. Hayek was the evolution and use of language. He noted that Confucius was reported to have said: “when words lose their meaning, people will lose their liberty.” And Hayek described the profound impact on culture and politics of the ability of intellectuals to use old words and give them new meanings. Sometimes, and misleadingly, those meanings were the opposite of their classical definitions. Unfortunately, we can see this phenomenon today when it comes to life issues.
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There is a wide variation in practice in relation to whether business enterprises respect the natural environment and human dignity as well as the rights of local communities. Best practice in environmental sustainability and the protection of the rights and dignity of local people can only be achieved if both governments and companies fulfil their proper functions and behave ethically. A typical situation here might be a mining or other industrial company choosing to operate in a poorer country.
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In the run up to the election, our friends at Together for the Common Good have launched a new podcast series exploring the common good as a catalyst to spiritual and civic renewal.
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Despite the strong interest in property rights in Catholic social thought and teaching, their importance is rarely linked to the topic of the preservation of the natural environment. There is a clear prima facie case for doing so. It starts with what is often described as the ‘tragedy of the commons’.
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Esther Rantzen is one of a number of well-known and well-regarded celebrities who have publicly declared their support for a change in the law on assisted dying. When a celebrity makes a pronouncement, many people stop and take notice even if the celebrity is not making any new arguments. Celebrity is persuasive. Esther Rantzen says that she appreciates all the arguments against assisted dying. Nevertheless, she thinks that people should be given a choice about how and when they want to die. In particular, she wants to spare her family from the painful memories of a bad death. She observes that, after all, we give dogs a painless death. Given the current prohibition on assisted dying under English law she has decided that if her treatment for stage four lung cancer does not improve her condition she may just ‘buzz off to Zurich.’
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In the first part I wrote about the situation of families that do have children. However, have you thought recently about how old the population looks when you go out onto the street? This is not just because people are living longer. Where are the prams, pushchairs and babies? Pope Francis has talked about how we are moving towards a “demographic winter”.
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The family is a much-neglected topic in political discourse – even amongst Christian members of parliament. And, even where politicians are supportive of the family, they do not seem to be able to express an over-arching narrative that ensures that the family forms the focus for political decision-making.
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According to the Catechism: “Prudence is the virtue that disposes practical reason to discern our true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it” (paragraph 1806). Some would argue that it is the pre-eminent virtue necessary in those areas of public policy that pertain to economic issues.
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On 4th October, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, Pope Francis published an apostolic exhortation, Laudate Deum (Praise God). This is a summary of that document.
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