Charity and the Social Order [Second Installment]

CHARITY AND THE SOCIAL ORDER [Second Installment] III. MODERN THEORIES OF· SOCIAL RECONSTRUCTION RELATED TO CHARITY I. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF INDIVIDUALISM (1350-1800) Any attempt to sketch the course of modern theories of social reconstruction which claim love in some shape or form as a principle is subject to definite limitations. Doctrines on love of self, of country, of race or the brotherhood of man might be catalogued in logical fashion under the heads of individualism , statism, racism, and communism, their respective progenitors listed and criticized, their good points noted and their fallacies exposed. On the other hand, these various schemes of social reconstruction might be viewed as they appear in the course of historical development, the principles of one giving birth to the other, one doctrinaire borrowing, distorting or expanding the ethic of his predecessor. And though both the logical and historical treatment are fraught with complications, it seems better, in the interest of continuity, to pursue the latter course. For all its meanderings amidst the warp and woof of historical processes, it is freer from the lack of perspective engendered by "pigeon-holing" men and doctrines under their respective "isms." Since this thesis is concerned with charity and the modern world, its definite preoccupation in this part will point to the development of the so-called "modern spirit," by which is meant the social idea or ideas contrary to the Christian love of neighbor. This spirit is often characterized, rightly or wrongly, as the capitalistic spirit. The capitalistic spirit, it is true, is not the only spirit behind social reconstruction today, but, as we hope to show in the progress of this paper, the other social "isms," statism, racism, and communism, are developments of, or oppositions to, this capitalistic spirit; as such they can best 70 CHARITY AND THE SOCIAL ORDER 71 be understood by taking this spirit as a point of reference. The capitalistic spirit is not to be confused with the words " capital " or even "capitalist " as they are used in common parlance today. It is rather to be considered the realization of the philosophy of liberal individualism, a spirit which did not suddenly appear on the stage of history but which is rather the product of a long evolution. Fanfani estimates the development of the capitalist spirit to have taken nearly ten centuries, from the ninth to the eighteenth.68 The capitalist spirit is not exclusively an economic spirit, though it certainly has revolutionized economics; it is a complexus of economic, political, philosophical, and even theological theory. It might safely be likened to liberal individualism as defined by Christopher Dawson. It denies the sovereignty of the moral law in the economic world, the principle of authority in politics, and the existence of an objective divine truth in religion. It makes self-interest the supreme law in economics, the will of the majority the sovereign power of the state, and private opinion the only arbiter in religious matters.69 If the adjective " capitalistic " be often retained to signify the liberal, individualistic spirit, it is because the authoritative writers whom we are to quote use the term quite generally; it better emphasizes the socio-economic implications of the individualist, secularist philosophy of life. The capitalistic conception, as Fanfani points out/i) is founded on a separation of human aims, fixing its gaze on natural goals to the exclusion of supernatural, religious ends. Its essential characteristics are three: no limit is placed on any means of acquiring wealth that are by positive legislation lawful and economically useful, the appraisals of value in the economic sphere are to be governed by an economic criterion alone, and priority is given to economic rationalization to the hurt, and not seldom to the exclusion of moral, religious supernaturaliza68 A. Fanfani, Catholicism, Protestantism and Capitalism (New York: 1939), p. 37. •• C. Dawson, Religion aru!J the Modem State (New York: 1985), p. 188. •• Op. cit., p. 187. LOUIS A. RYAN tion. Opposed to this is what might be called the pre-capitalistic spirit, the primary characteristic of which is that the choice of the means of acquiring goods is determined by criteria, not of pure utility, but of utility only insofar as is...