ïïMMwW^mf I » ! ® I l l S É i ^ M M MRHHhMmHIIBI W^lÊÊMS^Mm&iAiàù' y - Mfc» V i : K I H H H H Ì i ì H g p S H « « i. (a) town or village ; (b) country or province. 18 Exercises in Thinking 1. Write out as many reasons as you can to shew the need of authority in society. 2. Write an imaginary account of life in a school in which there is no one in authority. 3. Who holds the chief authority in (a) your school; (b) your family ? 4. Who exercises authority in a cricket team ? How many reasons can you find for the necessity of such authority? 5. Law vs. Lawlessness. Debate. 6. Explain how authority can help to make men practise virtue. Reading List LEO XII I : Libertas Prcestantissimum (Human Liberty). -KEANE, R E V . H . , S.J.: A Primer of Moral Philosophy. CAMBRIDGE SUMMER SCHOOL : Man; Moral Principle & Practice. VANCE, MGR. : Free Will ( London, C . T . S . ) . L E S S O N 4 OTHER SOCIETIES WITHIN THE GREAT HUMAN FAMILY Principles " The consciousness of his own weakness urges , man to call in aid from without... It is this natural impulse which binds men together in civil society ; and it is likewise this which leads them to join together in associations which are, it is true, lesser and not independent societies, but, 19 nevertheless, real societies... We have the family; the ' society' of a man's house — a society very small, one must admit, but none the less a true society, and one older than the State. Consequently it has rights and duties peculiar to itsplf which are quite independent of the State. " LEO X I I I , Rerum Novarum Notes for Class Study In a former lesson we learnt that man is moved by a natural urge or instinct to live in society, and to seek, in company with his fellow men, all those things which are necessary for him to live a decent life worthy of his human dignity, and to work out his eternal salvation. This com- mon welfare is the end or purpose of human society, and men band together in society to enj oy this common well-being. Now, besides being grouped together in the Great Human Family to enjoy the common welfare which society pro- vides for all men, individuals may, and do, form smaller groups or associations for particular and special purposes, such as an association of tradesmen to sell a special kind of commodity, an association of students for the purpose of studying some particular branch of science, and so forth. These smaller groups or associations are formed precisely because all the members have a common interest which the association to which they belong aims at real- izing. In this lesson we shall examine the most important groups or associations within the Great Human Family. I . T H E FAMILY The family is the smallest, but in order of time the oldest, group or association of persons within the Great Human Family. It is the foundation of the whole social order and framework of society, and the first society to which man belongs. In order of time, the family existed before the state; hence, before people formed themselves into nations or states, the family must already have been in existence. In God's plan the family is the means for 20 the propagation and the upbringing of the human race, and it has its own rights, duties and obligations. Pope Pius XI teaches that " the family is not a perfect society, that is, it has not in itself all the means necessary for its full development" (Christian Education)'. That is to say, in order that the family may be able to fulfil its end and purpose, it must be helped by people and groups of people outside the family circle. " The chief duties (of the family) are: mutual bet- ween husband and wife — love, help, conjugal fidelity; of parents to children — love, care for bodily, spiritual and religious upbringing as citizens of an earthly and heaven- ly kingdom ; of children to parents <— love, reverence and obedience. The chief rights are : the father is the head of the family and should have the opportunity to gain sufficient to support his family decently, including the privacy of a proper home ; the parents have the right to educate their children according to their conscience: all rights corresponding to the duties above. The model that every Christian parent ought to strive to copy is that of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph " ( Security, Freedom & Happiness : A. Gordon, S.J.). I I . THE STATE The word ' state ' in this lesson means, a large number of families occupying a definite territory and subject to the same government. In the words of Pope Leo XIII, the state has been appointed by God to have charge over ' human things'. The duty of the state, says the same Holy Father, is " to make sure that the laws and institutions, the general character of the commonwealth, should be such as of them- selves tend to realize the public well-being and private prosperity ". In other words, the first duty of the state is to promote the temporal good of its citizens, to protect their rights and to safeguard public morality. The state is called a ' perfect society' because it contains within itself everything to achieve its end or purpose. N. B. In Part II, Section 2, further lessons on the state will be found. j 21 I I I . INDUSTRIAL GROUPS (a) Workers' Associations or Trade Unions The same motive, that is, mutual help and protection, which binds men together in the Great Human Family, brings them together to form associations or unions accord- ing to the firms or industries they are employed by, or according to the skill required and the material worked on, or the commodity produced, or the service rendered, or even the tool operated. Thus, all the workers (weavers, winders, warpers, etc.) in a cotton mill may form one union, irrespective of the particular kind of work done by each worker; or the whole cotton industry "may have separate unions for weavers, other unions for winders, and so on. Thus also, carpenters, plumbers, brick-layers and . other, workers of the building trade may combine into one union, or have separate unions for carpenters, plumbers and brick-, layers. These working-men's unions have been greatly praised by Popes Leo XIII and Pius XI, because such unions, when run in the right spirit and properly, managed, benefit the workers. Like the family and the state, these unions have their own rights, duties and obligations. It is the duty of the state to protect and help these unions, and in no way to suppress or interfere with them, unless the unions engage in any action which is harmful to the common welfare of the whole nation. A little over a hundred years ago no trade unions existed. They came into existence during the period of history known as the Industrial Revolution, that is, when the factory and workshop methods of production began to be generally established, and large numbers of working- people were collected into these factories and workshops to operate the machinery employed for large-scale pro- duction. Before the Industrial Revolution spread over England and the Continent, Craft Guilds grouped workers1 together, gave them protection, regulated the qualifications required in craftsmen, fixed wages and often even controlled the quantity and quality of the craftsman's output. Thus the weavers, bakers, fullers and other craftsmen had their own Guilds. These Guilds also cared for the religious welfare of their members, who were bound by regulation: 22 to attend religious services on certain fixed days. Each Guild had its own Patron Saint: as St. Joseph for the carpenters, St: Eligius for metal workers, St. Crispin for tanners, and so on.. (b) Employers' Associations Parallel to the trade unions are the unions or associa- tions composed of those who employ working-men. The aim of these unions is to safeguard the interests and rights of those who own or manage their own factories, firms and business enterprises. A union may be composed of a group of local employers, as the Bombay, Miüowners' Association in Bombay, or it may be a national body, as the Association of British Chemical Manufacturers in Britain. Both Popes Leo XIII and Pius XI have often insisted on the great benefits which employers, workers and trade enjoy when these associations work in a spirit of trust and goodwill with the trade unions. Such important industrial and commercial problems as employment, condi- tions of work, wages, improvements in industry are best dealt with when discussed by joint councils of employers and employees. (c) Co-operative Organizations Just as the trade unions came into being for the mutual help and protection of the workers against unjust treatment by employers, so also co-operative societies have come into being within the last hundred years for the purpose of protecting the ordinary people—chiefly the middle classes of small incomes and the workers;— against high prices charged by big industrial and commercial concerns. A co-operative society is made up of a group of people who work together to manage their own stores, shop or business to protect their common rights and interests as consumers or producers by fighting the pro- fit-motive of big firms which leads to high prices. The members of these co-operative societies pool their money (capital) to start their own stores or shop ; each member has a vote in the management, and if, after paying expenses, 23 there is any profit, it is distributed to the members in proportion to their dealings with the co-operative. The main types of co-operative societies are: consumers', producers' and credit co-operatives. The first Con- sumers' Co-operative Society was founded in England in 1844, and was known as the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers' Society. It had twenty-eight members and a capital of £28. I V . T H E CHURCH The Church, says Pope Leo XIII, " is a divinely established and admirably constituted society, having for her direct and proximate purpose to lead the world to peace and holiness". Therefore, "she has her fixed laws, special spheres of action, and a certain method fixed and conformable to her nature of governing Christian peoples". Yet, continues the same Holy Father, " it must not! be supposed that the solicitude of the Church is so preoccupied with the spiritual concerns of her children, as to neglect their temporal and earthly interests ". The reason why Holy Chinch shows a great interest in temporal and earthly things is easy to understand. In God's plan, material things and the wealth of the world in general, and food, clothing, shelter, amusements in particular, are destined to help man to reach his eternal and supernatural end. Hence, each man has a right to enjoy a fair and reasonable, not necessarily equal, share of the good things of the world, to enable him to live a life worthy of his dignity as a human being. Now, if, in the Great Human Family, social injustice abounds in the way of insufficient wages, maldistribution of wealth and harmful living-conditions, so that large numbers of people are denied a fair and just measure of the goods of the world, social disorder follows, and God's plan for the social welfare and happiness of the human race is spoilt. In this case it is the duty of the Church to do all she can to remove these harmful social conditions, and help to re-organize society according to God's plan. Holy Church and the true Catholic social reformer are, therefore, con- cerned about sufficient wages, good housing conditions and general social improvement, not for these things in them- 24 selves alone, but because in God's plan man is destined to enjoy and be happy in the right use of earthly goods, and to use them as a means to work out his eternal salvation. The history of the Catholic Church, indeed, is the history of the championship of the poor and of those suffering from injustice. The precept of Charity taught by our Blessed Lord, which is the foundation of Catholic social reform, has always inspired the Church, from the earliest times. In the early days of Christianity, when slavery was universally admitted by pagan society, the Church could not tolerate the treatment meted out to slaves. St. Paul gives us the Catholic view, when in his letter to the Galatians he writes i " For as many of you as have been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek : there is neither bond nor free " (iii. 27, 28 ). This equality of all men ' in Christ' restored to the slave all his rights in Christian society, and more- over, helped to make his lot still more easy; for among Christians there was no scorn of work or manual labour. Our Blessed Lord Himself worked as a carpenter, and the great Apostle of the Gentiles was, by profession, a tent-maker. During the Middle Ages, the influence of Christianity was exercised through the Merchant and Craft Guilds, which established a real professional brother- hood. Such Guilds cared for the spiritual and temporal welfare of their members, and were so organized that there was no propertyless working-class, and no conflict between working-men and their employers. The statutes of the Guilds show a remarkable care for the well-being of the workers and the protection of their rights — fair wages, old-age and sick pensions, good working-conditions. Then came the Industrial Revolution, which was not so much a political revolution, as a gradual change in the whole national mode of living and thinking. The CAUSE of this change was the invention of power-driven machinery, which was erected in mines and factories. These factories employed an increasingly large number of people, and those people were obliged, or found it more convenient, to live near their work. This meant that, instead of cultivating their little bit of land, and doing some spinning, or dyeing, or weaving or other industrial t 25 In the days of the Guild System each Craft and Merchant Guild had its own " trade m a r k " or seal, which was stamped on the product of each Guild and used by the "- brethren of the Guild. The above picture is the seal of the Merchant Guild, of Gloucester. England, used about the year 1200. St. Eligius, known in French as Eloi, was a metal-smith of great skill. Later he became the saintly Bishop of Noyon and Tournai, and died in 600. He is the patron of all metal- workers1 and his feast is kept on December, 1st. St. Isidore the Labourer spent his life as a simple farm-worker just outside Madrid in Spain. He is the patron of all workers on the land, and his feast is kept on May, 15th. He died in 1130. 26 work at home as well, thfey gave up the independence that, ownership gives a man, and went to live near the factories, entirely dependent on the wages they received: they became ' proletarians ', or ' propertyless people '— ' the working class'. Factories multiplied, towns grew, more and more people were cut off from country-life, until nowadays the urban, or town, interests and points of view are those which are uppermost in people's minds. It is not easy for us, perhaps even in India, to imagine a world that is not ruled by machinery, but we ought to try ; for unless we realize how great was the change- over from an agricultural to an urban society, and how great and far-reaching were the effects of that change, we cannot hope properly to understand our own world. One of these effects was that the system which had been built up by the Guilds broke down, because the con- ditions on which it was based gradually disappeared. This raised many difficult problems, and the condition of the working class went from bad to worse. However, as we saw in the first lesson (p. 3 ), the Pope had been watching developments very carefully; and it should be a matter for pride among Catholics that as early as 1891 the Holy See issued a complete survey of the Industrial position, with practical directions which were so much in advance of the times, in some respects, as to surprise even some Catholics; this was Rerum Novarum. In 1931, Pope Pius XI issued His Encyclical Quadragesimo Anno, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Rerum Novarum. The encyclicals on social reconstruction issued by both these Popes should be studied by every Catholic. Criticisms i . ERRORS CONCERNING THE STATE The state-worshippers: those who believe and teach that there is only one real society in the world, and that is the state. From this teaching it naturally follows that all other societies within the Great Human Family, such as the'family, the Church, and associations of employers and employees, have no rights except such as are given to them by the state. Therefore the state may, at its 27 pleasure, suppress or limit the work of these societies. From this error springs state tyranny arid the Totalitar- ian State. i i . ERRORS CONCERNING THE CHURCH & SOCIAL REFORM Those who believe that, because the primary work of the Church is to sanctify men and lead them to heaven, therefore the Church should not interfere in earthly . matters, nor should she attempt to improve the material conditions of life. To argue thus is to forget: (a) that God has a definite plan for the right ordering of earthly matters, and for man's earthly happiness; (b) that material con- ditions of life, such as insufficient wages, immoral con- ditions of work, excessive hours of work, bad housing conditions and so on, can, and do, hinder the ordinary workers from performing their religious duties, and in that way endanger their eternal salvation. Exercises in the Use of Reference Books i. Find out the countries which have, comparatively (a) large families; (b) small families. ii. Find out which industries have trade unions (a) in your town or district; (b) in your country. iii. Find out what kind of co-operative societies exist (a) in your town ; (b) in your country. iv. Make a list of the charitable works, such as or- phanages, hospitals, free schools and the like, run by Catholics, in your town and district. v. Make a list of the Social Encyclicals written by Pope Leo XIII and Pope Pius XI. Exercises in Thinking 1. Explain how and why unions or associations arise within the Great Human Family. 2. Mention any union you may know of, and explain the purpose for which it exists. 28 3. Besides being a member of the Great Human Family, you are a member of other groups. Which ? How do you help these groups ? 4. " The family in order of time is older than the state." Explain. 5. " The family is not a perfect society. " Explain. 6. Explain how the co-operative movement helps towards the unity of the Great Human Family. 7. Write out a list of reasons to show why the Church should be interested in social reform. Reading List LEO X I I I : Rerutn Novarum ( Condition of the Working Classes); Immortale Dei (The Christian Con- stitution of States). Pius XI : Quadragesimo Anno ( The Social Order ) ; Divini Redemptoris ( Atheistic Communism ) ; Divini Illius Magistri ( Christian Education ). WATT, R E V . L „ S . J . : Pope Pius XII on World Order. f L E S S O N 5 T H E C R E A T U R E M A N Principles " Man has a spiritual and immortal soul. He is a person marvellously endowed by his Creator with the gifts of body and mind with a value far surpassing that of the vast inanimate cosmos. By sanctifying grace he is raised to the dignity of a son of God, and incorporated in the Kingdom of God, in the Mystical Body of Christ." Pius XI, Divini Redemptoris 29 Notes for Glass Study In the Great Human Family the most important creature is man. It follows, therefore, that we must have a clear-cut, well-defined idea as to what man is — his nature, purpose in life and last end — if we are to build a human society in which man can live correctly, and designed for his true happiness. It is evident that a world built for the happiness of a bird or an animal will not be the same as a world built for the happiness of man, simply because the things which a bird or em animal needs for its true happiness, are not the same as those which man needs for his happiness. In other words, the nature of birds and animals is not the same as the nature of man ; and the true and proper world which alone can make man happy must be one suited to his nature. We shall, therefore, in this lesson study the main and essential points in man's nature, so that our work of social reform may be truly in keeping with his nature and his needs. I . MAN IS MADE U P OF SOUL & BODY This is the first and simple truth about man ; but it is one of the greatest importance» and must always be kept in mind in order to make our social action really beneficial and useful. Important consequences follow from this simple truth. Because man is composed of soul and body he requires certain things to satisfy the wants or desires of the soul, and other things to satisfy the wants and desires of the body. Hence we say that man's wants and desires are of both the spiritual and material kinds. Religion, which includes the worship of God and the practice of virtue, satisfies the wants of man's soul ; here also we mention education, which is essential to the development and training of man's spiritual faculties, his will and understanding. And then, because man's soul is clothed in a material body, he necessarily has a number of material wants, such as food, clothing, shelter and a certain reasonable measure of wealth whereby to satisfy these wants. It follows, therefore, that no attempt to 30 build a human society can succeed unless the wants, needs and desires of the whole man, soul and body, be taken into account. To attempt to build a human society which will cater for man's bodily or material wants and needs alone, is doomed to failure ; as is the attempt to build a human society which will cater for pure spirits r— for man's soul alone. I I . MAN POSSESSES THE GIFT OF F R E E W I L L Liberty of the will, or free will, says Pope Leo XIII, " is the faculty of choosing means fitted for' the end proposed ; for he is master of his actions, who can choosè one thing out of many" (Human Liberty). In other words, free will is the force or power man has within him to choose ' this ' rather than ' that ' ; you must note carefully that free will does not mean freedom of bodily movement or physical freedom. We can easily under- stand what this gift of free will is when we see it in action. You know the story of the early Christian martyrs. They were allowed to choose between being faithful to CHRIST and offering sacrifices to thé pagan gods of Rome. When they were put in prison, they lost their liberty and freedom ( they did not enjoy physical liberty ) and could not visit their churches or homes. Yet, even while in prison and without physical liberty, they still possessed their free will, and they used this free will to choose death rather than offer sacrifices to the gods of the pagans. Now, how must man use this great gift of free will ? The answer to this question brings us to the next great gift which God has given all men. I I I . MAN POSSESSES THE GIFT OF REASON " It is the mind or. reason ", says Pope Leo XIII, " which is the predominant element in us human creatures ; it is this which renders a human being human, and dis- tinguishes him essentially from the brute... man has reason to guide him in each and ever/ act of his life." In other words, animals do not possess the gift of reason and are moved to action by instinct ; whereas man is guided and moved to action by reason. This gift of reason is the essential mark of human nature. All through our 31 life we are constantly being told ' to be reasonab le to act 'reasonably'; which is the same as being told to act and behave according to man's true nature, which is that of a reasonable (sometimes called ' rational') being. Hence we say that the conduct or action of man is truly a human act when it results from man using his free will and reason. . In the work of social reconstruction, or social work, it is most important to remember that man does possess free will and reason and, therefore, is able deliberately to choose the kind of living-conditions he would like to see in society, and plan the means to bring them into existence. Thus, if man follows his selfishness or passion or exaggera- ted love of wealth or ambition, he will aim at establishing those conditions of work, wages and living which will make him and those of his class only, rich and prosperous. So also, if men deny man's spiritual soul, they will choose to plan and build a world in which only the material needs of man are satisfied: and so they actually reduce man to the state of an animal. I V . MAN HAS A SOCIAL NATURE In a former lesson we learnt that God has so created man that he naturally wishes to live with his fellow men, and share all those things which we enjoy by living to- gether in the Great Human Family. Because man is naturally inclined to live with other men in society, and he cannot, if living alone, develop the God-given powers of his mind and body, therefore we say that man has a social nature. The ordinary man does not like to live the lonely and solitary life which Robinson Crusoe led on his desert island. No, man is born into a family, and he continues all through life to depend upon the sympathy and help of all those around him. In God's plan, therefore, man needs the help of others in society; and in turn, by living in the society of his fellow beings, man must con- tribute towards the happiness of other men. Read again, Lesson 2, Sections I & II. V . GOD IS MAN'S LAST E N D Our catechism teaches us that man was created by God to know, love and serve Him in this world, and there- 32 by to be happy on earth and, finally, to be happy with God in heaven, Man's final destiny or end, like that of all things on earth, is God. This is the deepest and most fundamental truth of our Catholic Faith, and taking this truth as his guiding principle, the Catholic social reformer plans the ways and means he, employs in establishing conditions in which men must live — social conditions. In other words, Catholic social action is founded on the truth that man is destined for God, and all social conditions, such as family life, working con- ditions in business, factory or farm, wages, housing- conditions and so forth, must help and not hinder man from reaching his end — God. " This is the perfect order ", writes Pope Pius XI, " which the Church preaches with intense earnestness and which right reason demands ; which places God as the first and supreme end of all created activity, and regards all created goods as mere instruments under God, to be used only in so far as they help towards the attainment of our supreme end" (Quadragesimo Anno, section 136). On the maintenance of this ' perfect order' depends man's earthly happiness, which is willed by God and to which every man. has a claim. Criticisms i . ERRORS CONCERNING MAN'S F R E E W I L L The gift of free will is denied by some people. Such people do not usually teach openly that man has no free will, but they argue that man is always and inevit- ably moved or urged to act by the sole desire of material gain. To argue thus is, in fact, to deny that man has the power to choose between the desire of material gain and any other desire which may cause man to act. The desire of material gain is usually known as the ' economic motive', and is said to be so powerful that everything men do during their life-time is the result of this motive. Hence, the communists, and the extreme socialists who hold this wrong teaching, say that man is subject to " Economic determinism ". 33 S O M E E A R L Y M A C H I N E R Y OF T H E T E X T I L E I N - D U S T R Y W H I C H H E L P E D ON T H E I N D U S T R I A L R E V O L U T I O N IN E N G L A N D . 1. Hargreaves' Spinning Jenny. In 1764 a Blackburn weaver named James Hargreaves produced a spinning machine which worked a number of spindles at the same time by means of a belt and a treadle. Soon the out-put of cotton yarn was more than the weavers could use and many spinners were unemployed : but since the price of cotton yarn was now low, the out- put of the spinners was soon sold. Har- greaves was at first strongly opposed on account of hi§ invention. 2. Richard Arkwright's Water Frame. In 1769 Richard Arkwright invented an improved spinning machine known as the " Water Frame ". I t was at first driven by waterpower, and later by steam. 3. Crompton's Mule. Samuel Crompton was a contemporary of Richard Arkwright. He combined the Spinning Jenny and the Water Frame and produced his " Mule ". This spinning machine could produce a much finer and stron- ger thread than that which was in use till then, and thus the production of p u r e cotton cloth became possible. 34 ii. ERRORS CONCERNING MAN'S SUPERNATURAL E N D It is evident that if a social reformer denies that God js man's last end, or that man has an immortal soul, he will try to build a society in which man would live like some kind of Superior animal whose end would be the Wealth and pleasures which are found on earth. These social reformers are known as Materialists, because they believe and teach that there is no spiritual life, and that man is destined to no other life than that which he lives here on earth. It follow^ therefore, that such people naturally teach that man must find his last end, not in God, but in the material things, such as, wealth, money and pleasures, of this earth. Exercises in the Use of Reference Books i. From the encyclicals get some information on (a) man's social nature ; (b) free will. ii. Get some information about the Industrial Rev- olution (a) in which century did it occur ? (b) why is it called a ' Revolution' ? (c) what changes did it introduce in the methods of production ? (d) how did the Industrial Revolution affect the lives of the Working-classes ? iii. What important inventions which helped the manufacture of cotton and woollen goods were made in the 18th century ? Exercises in Thinking 1. What is the essential difference between men and animals ? 2. Write a list of the reasons you know to show that man is superior to animals. 3. Illustrate, with an example, the use of free will. 4. " To attempt social work, without considering man's supernatural end, is Worthless." Ex- ••'••• . plain this statement, '• 35 5. Mention any factory in your neighbourhood where machinery is used for the production of goods. What goods are produced there ? Find out the number of men employed there. 6. Would you consider the effects of the Industrial Revolution as being, good ? evil ? Give reasons for your answer. Reading List LEO XII I : LibertasPrcestantissimum (HumanLiberty). Pius XI: Divini Redemptoris (Atheistic Communism); Quadragesimo Anno (The Social Order). _ JBEALES, H. L.: The Industrial Revolution (Workers Educational Association Outlines). SHEED, F . : A Map of Life. KEANE, REV. H . , S . J . : A Primer of Moral Philosophy. L E S S O N 6 M A N ' S G U I D E S : LAW Principles " First of all there must be Law; that is, a rule as to what is to be done and what is to be left undone... This ordinance of reason is called Law. Law is the guide of man's action; it turns him towards good by its rewards, and deters him from evil by its punishment. Foremost in this office comes the natural law which is written and engraved in the mind of every man; and this is nothing but our reason commanding us to do right and forbidding sin. Nevertheless all prescriptions of human reason can have force of law, only inasmuch as it is the voice and interpreter of a higher reason on which our mind and liberty necessarily depend... It follows, therefore, that the law of nature is the same thing as the Eternal Law, im- 36 planted in rational creatures, and inclining them to their right action and end; and can be nothing else but the eternal Reason of God, the Creator and Ruler of the world.'' LEO X I I I , Libertas Prcestantissimum Notes for Glass Study I . T H E DIVINE OR NATURAL LAW In our previous lesson we studied man and his nature. In our examination of human nature we learnt that man's immortal soul and his gifts of free will and reason make him superior to animals. Reason guides and directs man as to how he should choose, and therefore, conduct his life, while it is instihct which guides and directs the action of animals. But alas! human reason alone is not always a sure guide! Why? Just because human -reason, already weakened by Original Sin, can be spoilt still more by follow- ing wrong principles, and by the influence of bad example. Precisely because our faculty of reason is a human faculty, it can make mistakes and can err. In fact, in our daily lives how often do we not say, ' I was w r o n g o r ' I was mistaken', meaning that our reason had directed us wrongly and our will had made a wrong choice. It fol- lows, therefore, that man needs a more trustworthy guide than human reason alone to direct and guide him in the work of securing his happiness here on earth and in the next life. Now, man's sure and trustworthy guide can only come from God, because God has created man, and He knows best what rules and laws man must follow for his true happiness on earth and hereafter. Just as the engineer who has built a locoifiotive is the most competent person to tell us what rules and regulations to follow so that the locomotive may run to perfection, so also, God, who has created man, is the only Person who can tell us what rules and laws man must follow to secure his earthly and heavenly happiness. This is why human reason must submit to, and be guided by, the law which God has given man and placed in man's nature {the ' voice 37 of conscience') urging him to do good and avoid eviL This law is, therefore, called the divine or natural law; known by Teason. 1 I I . HUMAN LAW OR POSITIVE LAW In the Great Human Family, as we learnt in a former lesson, authority directs and guides the work of each member towards the common welfare. These directions and guides are known as laws. " That which reason and natural law do for individuals ", writes Pope Leo XIII, " human law promulgated for their good does for the citizens." In the same manner in which a locomotive needs' rails to run on and move towards its journey's end, so- man has need of law to direct hirfi towards his God-given' end. Human law (sometimes called Positive law )• when worthy of its name, has its source and origin in the divine or natural law; that is to say, human law or man- made law only applies to certain particular and definite cases the general commands laid down by the divine law. Thus, divine or natural law commands all men, in a general way, to do good and avoid evil, and when human law enacted by the state or nation forbids theft and punishes it as a crime, it only applies a general com- mand to this particular case. " Of the laws enacted by man ", says Pope Leo XIII, " some are concerned with what is good or bad by its very nature ; and they command men to follow after what is right and to shun what is- wrong, adding at the same time a suitable sanction." Now, since laws enacted by man, or human laws, have their source and origin in the divine or natural law, it is clear that the supreme authority in a state or nation which enacts such laws may not pass any law which con-1 tradicts or goes against the commands of the divine law. Thus, Ho state or nation may, in justice, enact a law forbidding the worship of God. If, however, such laws! are enacted, then the true Christian regulates his conduct- according to the example of the martyrs, who, as history teaches us, resisted even unto death the unjust laws en- acted by- states and nations. " But should- it pleased 3«: the legislators and rulers to enjoin or sanction anything repugnant to the divine or natural law ", says Pope Leo XIII, " the dignity and duty of the, name of Christian and the Apostolic injunction proclaim that one ought to obey God rather than men " (Concerning Modem Errors). Speaking about the great social benefits and ad- vantages which follow from this Catholic doctrine on authority and law, Leo XIII, says: " As regards ruler and subjects, all without exception, according to Catholic teaching and precept, are mutually bound by duties and rights, in such manner that, on the one hand, moderation is enjoined on the appetite for power, and, on the other, obedience is shown to be easy, stable, and wholly honour- able " (op. cit.). In other words, the Holy Father makes it quite clear that when the supreme human authority acknowledges its responsibility to a higher authority—to God the Creator of the divine or natural law—two great benefits follow: firstly, those who hold authority govern with justice and charity, knowing that they will have to give a strict account of their office to God; secondly, those who obey do so willingly, knowing that he who holds authority only commands what God has ordained, directly or indirectly, in the divine law. I I I . SOCIAL LEGISLATION Each society, such as the family, the Church, the state and others within the Great Human Family, has its own authority and laws directed towards the good of the particular society and also towards the common welfare. The most commonly known, laws are those of the Church, called ecclesiastical laws, enacted by ecclesiastical authority, and the laws of the state, known as civil laws and enacted by the civil authority. . > Each state or nation has its own group or assembly of people, usually appointed by the citizens of the state, whose duty it is to enact the civil laws (that is, human laws) of the country. Such groups or assemblies are usually known as legislative assemblies or parliaments. The English word, legislation comes from the Latin words, lex, legis, law, and latio, proposing. Among the 39 most important laws passed by these legislative assemb- lies are those which refer to social conditions in the country, and they are known as social legislation. Thus in 1802 the English Parliament passed The Health and Morals of Apprentices Act. This Act was the first of our modern factory acts, and its aim was to protect children engaged in work in mills, to prevent legal apprentices from working for more than twelve hours a day in cotton and woollen mills. By this Act, night work was forbidden, and the apprentices were to be granted* better clothes, better sleeping-accommodation and a measure of education. Since that time, most countries which are industrialized have their code of social legislation, which covers hours of work, wages, housing and general social conditions, especially of the working-classes. Pope Leo XIII wrote his Encyclical Rerum Novarum in 1891, strongly urging the improvement of the conditions of working men and women, and advocating shorter hours of work, better wages, the abolition of child and female labour in certain industries, holidays, when in several European countries these improvements had still to come about. Criticisms i . ERRORS CONCERNING THE DIVINE OR NATURAL LAW The denial of divine or natural law follows naturally from the doctrine of those who also deny the divine origin of authority as we learnt in Lesson 3. We should note carefully, that some non-Catholic social reformers (e.g., Naturalists, Materialists, etc.) sometimes speak about " The Natural Law but do not understand it as mean- ing the law placed in human nature by God the Creator of that nature, since they deny that man and human society have been created by God. Hence, according to their doctrine all the laws which exist are merely man-made or human laws, and those who enact and enforce these laws are responsible to no higher authority than themselves or those who have elected the one in authority. This teaching leads directly to state-worship and to the tyranny of rulers. 40 ii . ERRORS CONCERNING THE ABSOLUTE SUPREMACY OF HUMAN REASON Those who believe in the absolute supremacy of human reason, have much in common with the Naturalists and Materialists. They are known as Rationalists. " The doctrine of Rationalism " teaches Pope Leo XIII, " is the supremacy of the human reason which, refusing due submission to the divine and eternal reason, proclaims its own independence, and constitutes itself the supreme principle, source and judge of truth " ( Encyclical Human Liberty ). Hence they teach that each man's reason alone must be his guide and his sole authority. Since Rationalists deny man's supernatural life and end, it is evident that the kind of social reform and the type of social legislation which they advocate will necessarily leave out of reckoning man's supernatural wants and needs, and therefore, the kind of society they build will never satisfy man, nor will it be one in which man can be really happy. Exercises in the Use of Reference Books i. Get some information on Canon Law. (a) Where is it contained ? (b) Why is it so called ? # ii. Get some information about the earliest Factory (a) in India; (b) in England; (c) In the U.S.A. iii. State in what way these laws protect the workers in the respective countries. • Exercises in Thinking 1. Explain clearly what you understand by divine or natural law. 2. Give two examples of human law. 3. Explain why man has need of laws. 4. What do you understand by ' social legislation '.? 41 5. Should Catholics especially be . interested in social legislation? Why? 6. What do you think of the rules or regulations of, your factory ? office ? club ? Can you sug- gest improvement ? Reading List LEO X I I I : Libertas Prcestantissimum (Human Liberty) ; Immortale Dei (The Christian Constitution of States ). KEANE, REV. H . , S . J . : A Primer of Moral Philosophy. L E S S O N 7 INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS & DUTIES Principles "He ( man) has been endowed by God with many and varied prerogatives: the right to life, to bodily int- egrity» to obtain the necessary m^ans of existence, the right to tend towards his ultimate goal in the path marked out for him by God, the right of association and the right to possess and use property...matrimony and the right to its natural use." Pius XI,.Divini Redemptoris Notes for Glass Study " • 1 ? • - i . I . HUMAN RIGHTS Before we proceed further in our study of man's nature, let us make a brief summary of what we already know about human nature. Man is composed of body 42 and soul, therefore, he has several needs for the welfare of the soul — spiritual needs; moreover, his needs are many for the welfare of his body—material needs. Free will and reason are essential characteristics of human nature, just as the essential characteristic. of bird-nature is to fly, and that of fish-nature is to swim. Man possesses a social nature, that is to say, he naturally lives in society with other men. Lastly, God is man's last end. Now, since God has made man to know Him, to love Him and to serve Him in this life, and so to be happy here on earth and hereafter in heaven, as our catechism teaches us, surely, then, God must have given man the necessary helps, means and aids to realise this God-given plan? What would we think of a general who orders his soldiers to fight, and, at the same time, does not pro- vide them with the necessary helps, means and aids, such as guns and ammunition, to wage war ? Now, God has, indeed, given every man helps, means and aids to work out his earthly happiness and reach his supernatural end ; some of these helps are known as human rights. A RIGHT is a moral force or power which entitles man to have something or to do something freely. You will remember the story of the martyrs who used their right to worship God, even when they knew that the exer- cise of that right would mean death. Man has several rights given to him by God, as Pope Pius XI tells us, (cf. above : Principles) and therefore, no king, emperor, state or government may in justice deprive man of these God-given rights, when man uses these rights in the manner planned by God. Of course, man may, and sometimes does, freely refrain from using or exercising these rights, as, for instance, when a man freely gives up his right to life in order to save his friend from some accident. The state or government may not, at its own .pleasure, sup- press these rights, for man does not receive them from any state or government but from God; of course, the state may, and sometimes is bound to, restrict and limit the exercise of these rights for the sake of the good of all who live in the state. These rights are bound up with, and are essential to, human nature; hence, they aré also known as the natural rights of man, or personal or 43 individual rights, because they are given to mail for his own personal and individual benefit, not considering for the moment how these rights benefit society as a whole. I I . NATURAL RIGHTS & DUTIES The following are the chief natural rights given by God to each man for his individual and personal benefit. To each right corresponds a duty on the part of man. 1. The Right to Life: Hence the innocent may not be deprived of life. On the other hand, every man has the DUTY to use all lawful means to protect and develop his life. 2. The Right to Bodily Integrity: Therefore, nei- ther man himself, nor any state or government has the power to destroy or spoil man's powers of mind and body. Speaking on the Catholic teaching on Christian marriage, Pope Pius XI says, " Public magistrates have no direct power over the bodies of their subjects; therefore, when no crime has taken place and there is no cause present for grave punishment, they can never directly harm or tamper with the integrity of the body". Private in- dividuals also, says the same Holy Father, "are not free to destroy or mutilate their members or in any other way render themselves unfit for their natural functions' except when no other provision can be made for the whole body ". 3. The Right to Obtain the Necessary Means of Exist- ence : This right is an immediate consequence of the right to life. If, indeed, every man has the right and duty to preserve his life, he must have the necessary means to live. Now, for the great majority of men the means to live honestly and decently is furnished through wages earned by work; therefore, as Pius XI teaches us, it must " be the special care of governments to provide for their citizens those conditions of life without which the state itself, however sound its constitution, is in danger of collapse; and particularly to secure employment for the fathers of families and for the young Moreover^ this right to obtain -the necessary means of existence implies the right every worker has to a wage which will 44 secure him proper sustenance for himself and his family — that is, the right to a just, or living, wage. On the other hand, the right to work lays upon every man the DUTY to labour to the best of his ability, so that he may usefully employ the powers of mind and body for the spiritual and material good and happiness of himself and all others in the Great Human Family. 4. The Right to Practice Religion: In the words of Pope Pius XI, every man has " the right to tend to- wards his ultimate goal in the path marked out for him by' God". This freedom or right to worship God springs from man's nature; as a creature of God, and therefore, as one wholly dependent upon God, man's nature tends towards the love, reverence and praise of the Almighty — that is, by the practice of religion. The performance of re- ligious worship is man's first and most important DUTY, and necessarily'follows the conviction that God exists, is infinite in all His perfections and is the Governor of our universe. 5. The Right of Association: Man has the right to form small groups or associations, which, as we learnt in a former lesson, exist within the Great Human Family. In the same way as man is moved by his nature to live in the Great Human Family, so also does man form smaller groups or associations to obtain some particular end or object which all in the group desire. Thus,, workers unite to form trade unions which aim at protecting the interests of the workers. The right of association implies the DUTY on the part of members of such associations to further, and not harm, the common welfare of the whole state or nation within which their association exists. 6. The Right to Possess and Use Property: Un- like animals to whom are not given the gifts of free will and reason, man is able to plan the method and manner in which he satisfies his present and future needs. Man has need of food, clothing, shelter and many other material goods, not only in the present, but also in the future, and by using his gift of reason he can store up non-perish- able goods, or cultivate his fields, or rear cattle, or save money for the needs of the morrow. Man requires these material goods for the development of his nature and 45 his human existence, hence we say that man is entitled to possess, not only his personal property such as clothes, books or tools for work, but also productive property; that is, property which brings in money, such as that part of his savings or wages which he invests in a business firm or industry, or again, such private property as is used to make or produce manufactured goods. On the other hand, every man has the strict DUTY so to use his pro- ductive property that he does not harm the common welfare, or the welfare of others in society. This duty is known as ' the social duty or obligation of property- owners '. Thus, when the right of private property is misused, the government or the state has the duty of limiting or restricting the use of that right, but not of suppressing that right, or denying the exercise of that right. 7. The Right to Matrimony and Its Natural Use: '* By the command of Christ", teaches Pope Leo XIII, " it (marriage) not only looks to the propagation of the human race, but to the bringing forth of children for the Church, fellow citizens with the saints and the household of God. " Hence, in God's Plan, marriage has been es- tablished to increase children in the Great Human Family, and man has received from the God the right to many and found a family. Man, on his part, has the grave DUTY when he marries to observe the laws of marriage as laid down by God. Such are man's most important God-given rights> and all disorder (social disorder) in the Great Human Family arises from either the misuse or suppression of these rights. The protection of these rights is the first and most important duty of the state or government. Criticisms i . ERRORS CONCERNING THE DIVINE ORIGIN OF HUMAN RIGHTS The denial that God is the Author of human rights naturally follows from the doctrine which denies that God is the Creator of man. The result of such a denial is that the state or government is made the dispenser of human rights, and therefore, the state may, as it pleases, restrict, 46 and even suppress, the rights of man.- This view of the origin of man's rights leads directly to state-worship, and sacrifices the whole of human life to the Totalitarian State ii . ERRORS CONCERNING THE UNRESTRICTED EXERCISE OF HUMAN RIGHTS These errors support the view that each man is per- fectly free to use his rights as hg pleases, and independently of the divine law. In practice this means that each person is free to use his rights in the most selfish manner, and; independently of all responsibility either to God or to human society. Exercises in the Use of Reference Books i. Find out the meaning of (a) consumers' goods; (b) productive goods. ii. Find out what Pope Leo XIII says about private property in Rerum Novarum (On the Condition of the Working Classes). iii. Find out what Pope Leo . XIII says about man's rights in his Encyclical Libertas Preestantissimum (Human Liberty). Exercises in Thinking 1. Explain clearly, with an example, what you understand by ' right'. 2. What do you understand by a ' natural right' ?. 3. Right vs. Might. Debate. 4. Wha.t is the difference between personal property and productive property ? 5. Illustrate by an example the wrong use of pro- ductive private property. Reading List LEO X I I I : LibertasPraestantissimum (Human Liberty); Rerum Novarum (On the Condition of the Working Classes). PIUS X I : Divirii Redemptoris ( Atheistic Communism). 47 KEANE, R E V . H . , S . J . : A Primer of Moral Philosophy. WATT, REV. , L . , S . J . : The Natural Rights of Man. D'ARCY, REV. , M . C. , S . J . : Christian Morals. CAMBRIDGE SUMMER SCHOOL : Moral Principles. L E S S O N 8 SOCIAL RIGHTS & DUTIES Principles Man cannot be exempt from his divinely-imposed obligations towards civil society, and« the representatives of authority have the right to coerce him when he refuses, without reason, to do his duty. Society, on the other hand, cannot defraud man of his God-granted rights, the most important of which we have indicated above, or make them impossible. " Pius XI, Divini Redemptoris Notes for Glass Study I . T H E SOCIAL VIEW-POINT In our last lesson we considered man as an individual, and independently of the fact that he is a member of the Great Human Family. We also njade a catalogue of the most important rights which God has bestowed on man to enable him to lead a life in keeping with his human dignity, and to help him towards his eternal destiny. But as we learnt in the first lesson, man's nature is such that he ordinarily or normally seeks to live with his fellow men in the Great Human Family, and not as a hermit. In other words, man has a social nature, since it is only by living and working in company with his fellow 48 men that he can obtain all he needs for the welfare of his soul and body. Therefore, it follows that man's nature is both individual and social: considered by himself, he is an individual; considered as a member of the Great Human Family, and in the company of his fellow beings, he is a social being. Hence, the rights which we con- sidered in the previous lesson also have their social aspect or social implications. As an individual, man's rights are given to him for his own benefit alone, independently of the fact that he is a member of society; but as a social being his rights secure for him benefits in keeping with the welfare and happiness of all men, by virtue of the fact that he is a member of society. I I . SOCIAL RIGHTS & DUTIES • From a consideration of man as a social being import- ant consequences follow: 1. Human rights from the social view-point (that is, man's social rights) give every individual a claim upon human society to enable him to attain his temporal wel- fare, happiness and eternal salvation. This claim is made first upon the civil authority in society and then upon all members of society. In fact, it is the first and most important duty of the civil authority so to order and arrange social conditions (e.g., the distribution of goods, fair wages, secure employment, reasonable conditions of living and so forth) that the rights of the individual are satisfied, and he is able to play his part as a useful member of human society. 2. Human society and the civil authority have a right or claim upon every citizen to help towards the realization of the common welfare. Precisely, because man is a social being, he must, on the one hand, so exercise his rights that he benefits himself, and on the other, the exercise of his rights must, at the same time, contribute towards the good and happiness of all in human society. Hence, Pius XI teaches that sometimes it may be the duty of the civil authority to force the citizen, when he has no reasonable excuse for omitting them, to perform his social duties or obligations. In fact, one of the most important duties of civil, authority is to avoid the clash 49 between the exercise of individual rights and the well- being of the whole community. 3. Social peace and order is, in fact, nothing more than a strong and firm co-ordination between the claims of the individual on society and the claims of society on the individual.. In practice this means, on the part of the civil authority a rule of perfect justice and the enforce- ment of the moral law, and on the part of the individual a high and noble sense of social responsibility or obliga- tion. For the Christian, his social sense is nothing more or less than the action which results from an alert and lively charity. There is 'social disorder' all. over the world, because men are immeasurably more 'eager for , wealth than for the practice of even the elementary virtues. Injustice, oppression, fraud, the amassing of wealth, luxury, immorality and a cold and thoughtless neglect of the poor are the faults and sins which afflict us to-day. Christianity teaches the opposite of these social vices, and the true Christian reformer works for the spread of social virtues and the suppression of social vices. Pope Pius XI makes more vivid the essential need for co-ordination between the claims of the individual and the claims of society by comparing human society and men to a living organism made up of many members. Now, just as the welfare of the living organism requires that every member should be healthy and contribute towards the well-being of the whole organism, so also, the welfare of the human race requires that each and every individual should enjoy decent conditions of life and so be able to play his part in working for the welfare of the entire human race. Therefore, if man's'rights are not protected and safeguarded, he is unable to enjoy those means which alone can make him a useful member of human society. Pius XI gives us three instances when men find it impossible to play their, true part in society and help towards the common welfare: i. So long as working-men are denied a wage that will enable them to secure proper sustenance for themselves and for their families. ii. So long as they are denied the opportunity of 50 acquiring a modest fortune and avoiding that pauperism which is so widespread. iii. So long as they cannot make suitable provision through public or private insurance for old age, periods of illness and unemployment. ( cf. Divini Redemptoris, section 52 ) N.B. The following summary illustrates the individual and social aspect of man's rights following from the fact that he is an individual and at the same time a social being. The principal errors concerning the exercise of man's rights in society spring from two extreme views of human nature. i. AN EXAGGERATED B E I I E F IN' THE GOODNESS OF HUMAN NATURE This view is held by thosp who believe (even though they may not openly say so) that man is not subject to the divine law, and when man follows without let or hindrance his natural instincts and desires, the best social organization (distribution of wealth, wages, employ- ment and so forth) will result. The duty of the state, according to this doctrine, is reduced to that of a guardian of the law. Those who hold this doctrine are commonly known as Naturalists (i.e. believers in the natural, material world alone) and Liberals (i.e. believers in the complete freedom of human conduct and action from all divine law). Thus, they teach that man should be allowed complete and perfect freedom in the use and exercise of his right to private property, so long as he does not directly violate the law of the state. In other words, what they actually believe is that man is by nature so good that he can, when allowed perfect freedom to follow his own reason, build a perfect society. i Hence he possesses social rights or J claims on society ; | hence he has social duties or ' obliga- \ tions towards society. Criticisms 51 ii . AN EXAGGERATED VIEW OF MAN'S INCLINATION TO E V I L ' These are the state-worshippers who, unlike the Liberals, believe that every action of man must be state controlled, since man is naturally prone to evil and cannot bring about the good of society. Hence they argue that the exercise of human rights, which the state grants to man, may, at the good pleasure of the state, be restricted and even suppressed. These state-worshippers support the Totalitarian State, the state or government which seeks to control and rule the whole life of man —both his private and public life. Exercises in the Use of Reference Books i. Get some information as to the main types of private property, before and after the Industrial Revolu- tion. ii. Find out what Popes Leo XIII and Pius XI say about the use of private property in Rerum Novarum and in Quadragesimo Anno. iii. Find out what Pope Pius XI says about Social Justice in Divini Redemptoris. iv. Find out when the first British Joint-Stock Com- pany was founded, and how it was operated. Exercises in Thinking 1. Write out carefully what you understand by (a) individual right; (b) social right; (c) the social order. 2. Write out a list of the rights you possess. Have working-men and servants these rights? 3. " Every right imposes a duty." Explain this. 4. " All social disorder arises from an abuse of man's social rights." Explain and illustrate this state- ment. 52 Reading List LEO X I I I : Rerum Novarum (On the Condition of the Working Classes ) ; Sapientiae Christianae ( The Chief Duties of Christian Citizens ). Pius XI : Quadragesimo Anno ( The Social Order ) ; Divini Illius Magistri ( Christian ( Education) ; Casti Connubii ( Christian Marriage ) ; Divini Redemptoris (Atheistic Communism). PARKINSON, R T . REV. , H . : A Primer of Social Science. N.D. : Social Rights and Social Duties ( Ranchi Catholic Press ). E N D OF PART I II! - • Ili» lÉliilliliàiii« S