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Economic Personalism: Property, Power and Justice for Every Person by Michael D Greaney and Dawn K Brohawn

https://www.cesj.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/FIN-EconPersonal_Formatted-24-1223.pdf
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Catholic Social Teaching Isn’t Catholic

  https://medium.com/catholicism-for-the-modern-world/catholic-social-teaching-isnt-catholic-537d6c65a266 Catholic Social Teaching Isn’t Catholic Michael D. Greaney Follow 7 min read · Aug 12, 2023 51 Press enter or click to view image in full size Pope Leo XIII C atholic social teaching isn’t Catholic . . . at least with a capital C. It’s catholic, that is, universal, with a small c. It applies to everyone. Atheists, agnostics, and the neighbor whom you’ve consigned to Hell thirteen times this week are subject to “Catholic” social teaching and (what some people don’t want to hear) protected by it as well. Consistent with the positive formulation of the first principle of reason — that which is true is as true and is true in the same way as everything else that is true (the principle or law of identity) — all human beings, even (or especially) those whom you dislike or hate with all the fervor at your command, are as human, and human in the same way, as you. Catholic social teachin...
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Google AI Overview I would love to dive into both, but let's start with William of Ockham's fascinating role in the Franciscan poverty controversy, as it completely reshaped medieval political philosophy.Ockham became the intellectual heavy hitter for the Spiritual Franciscans in their fiery clash with Pope John XXII starting in 1322. At the heart of the debate was the question: Could one perfectly follow the life of Christ—who owned nothing—if they used property to survive?Here is how the controversy unfolded and why it matters:The Franciscan Stance: The friars argued for absolute poverty (usus pauper). They claimed to have the use of basic necessities (like food and clothing) without holding the legal ownership or property rights to them.The Papal Rejection: Pope John XXII issued the bull Quia nonnunquam, declaring that separating the legal right of ownership from the physical use of an item is logically and legally impossible. He argued that using food means consuming it, which inherently implies ownership.Ockham’s Counter-Attack: Fleeing papal custody to seek protection under the Holy Roman Emperor, Ockham wrote extensively against the Pope. He argued that the Pope was a heretic for claiming absolute dominion over the Church and redefining poverty.The Birth of Rights Theory: To defend the Franciscans, Ockham had to define what "rights" are. He famously distinguished between natural rights (which he framed as moral powers or human capacities granted by reason and divine law) and legal rights (which are established by human governments and popes).By arguing that humans have fundamental, natural liberties that even a Pope cannot strip away, Ockham helped lay some of the earliest groundwork for modern theories of natural rights.If you'd like, let's look closer at one of these angles:How Ockham's distinction between natural and legal rights sparked the shift into modern political thought.The specifics of how this contrasts with Thomas Aquinas's classical view of natural law and property.

AI Overview I would love to dive into both, but let's start with William of Ockham's fascinating role in the Franciscan poverty controversy , as it completely reshaped medieval political philosophy . [ 1 , 2 ] Ockham became the intellectual heavy hitter for the Spiritual Franciscans in their fiery clash with Pope John XXII starting in 1322. At the heart of the debate was the question: Could one perfectly follow the life of Christ—who owned nothing—if they used property to survive? Here is how the controversy unfolded and why it matters: The Franciscan Stance: The friars argued for absolute poverty ( usus pauper ). They claimed to have the use of basic necessities (like food and clothing) without holding the legal ownership or property rights to them. The Papal Rejection: Pope John XXII issued the bull Quia nonnunquam , declaring that separating the legal right of ownership from the physical use of an item is logically and legally impossible. He argued that ...
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Google AI: Yes, Michel Bastit is a prominent French philosopher who has indeed extended and rigorously defended Michel Villey’s core thesis regarding the absence of subjective rights (droits subjectifs) in the thought of Thomas Aquinas.Bastit’s scholarship supports this position through several key arguments:The Nature of Ius in Aquinas: Following Villey, Bastit emphasizes that for Aquinas, the term ius strictly refers to an objective "just thing" (res iusta) or the objective balance of a situation. It does not mean a subjective, inherent moral power or possession possessed by an individual, which is the foundational premise of modern human and subjective rights.The Nominalist Rupture: Both Villey and Bastit assert that a legal theory grounded in subjective rights did not emerge from classical or high-scholastic (Thomistic) realism. Instead, it arose as a direct consequence of the nominalist and voluntarist metaphysics introduced later by William of Ockham in the 14th century. By rejecting universal natures in favor of singular realities and elevating God's sheer will, Ockham laid the groundwork for viewing the individual human will as the sovereign source of legal power.Bastit's Specific Contributions: In works like La Naissance de la loi moderne (The Birth of Modern Law), Bastit analyzes this paradigm shift. He traces how the move from ancient and medieval objective law to modern subjective rights involved abandoning a teleological worldview in favor of a modern, mechanistic, and individualistic philosophy.This historical and philosophical genealogy has sparked decades of scholarly debate—often called the "querelle du droit subjectif" (quarrel of the subjective right)—pitting French Thomistic and juridical realists like Villey and Bastit against other historians of ideas (such as Brian Tierney) who argue that natural rights roots can be traced to earlier canonists.Would you like to explore how this classical interpretation of Thomas Aquinas contrasts with modern natural rights theories, or perhaps examine Ockham's role in the Franciscan poverty controversy? Let me know where you'd like to dive deeper.

Yes, Michel Bastit is a prominent French philosopher who has indeed extended and rigorously defended Michel Villey’s core thesis regarding the absence of subjective rights ( droits subjectifs ) in the thought of Thomas Aquinas. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ] Bastit’s scholarship supports this position through several key arguments: The Nature of Ius in Aquinas: Following Villey, Bastit emphasizes that for Aquinas, the term ius strictly refers to an objective "just thing" ( res iusta ) or the objective balance of a situation. It does not mean a subjective, inherent moral power or possession possessed by an individual, which is the foundational premise of modern human and subjective rights. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ] The Nominalist Rupture: Both Villey and Bastit assert that a legal theory grounded in subjective rights did not emerge from classical or high-scholastic (Thomistic) realism. Instead, it arose as a direct consequence of the nominalist and voluntarist metaphysics introduced l...
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Fred martinez @mrtnzfred Leo, as Stine said, apparently made June the month of sports and seems to have forgotten it the Sacred Heart of Jesus month for reparation for sin. Quote Chris Jackson @BigModernism · 8h Nevertrump Trads in horror… x.com/sachinettiyil/… 8:53 PM · Jun 11, 2026 · 1 View

Fred martinez @mrtnzfred Leo, as Stine said, apparently made June the month of sports and seems to have forgotten it the Sacred Heart of Jesus month for reparation for sin. Quote Chris Jackson @BigModernism · 8h Nevertrump Trads in horror… x.com/sachinettiyil/… 8:53 PM · Jun 11, 2026 · 1 View Chris Jackson @BigModernism Nevertrump Trads in horror… Quote Sachin Jose @Sachinettiyil · 13h US President Donald Trump issued a statement saying he and Melania are joining in prayer with the Catholic bishops as they consecrate the United States of America to the Sacred Heart of Jesus today 12:35 PM · Jun 11, 2026 · 530 Views
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