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CONSUMPTION-John Paul II, Catholic social thought and the ethics of consumption

Article Information:

Title:

CONSUMPTION-John Paul II, Catholic social thought and the ethics of consumption

Author(s):

Charles K. Wilber

Journal:

International Journal of Social Economics

Year:

1998

Volume:

25

Issue:

11/12

Page:

1595 - 1607


ISSN:

0306-8293


DOI:

10.1108/03068299810233213

Publisher:

MCB UP Ltd

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Abstract:

In this essay, the author identifies three reasons why consumption, or more precisely excessive consumption, is emphasized in Catholic social thought including most recently John Paul II’s 1991 encyclical Centesimus Annus: the moral conflict between the abundance enjoyed by the few and the poverty endured by the many; the threat to the environment from excessive consumption; and the human degradation from a cultural environment wherein having more is valued above being more. In his essay, Wilber offers a personalist alternative to the neo-classical position that satisfying individual preferences, as expressed in the market, is the only measure of economic welfare.

Keywords:

Consumerism, Moral responsibility, Religion, Social economics


Article Type:

Research paper


Article URL:

http://www.emeraldinsight.com/10.1108/03068299810233213

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