Part 6 Ethics

Chapter 37 The Common Good

Section d. The False Philosophies

This section describes the great failings of losing this balance of correct ordering of love between: self, others and God. This comes up as the following two ideologies/philosophies which we see commonly in todays society:

Individualism: the improvement of self without the need for others. Making the life of virtue a private affair, and increasing ones indifference to others. The solution is love of neighbour.

Collectivism: the debasement of the self for the sake of the collective. This removes personal responsibility for virtue and integrity as the collective dictates what goes. The cure for this is the fostering of a free and rich interior life.

To sum up the correct philosophy:

i) Each person is ordained to God. Therefore by ordering oneself to God, one will naturally assist others by a free and personal choice of their own

ii) This helping others in flowing from ones own ordination to God must inherently help others to order themselves to God.