Catholic Social Teaching Principles

• Four Catholic principles: Human Dignity, Common Good, Solidarity, and Subsidiarity.
• All humans are worthy of respect, equal, and have basic rights.
• Work together for the well-being of everyone and create beneficial social conditions.
• Love thy neighbor regardless of religion, race, or nationality, and work for their good.
• Issues should be resolved at the lowest possible level.
• Concerns decision-making and societal participation.
• The religious belief underlying human dignity is that all are made in the image of God.
• A principle is a rule or code of conduct, a fundamental law, rule, or assumption.
• An assumption is a fact or statement taken for granted.
• Kant's most famous work is "Critique of Pure Reason".
• Inscribed over the entrance to the oracle of Delphi is "Know Thyself".
• Kant's initial definition of Enlightenment: humanity's release from self-incurred tutelage.
• The initial definition is insufficient because the meaning of "self-incurred tutelage" is unclear.
• Kant's definition of tutelage: humanity's inability to use its understanding without guidance from another.
• A synonym for tutelage is immaturity.
• Tutelage is self-incurred not due to a lack of reason, but a lack of courage to use one's own reason.
• The Aristotelian definition of a human is a rational animal.
• Three translations of the motto of enlightenment: Have courage to use your own reason, Dare to know, Think for yourself.
• Kant uses the image of domestic cattle to convey why people lack the courage to use their own reason.
• Guardians keep people from their reason by ensuring they don't take a single step without the harness or the rest of the cattle, showing the danger that lies if they attempt to go alone.
• The fear is not justified.
• Falling or fears of failing must occur to learn.
• Second nature is a habit developed over time that appears to be a natural instinct.
• Second nature is neither good nor bad, it depends on the habit.
• Examples: smoking (bad), eating healthy/brushing teeth (good).
• It is easier for society to reach enlightenment than an individual.
• People can hold one another accountable and support each other rather than alone.
• If guardians are enlightened, they will use their power to enlighten others and encourage them to think for themselves.
• Guardians are not necessarily enlightened.
• An enlightened guardian would encourage people to think for themselves.
• Kant does not believe a revolution will necessarily cause enlightenment.
• Replacing one set of masters with another does not cause people to think for themselves.
• A switch cannot be flipped to cause enlightenment.
• For Kant, the private use of reason is the use of reason in a civil post or office.
• The public use of reason the presentation of thoughts to the public for critique, "as a scholar before the reading public."
• Examples of private use of reason: working in/under a hospital, driving, student in school.
• Examples of public use of reason: A hypothesis paper, new papers, podcasting.
• Public is free, private is restricted, according to Kant.

The four Catholic principles are human dignity, the common good, solidarity, and subsidiarity. All humans are worthy of respect and equal in rights. We should work together and love thy neighbor, and issues should be resolved at the lowest level.