Acting (economic) persons: Adam Smith and Karol Wojtyla/John Paul II as sources for economic personalism
Abstract
This dissertation examines the writings of Adam Smith and Karol Wojtyla/John Paul II as resources for economic personalism, a contemporary school of thought that critically engages modern economic theory with the resources of the Christian tradition, especially Catholic social thought. Economic personalists share with other critics of mainstream economic theory--including economists, ethicists, and theologians--dissatisfaction with the standard model of the economic agent, or homo economicus . Economic personalists seek to develop a more adequate model of the economic agent, drawing on theological anthropology, moral philosophy, and personalist philosophy, especially the thought of Karol Wojtyla/John Paul II. This dissertation, therefore, focuses on the anthropologies of Smith and Karol Wojtyla/John Paul II as resources for economic personalism, with secondary attention being given to the larger context within which the human person is located, and questions of method. It is claimed that the considerable areas of congruence between Smith and Karol Wojtyla/John Paul II constitute important resources for economic personalism that address some fundamental problems in contemporary economic theory.
This paper has been withdrawn.