Entrepreneurship in the Catholic Tradition

by Anthony G. Percy

Overview

Entrepreneurship in the Catholic Tradition is a theological and historical exploration of the treatment of entrepreneurship, business, and commerce in the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. Moving from Scriptural exegesis to modern papal social encyclicals, Anthony G. Percy shows how Catholic teaching had developed profound insights into the ultimate meaning of entrepreneurship and commerce and invested it with theological, philosophical, and economic meaning that surpasses many conventional religious and secular interpretations. Entrepreneurship is illustrated as being as much a potential contributor to all-round integral human flourishing as it is to economic growth and development. In this sense, Entrepreneurship in the Catholic Tradition challenges the stereotype of the Catholic Church having a negative view of economic liberty and the institutions that enhance its productivity. Instead we discover a tradition in which first millennium theologians, medieval scholastics, and modern Catholic thinkers have thought seriously and at length about the character of free enterprise and its moral and commercial significance.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780739125144
Publisher:	Lexington Books
Publication date:	07/29/2010
Series:	Studies in Ethics and Economics
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Fr. Anthony G. Percy is a diocesan priest of the Archdiocese of Canberra-Goulburn, Australia. He received his doctorate in sacred theology from the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family, at the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. He is also the author of Theology of the Body Made Simple (2006). He is presently rector of the Good Shepherd Seminary in Sydney, Australia.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

Foreword ix

1 Introduction 1

2 Entrepreneurial Work: Toward a Definition 13

3 Entrepreneurial Work: Scripture and Tradition 37

4 Private Initiative in the Social Teaching of the Church: Leo XIII-Paul VI 91

5 Human Action, Work, and Enterprise: The Second Vatican Council 125

6 Human Work: First Insights from John Paul II 141

7 From Work to Entrepreneurship: The Revolution of Centesimus Annus 159

Further Reading 177

Index 181

About the Author 193

What People are Saying About This

Michael Novak

In Entrepreneurship in the Catholic Tradition, Anthony G. Percy provides us with a detailed study of the distinctive contribution to the modern understanding of entrepreneurship developed by Catholic theologians, philosophers, saints, popes, clergy, and economists over the centuries. This book is a treasure of information and provides many useful correctives to much received wisdom on the history of entrepreneurship.

Robert A. Sirico

This is a book for which many have been waiting. It undermines stereotypes of Catholic thought about free enterprise and business while simultaneously challenging us to root entrepreneurship in a richer and deeper understanding of the human person. Anthony G. Percy brings together good theology, good philosophy, sound economics, and an appreciation for the full complexity of Catholicism's positive view of the entrepreneur.

Editorial Reviews

The work of Father Percy is a great resource to help alleviate the problem….Father Percy does us the great favor of including in his book a review of declarations of the successive popes since Leo XIII.

Journal of Markets and Morality

The work of Father Percy is a great resource to help alleviate the problem….Father Percy does us the great favor of including in his book a review of declarations of the successive popes since Leo XIII.

Journal Of Markets and Morality

In Entrepreneurship in the Catholic Tradition, Anthony G. Percy provides us with a detailed study of the distinctive contribution to the modern understanding of entrepreneurship developed by Catholic theologians, philosophers, saints, popes, clergy, and economists over the centuries. This book is a treasure of information and provides many useful correctives to much received wisdom on the history of entrepreneurship.

Michael Novak

The work of Father Percy is a great resource to help alleviate the problem….Father Percy does us the great favor of including in his book a review of declarations of the successive popes since Leo XIII.

Journal of Markets & Morality

This is a book for which many have been waiting. It undermines stereotypes of Catholic thought about free enterprise and business while simultaneously challenging us to root entrepreneurship in a richer and deeper understanding of the human person. Anthony G. Percy brings together good theology, good philosophy, sound economics, and an appreciation for the full complexity of Catholicism's positive view of the entrepreneur.

Robert A. Sirico

This is a book for which many have been waiting. It undermines stereotypes of Catholic thought about free enterprise and business while simultaneously challenging us to root entrepreneurship in a richer and deeper understanding of the human person. Anthony G. Percy brings together good theology, good philosophy, sound economics, and an appreciation for the full complexity of Catholicism's positive view of the entrepreneur.--Robert A. Sirico, President, Acton Institute

In Entrepreneurship in the Catholic Tradition, Anthony G. Percy provides us with a detailed study of the distinctive contribution to the modern understanding of entrepreneurship developed by Catholic theologians, philosophers, saints, popes, clergy, and economists over the centuries. This book is a treasure of information and provides many useful correctives to much received wisdom on the history of entrepreneurship.--Michael Novak, former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Human Rights Commission, 1994 Templeton laureate

The work of Father Percy is a great resource to help alleviate the problem....Father Percy does us the great favor of including in his book a review of declarations of the successive popes since Leo XIII.--Journal of Markets & Morality

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