Pope Francis' Laudato Si: Comments on His Description of the Problems Facing Mankind
Alberto García and John Lunstroth, Lo que le está pasando a nuestra casa. Diagnóstico de una crisis ecológica sin precedentes, in LOADO SEAS, MI SEÑOR: Comentario a la encíclica «Laudato si’» del papa Francisco, 311 (Fernando Chica Arellano and Carlos Granados García eds., Biblioteca de Autores Cris
9 Pages Posted: 1 Aug 2017 Last revised: 3 Aug 2017
Date Written: July 27, 2015
Abstract
The content of this paper is found within the much longer Spanish language book chapter co-written with Alberto Garcia, referenced on this page.
I describe Chapter One and its place in the overall argument of the book. In this Chapter the Pope describes the crises facing humanity (e.g., sustainability, climate change, unrestrained capitalism, etc.), the nature and solution of which he will discuss in more detail in subsequent chapters. I examine the Pope’s frames of reference in the Western Tradition, discussing their origin in Aristotle and the medieval argument between the Franciscans and the Ockhamists, and the influence of that argument on the eventual emergence of the Enlightenment and materialist values in science, political theory and economics. Although the Pope does not directly reference these precedents in the history of ideas, he clearly depends on them conceptually, disclosing the profound philosophical connection he has to his namesake, St. Francis, and through him and Thomas Aquinas, to an Aristotelian gaze on life.
Keywords: Pope Francis, Laudato Si, climate change, ecology, history of science, enlightenment, history of ideas, St. Francis, Aristotle, ethics of science, sustainability
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation