Economics, Catholic Social Teaching, and Dissent

Yesterday, we posted a magnificent article by Dr. Peter Kwasniewski, an assistant professor of philosophy at a papal institute, the International Theological Institute in Gaming, Austria. Dr. Kwasniewski has been following the debate over Thomas Woods' "The Trouble With Catholic Social Teaching" and has weighed in with his own critique. Last night, Tom Woods replied on the LewRockwell.com Blog.

It's worth reading Woods' response, if only to see the limits of the LewRockwell.com crowd's commitment to the free marketplace of ideas. Woods attacks Kwasniewski and Chronicles while refusing to name any of us by name or to provide links to any of the articles on our site. Some ideas are just too dangerous to be discussed, apparently. I thought, though, that that was Bill Buckley's stand, for which the libertarians rightly criticized him?

In any case, read Kwasniewski's article and Woods' response, and let the debate begin. You won't be able to post any writebacks over on Lew's blog (more evidence of his commitment to freedom of expression), but you can here.

By the way, here's a chronological list of links to the major posts (both on our site and Lew's) that relate to this debate (if I've forgotten any, please let me know). Feel free to bring material from any of these into this discussion:

"The Trouble With Catholic Social Teaching" by Thomas E. Woods, Jr.

"Economic Law versus Catholic Social Teaching" by Scott P. Richert

"Economic Law versus Catholic Social Teaching, Part II" by Scott P. Richert

"Economic Law versus Catholic Social Teaching, Part III" by Scott P. Richert

"Economic Science and Catholic Social Teaching" by Thomas Storck

"On the Actual Progress of Peoples" by Thomas E. Woods, Jr.

"The Limits of Economics" by Scott P. Richert

"Faith and the Dismal Science" by Thomas Fleming

"The Debate That Won't Die" by Thomas E. Woods, Jr.

"Fleming on Woods" by Stephan Kinsella

"Re: Woods, Storck, Fleming et al." by Stephan Kinsella

"Re: Re: Woods, Storck, Fleming et al." by Stephan Kinsella

"On Infallibility, Popes, and Woods" by Scott P. Richert

"This Goes Way Beyond Free Markets: Thoughts on the Disagreement Between Woods and Storck" by Peter Kwasniewski

"Catholic Social Teaching Yet Again" by Thomas E. Woods, Jr.