Laborem exercens

In his third encyclical Laborem exercens ("through work ...") from 1981, Pope John Paul II writes about work as one of the characteristics of man that distinguishes him from other creatures. This encyclical also serves to support the independent Polish trade union Solidarność .

Anniversary of Rerum novarum

On the 90th anniversary of Rerum novarum and two and a half years after the beginning of his pontificate, John Paul II wrote this social encyclical . He wanted to publish it on May 15, 1981 in St. Peter's Square , which was prevented by the May 13 assassination attempt on him . He was only able to introduce her four months later on September 14, 1981. While previous social encyclicals had been prepared by working groups, it is believed that this encyclical came from his pen alone. It does not focus so much on economic and social structures, but thematically deals with the working people.

contents

The content of the encyclical is clear from its structure and from some important quotations:

I. INTRODUCTION

1. Human work 90 years after »Rerum novarum«

2. Work in the organic development of social action and teaching of the Church

3. The problem of work - key to the social question

II. WORK AND MAN

4. In the book of Genesis

5. The work in the objective sense: the technology

6. Work in the subjective sense: Man as the subject of work

“... For there is no doubt that human work has its ethical value, which is directly and directly connected with the fact that whoever carries it out is a person, a subject endowed with consciousness and freedom, that is, a Subject that decides about itself. ... The dignity of work is deeply rooted not in its objective, but in its subjective dimension.

With such a view, the basis of the ancient division of people into different groups according to the type of work they do virtually disappears. This is not to say that human work, understood objectively, cannot or should not be assessed and qualified in any way, but merely that the first basis for the value of work is man himself, his subject. This is connected to a very important conclusion of an ethical nature: As true as it is that man is destined and called to work, work is primarily there for man and not man for work. With this conclusion one comes logically to the recognition of the primacy of the subjective importance of the work over the objective one. On the basis of this conception and provided that various work performed by people can have a greater or lesser objective value, our main concern is to make it clear that the standard for each of these work is primarily the dignity of its subject, i.e. the Person, of the person who performs it. Again: Regardless of the work that every person does, and provided that this represents a purpose of his action - which often engages him strongly - it should be noted that this purpose alone is not of decisive importance. The purpose of the work, every work performed by people - even if it is generally valued as the lowest service, as completely monotonous, even as outlawed work - ultimately always remains the person himself. "

7. A threat to the right order of values

“... As is well known, capitalism as a system, as an economic-social system, has its precise, historically grown content from the juxtaposition to“ socialism ”and“ communism ”. But in the light of the analysis of the fundamental reality in the whole economic process and especially in the structure of production - that is, of labor - it is appropriate to admit that the error of primitive capitalism can be repeated wherever man is in any way related to the whole of the material means of production and treated as an instrument and not according to the true dignity of its work, that is, as its subject and author, and precisely because of this as the true goal of the entire production process. "

8. The solidarity of working people

9. Work and personal dignity

"Work is a good for people - for their humanity - because through work they not only transform nature and adapt to their needs, but also realize themselves as a person, in a sense" become more human "."

10. Work and community: in family and nation

III. THE CONFLICT BETWEEN LABOR AND CAPITAL IN THE PRESENT SECTION OF HISTORY

11. Dimensions of this conflict

12. The primacy of work

“Given today's reality, in the structure of which so many man-made conflicts are deeply embedded and in which technical means - a fruit of human labor - play a primary role (think also of the possibility of a global collapse in the event of a nuclear war with its almost unimaginable destructive powers), one must above all recall a principle that the Church has always taught: the principle of the primacy of labor over capital. This principle directly affects the production process, for which labor is always one of the main effective causes, while capital, which consists of the totality of the means of production, is merely an instrument or instrumental cause. This principle is an obvious truth that emerges from the whole of human historical experience.

... This truth, which is an integral part of church teaching, must be emphasized again and again in connection with the question of the work order and also of the entire socio-economic system. One must underline and emphasize the primacy of man in the production process, the primacy of man over things. Everything that the term "capital" encompasses - in the narrower sense - is only a sum of things. Man as the subject of work and independent of the work he does, man and he alone is a person. This truth contains important and decisive conclusions. "

13. Economism and materialism

"Above all, in the light of this truth it becomes very clear that one cannot separate capital from labor and that labor and capital cannot be contrasted with one another, let alone - as will be explained later - the concrete people who are stand behind these terms. A work order can only be correct, that is, in accordance with the essence of the problem, correct, that is, internally true and at the same time morally permissible, if it overcomes the contradiction between labor and capital in its foundations and tries to conform to the principle set out above to build up the essential and effective priority of work, according to the principle of man as the subject of work and his effective participation in the entire production process, regardless of the type of work performed by the worker.

... Such a problem approach contained the fundamental error that can be described as the error of economism, when it looks at human labor solely in terms of its economic objective. This fundamental error of thought can and must also be called an error of materialism, insofar as economism directly or indirectly contains the conviction of the primacy and primacy of the material, while it contains the spiritual and personal (human activity, moral values ​​and the like). directly or indirectly subordinated to material reality. This is not yet theoretical materialism in the full sense of the word, but certainly a practical materialism, which is not so much considered capable of meeting human needs because of its prerequisites derived from materialistic theory, but rather on the basis of a certain way of evaluating it , thus due to a certain ranking of values ​​based on the immediate and greater attraction of the material. Erroneous thinking in terms of the categories of economism went hand in hand with the emergence of materialist philosophy and its development from the more elementary and general phase (also called vulgar materialism because it claims to make spiritual reality a superfluous phenomenon) to phase of so-called dialectical materialism. ... Even in dialectical materialism, the human being is not primarily the subject of work and the effective cause of the production process, but is seen and treated depending on the material, as a kind of "result" of the economic and production relations that shaped the time in question.

... The same error, which now already has its particular historical profile connected with this period of first capitalism and liberalism, can be repeated under different temporal and local circumstances, if one starts the reflection on the same theoretical and practical assumptions. A radical overcoming of this error seems impossible until there are appropriate changes both in theory and in practice, changes in line with a decided conviction of the primacy of the person over the thing, of human labor over capital as the totality of the means of production . "

14. Labor and Property

“... In addition, the teaching of the Church has never understood property in such a way that it could have become the cause of social contrast in work. As mentioned earlier, property is primarily acquired through work and for the benefit of work. This is particularly true of ownership of the means of production. A conception which regards this in isolation, as a closed complex of property, which then stands over against "labor" as "capital" or should even exploit it, is contrary to the nature of these means and their possession. You mustn't own it in exchange for work; Nor may they be owned for the sake of possession, because the only motive that justifies their possession - be it in the form of private property, be it in the form of public or collective property - is to serve work and thereby work To enable the realization of the first principle of the property order: the determination of goods for all and the common right to use them. From this point of view, then, with regard to human work and common access to the goods intended for human beings, the socialization of certain means of production cannot be ruled out under the appropriate conditions. "

15. The personal point of view

"So the principle of the primacy of labor over capital is a requirement of a socio-ethical nature."

IV. WORKING PEOPLE'S RIGHTS

16. In the broad context of human rights

17. "Indirect" and "direct" employers

18. The problem of the workplace

“... The opposite of a just and orderly situation in this area is unemployment, the lack of jobs for those able to work. It can be general or sector-specific unemployment. "

19. Wages and special social benefits

20. The importance of the trade unions

21. The dignity of farm labor

22. The disabled person and work

23. Work and the problem of emigration

V. ELEMENTS FOR A SPIRITUALITY OF WORK

24. A special task of the Church

25. Work as participation in the work of the Creator

26. Christ, a man of work

27. Human work in the light of Christ's cross and resurrection

Individual points of view

Viewpoints

In the encyclical standpoints are developed which also reveal the focus of this instructional letter:

• Principle of the primacy of labor over capital
• An exclusive right of private ownership of the means of production must not be dogmatized
• Co-ownership of the workers in the means of production
• Participation in the management and earnings of the company.

Communism and western prosperity

The encyclical was written at a time when in the communist world the belief or consolation of workers in a life of prosperity and justice was becoming increasingly fragile, whereas in free societies prosperity and the social security achieved led to new mistakes. The work is not recognized as a personal achievement and is more a means to an end and thus it loses its social value, he states in his statements on the current situation.

Value of work

As far as the social question in the industrial age is concerned, the Pope opposes the “error of primitive capitalism ”, which in the wake of the “materialist and economist currents” in the nineteenth century assessed labor only according to what it produced in terms of goods. It is always only the person who works and therefore has the right to decent working conditions and fair wages. From this point of view, the encyclical reaffirms its commitment to Catholic social teaching . The Pope also deals with the question of common sense and its pursuit of spiritual knowledge.

Property and means of production

The Pope mentions that there is no “structural opposition between labor and capital ”. Not even between those who bring in their labor and the owners of the means of production. John Paul II reaffirms the principles of Catholic social teaching with regard to the private property order and again demanded - very much on the line that Leo XIII. had struck in Rerum novarum - the participation of the workers in the ownership of the means of production. One of the central tasks of an industrial society based on the division of labor is not the socialization of private property, but its broad distribution.

literature

• Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace (ed.), Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, Herder Verlag, Freiburg im Breisgau, 2006, ISBN 3-451-29078-2

Web links

• German text of the encyclical

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The quotations from nos. 6-14 are weighted roughly DH 4690 - 4699