Transformation of Social Ethics

Where it surfaces

• I: The Medieval Background

  The chapter traces the shift from a religiously grounded moral economy to the secular science of political arithmetic, marking a transformation in social ethics.

• The Social Organism

  The chapter discusses how religious and moral doctrines had to be modified as the new economic environment became established, leading to a transformation of social ethics.

• The Sin of Avarice

  The evolution from strict just-price doctrine to St. Antonino's probabilistic approach illustrates a gradual shift in ethical reasoning about economic life.

• III: The Ideal and the Reality

  The chapter discusses the shift from a medieval spiritual view of society to a more economic and secular approach, with the Church's moral framework breaking down in the sixteenth century.

• II: The Continental Reformers

  Calvinism is described as the first systematic religious teaching to recognize and applaud economic virtues, shifting the focus from condemning wealth to disciplining its use.

• Luther

  The chapter discusses the shift from medieval canonist approaches to economic questions toward the Reformation's attempt to reconstruct social ethics on a biblical basis, though with unintended consequences.

• III: Calvin

  Calvinism introduced a new scale of moral values and a new ideal of social conduct, replacing medieval and Lutheran ethics with a system that emphasized personal responsibility, discipline, and the reconstruction of society.

• III: The Church of England

  The Church's traditional social doctrines are shown as ineffective in the face of commercial capitalism, leading to their theoretical abandonment.

• The Land Question

  The reformers' critique of the new economic practices represents a restatement of traditional social obligations, even as the actual transformation of society moved toward individualism and market-driven values.

• II: Religious and Social Policy

  The chapter traces the shift from medieval social theory, which insisted on equity in bargaining, to a more individualistic and capitalist ethic, despite the Church's resistance.

• The Growth of Individualism

  The chapter describes how the traditional social ethics of the Church, based on corporate morality and spiritual criteria, were discredited and replaced by an individualistic, self-regulating economic philosophy.

• IV: The Puritan Movement

  Traces the shift from a collective, church-enforced moral code to economic individualism and secularized social philosophy.

• Puritanism and Society

  The chapter discusses how Puritanism reshaped not only individual character but also family, church, industry, city, and political institutions, creating a new social order.

• II: A Godly Discipline Versus the Religion of Trade

  Traces how Puritan social theory shifted from rigorous discipline to an almost Utilitarian individualism over time.

• III: The Triumph of Economic Virtues

  The chapter shows the transformation of social ethics from a collectivist, half-communistic aspect to an individualism congenial to business, where virtues like diligence and thrift became conducive to commercial success.

• The New Medicine for Poverty

  The chapter details the shift from a medieval ethic of communal obligation and charity to a Puritan-influenced individualism that emphasized personal character and disparaged social responsibility for poverty.

• Conclusion

  Discusses the failure to adapt traditional social ethics to the needs of a more complex and mobile social order, leading to the decline of religious influence over economic life.

• Endnotes

  The notes discuss the shift from rigorous Calvinist discipline to later Puritan individualism, questioning the causes of this transformation.