This presentation by David Baer focused on the way Catholic integralists attempt to subvert principles of liberalism by leveraging the seemingly innocuous and universally acceptable concept of the common good. Appealing to the tradition of Christian political and legal thought as well as to Catholic social teaching, integralism recommends a vision of the common good that requires aligning societal norms with religiously backed moral doctrines, and which purports to build social harmony through the reduction or elimination of social conflict. Integralism views society as an organic whole, one in which human flourishing is achieved by aligning the individual good with the so-called common good.
The integralist “common good” is therefore collectivist. To disguise their collectivism, integralists develop revisionist interpretations of traditional Catholic principles like subsidiarity, and offer interpretations of human dignity that see individuals as parts of a better whole and claim to be rooted in “divine law.” In developing these arguments, integralists draw on corporatist Catholic thinking dating back to the early twentieth century, including ideologies associated with Austrofascim, although they are not always explicit about the nature of their intellectual debts.
The subversive character of the integralist common good becomes more apparent when contrasted explicitly with a liberal account of the common good, one rooted in respect for individual liberty and personal development. Integralism envisions the common good as existing prior to and independently of the individual. Liberalism, by contrast, sees the common good as subsequent to the individual, and arising from the action of individuals pursuing personal goods in common. The liberal common good thus promotes pluralism and is comfortable with societal friction, so long as individual and collective pursuit of the good life does not conflict with the same pursuit of that good life by others.
H. David Baer is a Professor of Theology, Philosophy, and Classical Language at the Texas Lutheran University. His research focuses on issues and concepts such as religious freedom, communism, Lutherans in Hungary, history, ethics, and politics. His publications include The Struggle of Hungarian Lutherans Under Communism (Texas A&M University Press, 2013). In his current project at the IWM, Baer aims to trace the influence of the Dollfuss-Schuschnigg regime as a political model for American Christian conservatives, especially among Catholic integralists.
Ludger Hagedorn, IWM Permanent Fellow, moderated the colloquium discussion.
