View source for Social Teaching of the Catholic Church on Digital Technology


'''= Course by Mark Stahlman, President of the [[Center for the Study of Digital Life]]: Digital Catholic Social Teaching: The Church & Technology'''

URL = https://www.digitallife.center/index.php/projects/school/the-church-and-technology


=Contextual Quote=

"Catholic Social Teaching (CST) — as expressed in these Encyclicals — is a comprehensive effort to address social issues, likely the most comprehensive ever assembled. That should not be surprising, since “catholic” means “universal” and because CST is based on what was called Natural Law. Plus the Church has been thinking about these matters for a very long time. Importantly, these are fundamental principles that have largely been forgotten — contributing significantly to the chaos we are now experiencing.

Not only is the Church imperfect but it has also not aggressively applied CST. As a result, I am *not* suggesting that that the Church is the “solution” to any sweeping social problems. It may not be at all! However, if we are to retrieve a “medieval” sensibility — which means one reflecting a world “before” the effects of PRINT on society — it is the place to go. Under DIGITAL conditions, we will have to make this journey (yes, for many, reluctantly), since that is the primary effect on us of the “digital world.”

To date, no one has taken this comprehensive effort and specifically focused on how it applies to our current DIGITAL paradigm. You can study CST in many places, but this is the only place you will find Digital CST (DCST). In our new *digital* paradigm, we have to deal with the robots that are being built to “replace” us. The only way I can see that happening is to “remember” what it means to be human and not a machine. PRINT tried to convince us that we were “mechanical.” Then ELECTRIC tried to convince that we are “electronic.” But we’re not either of these things. My hope is that DCST helps us to get a grip on recovering our humanity — just in time."

- Mark Stahlman [https://52livingideas.com/2022/02/25/digital-catholic-social-teaching-the-church-technology-by-mark-stahlman-a-scribal-hyperbook/]


=Introductory Resources=

* Intro video via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJGatE5sxPY

* Detailed preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrMGIlj3oDw

* Full video playlist via https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqpF1l8gdXlHqJZ8rQL3Xnp02xreLtpnT

* Course documentation by https://52livingideas.com/2022/02/25/digital-catholic-social-teaching-the-church-technology-by-mark-stahlman-a-scribal-hyperbook/

=Course Directory=

==Session 1:  Social Justice -- God is Dead==

Video via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZZRUiQDjuo

The 19th-century saw the rise of Electric technology, replacing Print as society's psycho-environmental ground -- while generating both  socialism/communism and the robber barons.  In response, the Catholic  Church invented the notion of "social justice," attempting to reassert Natural Law while addressing the widely growing conflicts.  Hostile states responded by isolating the Church, launching "culture wars," and ultimately fomenting revolution.  Nietzsche's dramatic assertion underpinned a wide range of social movements -- both on the left and the right.

Documentation via https://52livingideas.com/2022/02/25/dcst-session-1-8-social-justice-god-is-dead/


==Session 2:  The Encyclicals -- Disenchantment of the World==

Video via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9rS17JRMb0

Pope Leo XIII aggressively responded with encyclicals including "Aeterni Patris" (1879, retrieving St.Thomas Aquinas) and "Rerun  Novarum" (1891, establishing Catholic Social Teaching).  Forty years later, Pope Pius XII expanded CST in his "Quadragessima Anno" (1931, a cornerstone of the Church's anti-Marxist "Catholic International"). On the 100th anniversary, Pope John Paul II issued his "Centesimus Annus" (1991, from which grew CAPP, the lay organization tasked to spread CST).  But few heeded the Church's call.

Documentation via https://52livingideas.com/2022/03/04/dcst-session-2-of-8-the-encyclicals-disenchantment-of-the-world/


==Session 3:  Human Dignity -- Faculties of the Soul==

Video via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Va_PH4W5kMU

In the process, the Church's authority about the character of the human soul ("psyche" in Greek, "anima" in Latin) was severely  undermined, as "experimental" psychology took over.  Still, underneath Freud's hostility to religion, a remnant of a Viennese Catholic psychic understanding lurks in the shadows of his theories.  Even that has now been discarded and replaced with Cognitive Psychology, modeling humans on computers.  Increasingly marginalized, the Church seemed to withdraw, pressured by the rising social sciences, with many relying on a "mystical" interpretation of God's relationship with humanity.  We forgot Aquinas's Aristotelean Faculty Psychology and manipulating the soul became a social engineering imperative.

https://52livingideas.com/2022/03/12/dcst-session-3-human-dignity-faculties-of-the-soul/


==Session 4:  Human Dignity -- Artificial Humanity==

Video via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-9CAS0aW2A

Under Digital conditions, this failure to fully understand the unique qualities of the human soul has led to aggressive efforts to build  "artificial humans."  If, as modern psychology asserts, humans are simply "information processors," then why can't they be replaced by immortal machines?  Under the banner of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), and fueled by super-power rivalries, these attempts already consume massive resources.  A new "arms race" is underway.  A return to a deep comprehension of the "psyche" is urgently needed and the Church must lead in its retrieval.

Documentation via https://52livingideas.com/2022/03/18/dcst-session-4-of-8-human-dignity-artificial-humanity/


==Session 5:  Subsidiarity -- End of Mass Society==

Video via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-Iz4sTXd-c

As Electric technology overtook the world in the 20th-century, it generated a society that treated humans as mere elements of the "collective."  Welcome to the Borg.  Mass psychology and psychological warfare based on the effects of "mass media" led to world wars and mass suffering.  In an effort to find stability, an avalanche of increasingly "soulless" mass consumption and unrooted "globalist" ideology followed.  But this is now coming to an end.  Indeed, as a result of Digital technology, we no longer live in the "modern world."

Documentation via https://52livingideas.com/2022/03/29/dcst-session-5-of-8-subsidiarity-end-of-mass-society/


==Session 6:  Subsidiarity -- Memory and Autonomy==

Video via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoD7r9XghUU

Digital technology thrusts us all into a dramatically new cultural paradigm.  Whereas Electricity emphasized "imagination" (culminating in the destabilizing effects of "social media"), Digital shifts the emphasis towards "memory" -- two of the faculties at the heart of our subconscious "Inner Senses."  As this happens -- to us all -- our sensibilities are re-shaped and the "conditioning" we have suffered is now being undermined.  As a result, we are experiencing a recovery of "virtue" and a widespread re-evaluation of personal responsibilities. "Mass society" is being replaced by one with new social forms and based on increased human autonomy -- aligning with the principles of subsidiarity.

Documentation via https://52livingideas.com/2022/04/23/dcst-6-of-8-subsidiarity-memory-autonomy/


==Session 7:  Solidarity -- God's Diplomats==

Video via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0D6ba2l_xYc

"Peace on Earth" has long been a key imperative for the Church. Particularly after the Italian seizure of the Papal States in 1870, the Catholic Church has become a "neutral" diplomatic participant with unique moral standing.  In an era when imaginary "globalist" cohesion has collapsed, the universal concern for all of humanity has become closely linked to the Church's quiet and persistent diplomatic engagement.  Charity is understood by the Church as a theological virtue -- along with Hope and Faith -- and much charity will be required as the world goes through today's fundamental change in paradigms.

https://52livingideas.com/2022/04/23/dcst-session-7-of-8-solidarity-gods-diplomats-with-guest-speaker-victor-gaetan/


==Session 8:  Solidarity -- Three Spheres==

Video via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_O8RGAocrM

The post-WW II "World Order" that we have lived under has collapsed. Onetime globalist ambitions have been shattered, as a result of Digital technology.  This presents new challenges and substantially increases risks.  Groups that evaluate "existential threats" have proliferated.  Under Digital conditions, Catholic Social Teaching has become an even more crucial component of global affairs.  Will we learn the lessons from the past and embrace the Church's experience and charity towards all?  We have entered into a dangerous historic period and the Church has a vital role to play.  Digital Catholic Social Teaching has become a particularly important source of guidance and grace."

Documentation via https://52livingideas.com/2022/04/23/dcst-session-8-of-8-solidarity-three-spheres/

[[Category:Courses]]
[[Category:P2P Technology Theory]]
[[Category:Spirituality]]