Co z tą własnością? Moralne dylematy dotyczące własności

Abstract

The article presents a historical and systematic approach to major ethical questions on the nature of ownership. Any moral reflection on the issue is frameworked by the right to private property on the one hand, which the Church regards as one of the natural rights, and the principle of the common destiny of goods (destinatio communis) on the other. Both principles also point to the dual nature of ownership: its individual character, which serves a person’s good and helps satisfy human needs; as well as its social aspect, which has public good in mind. The principles along with the supreme principle of the dignity of the human person provide foundations for numerous detailed moral norms that regulate the nature of ownership. Their formulation was facilitated among others by reflections on the theology of the creation, the biblical tradition of jubilees (jubilee years), the dispute over usury and numerous references to the social teachings of the Church ranging from Leo XIII’s encyclical Rerum Novarum to Benedict XVI’s encyclical Caritas in Veritate.