Urgency of the research. In the modern world, a person's success and standard of living are measured by material achievements. On the one hand it is the result of the ideology of consumption, and on the other hand it is result of the desire for comfort and prosperity. Therefore, the existing economic inequality is not only objective, but also a socially dangerous phenomenon, which is decisive in today's social relations. It requires explanation and overcoming.
Target setting. Inequality of property causes social tensions and conflicts between the poor and the rich. The position of proponents of market capitalism is diametrically opposed to the position of proponents of socialism, and because each party defends its interests: to own or to get, it is necessary to find a compromise in dialogue and avoid social conflicts.
Actual scientific researches and issues analysis. The question of social justice in the context of economic relations is important at all times. It was approached by secular thinkers and philosophers, including A. Smith, A. Banerjee, F. Hayek, D. Acemoglu, K. Raworth, K. Popper and others. In the Catholic Church, it was stated in the encyclicals of almost all the Popes of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Protestant thought in Ukraine is represented by the research of the Eurasia Mission and the works of S. Golovin, M. Cherenkov, A. Denysenko and others.
The research objective. The objective of the study is to consider the Catholic and Protestant position on property rights, to analyze the provisions of Reinhold Niebuhr’s philosophy on property, and to interpret the ideas of Christian realism on property in the context of modern Ukrainian society.
The statement of basic materials. It is emphasized that in democratic society the conflict between capitalists and socialists lies in the power of governments. The development of Christian position on property from the early Church to the twentieth century was demonstrated. It is shown that Niebuhr’s criticism of the capitalist system consists of exaggerating the role of individualism in economic relations, and in idealization of the economic influence as having only a protective function. The fairness of criticism by socialists of economic tools as instruments of oppression has been revealed. The model of economic relations in modern Ukrainian society is considered. The mechanisms of economic oppression in modern society are described.
Conclusions. The position on property from the point of view of Christian ethics and the teachings of the Catholic Church and Protestantism in the historical perspective is considered. It has been proved that the ideas of collectivism expressed by radical representatives of the Reformation are identical with the ideas of Marxists. The necessity of using social and political safeguards in the economy, which are based on morality and protection of society, is proved.
Keywords: right to property, capitalism, socialism, social ethics, economic inequality, Reinhold Niebuhr, Christian realism.
References:
- Niebuhr, R 2011. ‘The Children of Light and the Children of Darkness: a vindication of democracy and a critique of its traditional defense’, Chicago : The University of Chicago Press.
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- Golovin, S 2015. ‘Bibliya і polіtіka (Bible and politics)’, Kiev: Knigonosha, 144 s.
- Lev XIII, 1891. ‘Rerum Novarum “Novi rechi” – Ency`klika Papy` Leva XIII (Rerum Novarum – Encyclical letter of Pope Leo XIII)’. Dostupno : <https://dc.lviv.ua/nauka_cerkvy/dokumenty/2391-rerum-novarum-nov-rech-enciklka-papi-leva-h.html> [Data zvernennya 7 Тraven 2020].
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