The Institute for Human Ecology
Human flourishing illuminated by Catholic social doctrine.
Freedom
The foundation of human flourishing.
Family
The fundamental social unit of a healthy, functioning society.
Economy
The intersection of free enterprise and ingenuity ordered towards human flourishing.
Culture
The driving force behind the way we form human relationships.
Virtue and Science
Evidence from many sources suggests that there are problems in the current practices of scientific research. There is a growing concern over the trustworthiness of the scientific literature because a number of studies have demonstrated the inability of independent investigators to replicate the results of published experiments.
Freedom, Truth, and Human Dignity: The Second Vatican Council’s Declaration on Religion Freedom
Pope Paul VI characterized the Second Vatican Council’s Declaration on Religious Freedom -- Dignitatis Humanae -- as one of the greatest documents of Vatican II. It is also perhaps the most intensely debated document of the Council.
Duty To Protect
Next month will mark ten years since Pope Benedict XVI addressed the United Nations General Assembly, where he spoke eloquently of a concept called “the duty to protect.”
Author George Weigel Shares Thoughts and Stories on Pope John Paul II in Book Q&A
Acclaimed Catholic author and NBC News Senior Vatican Analyst George Weigel addressed a group of about one hundred students, faculty members, and visitors about his newest book on Pope St. John Paul II, Lessons in Hope.
Civitas Dei: The Most Glorious City
Long before St. Peter was martyred there, Rome was called “the eternal city.” Rome was founded by refugees who had fled fallen Troy, and with the neighboring Etruscans, the legendary twins Remus and Romulus founded a city which would rule the world for millennia in one way or another.
Natural Law and the Civitas Dei Program
Why should American intelligence be ethical? The short answer is that it’s American. And Americans, whatever their religious creed or background, have generally expected that our democratic government will be guided by ethical standards in all its activities and functions.
Rep. Francis Rooney Joins Professors for a Conversation on Subsidiarity
What is subsidiarity and why does it matter in the world today? That was the topic up for discussion during a recent symposium hosted by the Institute for Human Ecology at The Catholic University of America.
Where Are the All-Star Teams in Academia?
The 1992 Summer Olympics remains famous today for the United States “dream team” for men’s basketball – Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Scottie Pippen, David Robinson, Karl Malone, Dave Stockton, and others.
Why Should American Intelligence Be Ethical?
Why should American intelligence be ethical? The short answer is that it’s American. And Americans, whatever their religious creed or background, have generally expected that our democratic government will be guided by ethical standards in all its activities and functions.
Bishops Call for Nuclear Elimination but Forget Need for Modernization and Maintenance
On July 6, 2017, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Conference of European Justice and Peace Commissions issued a joint declaration calling upon the international community to “map out a credible, verifiable, and enforceable strategy for the total elimination of nuclear weapons.”
IHE’s Executive Director Teaches Ethics in Mexico
This summer, IHE's Executive Director Dr. Joseph Capizzi taught a course on "Ethics and Natural Law" in the Department of Social Sciences and Humanities at the Universidad del Valle de Atemajac (UNIVA) in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Unlikely Twins – On similarities between Communism and Liberal Democracy
Both systems tend to impose their structures, procedures, principles, presuppositions on every aspect of society, on people’s lives, thoughts, actions.
Luigi Sturzo and the Limits of Politics
The experience of Sturzo’s popularism was an attempt to conceive a coherent social order guided by the teachings of the Social Doctrine of the Church, a political and economic order inspired by a Christian personalism that searches for answers to the concrete problems of human beings.
Why Can’t a Feminist Be Pro-Life?
When a pro-life feminist group was removed as a sponsor of the Women’s March on Washington this past January, a national conversation began on whether an inclusive feminist movement can involve people with pro-life views.
Why Liberalism Failed
Of the three dominant ideologies of the twentieth century—fascism, communism, and liberalism—only the last remains. This has created a peculiar situation in which liberalism’s proponents tend to forget that it is an ideology and not the natural end-state of human political evolution.
Civitas Dei Summer Fellowship:
An Introduction to the Natural Law Tradition
The week-long seminar will introduce students to foundational themes in the natural tradition.
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Featured Fellows
Lloyd Sandelands, Ph.D.
Professor of Management and Organizations and of Psychology, University of Michigan
Expertise: Organizational Psychology, Management, Social Ethics
Paul Scherz, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Moral Theology and Ethics, The Catholic University of America
Expertise: Bioethics, Religion and Science, Technology Ethics
Lucia Ann Silecchia, J.D.
Professor of Law, and Director, Summer Law Program in Rome, The Catholic University of America
Expertise: Environmental Law and Ethics; Catholic Social Thought & Law; Catholic Higher Education
W. Bradford Wilcox, Ph.D.
Director of the National Marriage Project | Professor of Sociology, University of Virginia
Expertise: Demography, Sociology of Religion, Marriage, Family and PoliticsA Catechism for Business
A Catechism for Business draws together the Church’s social doctrine on business, organized by topic and question. It serves as a reference guide for Catholic business leaders who wish to deepen their faith and grow in their understanding of Catholic social doctrine as applied to business.
“A Catechism for Business fills a critical need in today’s complex world, where moral answers to questions are not always clear-cut. This well-organized and concise book is an absolute must for business people and policy makers ‘in the trenches’ as well as for academics, and even theologians focused on the common good.”
– Luanne Zurlo, Founder and former President and Executive Director, WorldFund