Christian Humanism: The Ethical Basis of the German Model of Social Market Economy

Abstract

This chapter examines Ralf Dahrendorf’s thesis that Catholic Social Teaching and Ordoliberalism are incompatible and that thus far the idea of a Social Market Economy is an accidental, historical compromise without future in the world of globalization. The background to this thesis is the presupposition that the Christian value of solidarity and the free-market-concept of Neoliberalism are antagonistic. It is argued that Christian personalism is not only part of the tradition of Catholic Social Teaching, but also part of the tradition of Ordoliberalism. Thus there are significant similarities in the moral foundation of both theories. Nevertheless there are differences in the conclusions that the two theories draw from this common principle. Dahrendorf is right in so far as he says that the Social Market Economy is composed of different elements. But he is mistaken in his belief that these elements are incompatible. The paper outlines the main-differences between Ordoliberal theory and the Social Doctrine of the Church. The thesis of the paper is, in contrast to Dahrendorf, that in the synthesis of the Social Market Economy both theories complement each other. A second thesis is that the Christian elements in the concept of the Social Market Economy are still essential.KeywordsOrdoliberalismSocial market economyCatholic social teachingLiberalism