Christliche Sozialethik und der Primat der Praxis

Ein pragmatistischer Orientierungsversuch auf dem Feld der Sozialtheorie

Abstract

The article assumes that the many different self-understandings of the discipline of Christian social ethics represent a problem for the system of science. This can lead, for example, to this lack of disciplinary identity weakening the discipline's position in the canon of subjects of (Catholic) theology. The article argues for a systematic connection of the various reference sciences and methods of Christian social ethics. This connection should be guaranteed by philosophical pragmatism as an integrating element. The text illustrates this with sociology or social theory as the reference science of Christian social ethics. From the basic orientations of a pragmatistically oriented sociology or social theory, such as its specific theory of action or its self-understanding as an engaged sociology, Christian social ethics gains a specific shape around the concept of the primacy of practice, which can also open doors for a theological foundation of the subject.