Acton Institute: 45 books

Students, teachers, and all those who seek a better knowledge of the social doctrine of the Church will find contained within this collection the central statements of the Roman Pontiffs from a range of texts, including papal encyclicals, apostolic letters, and Conciliar documents, on matters relating...

Catholic education has played a major role in the development of Western nations, yet it is in many places in crisis. To bring about renewal, it is necessary to revisit the subject with an eye to fundamental questions. What is the purpose of education? What is distinctive about Catholic education? What is the right relationship between schools, parents, Church, and society?

The art of creating, managing, loaning, and investing money has always been fraught with moral hazards. Unfortunately, the widespread habit of viewing banking in a less-than positive light has contributed to misunderstanding of a human activity that not only contributes to human prosperity, but also...

This monograph attempts to unravel the distinct applications of social justice, economic justice, and distributive justice in modern Christian social thought. The purpose is to set up a framework for justice that properly distinguishes each type, and also clarifies the relationships between instances of these types.

John Paul II asserts the right to migrate and this monograph presents a defense for this case. But the meaning of right employed in this defense is wholly distinct from that employed in the contemporary rights language of public policy debates. Rather, the meaning of right in Catholic natural law...

In this essay, Robert A. Sirico draws upon theology, philosophy, and history to outline the contours of what he calls the entrepreneurial vocation, and its relationship with the deeper Christian message concerning the incomparable dignity of man and the sanctification of the world through human work.

Property is an institution fundamental to civilization. What is a Christian perspective on the subject? Is the Catholic Church a stalwart defender of private property or a proponent of common ownership? The answers to these questions are not always simple and straightforward. In these pages, Professor...

One of the most critical questions facing the world today is whether Islam is capable of accommodating itself to the constitutional forms of government that first arose in the West. Needless to say, opinion is sharply divided on this question.In Islamic Theology, Constitutionalism and the State,...

As with many topics within Catholic social teaching, the virtues of justice and prudence are indispensable tools in our efforts to assess and generate tax policies that truly serve the good of all. Professor Robert Kennedy displays the same virtues as he recounts the history of taxation, analyzes...

This monograph is for Christians who are perplexed about the biblical standing of natural law. It offers an explicitly biblical defense for the existence and practical importance of natural law. If natural law is taught in Scripture, it should certainly be affirmed in Christian theology. The Studies...

In both developed and developing nations, old age security is a concern of the utmost importance. Wealthy nations face ailing government pension systems, while less developed nations struggle to construct viable mechanisms for assisting the needy elderly. In this unique and provocative monograph,...

American tort law has become the subject of public scrutiny in the last decades. The criticism cast against it is that its current state bears economic incentives for abuse. But the tort law system engenders an even greater evil: the perversion of the human person. Acts of injustice tolerated by a...

The AIDs crisis in Africa has given the once-esoteric question of intellectual property rights critical and immediate significance. The issue of pharmaceutical patents is but one dimension of a broad and complicated area at the intersection of law, economics, and ethics. In this monograph, philosopher...

Is it possible that charity and missions efforts have unintentionally harmed those whom we are trying to help? Through real stories form the developing world, this book will provide you with a better understanding of how to ReThink your current missions efforts in ways that allow for maximum impact...