The Means and Ends of Nations
Daniel Edward Young Friday, 1 December 2006
Derek S. Jeffreys, Defending Human Dignity: John Paul II and Political Realism (Brazos Press, 2004). 235 pp. $19.99.
Defending Human Dignity is a worthwhile, difficult, and sometimes frustrating book. Political scientists, philosophers, and theologians interested in a Christian perspective on statecraft should find this book useful, but may find that occasionally it falls short of its considerable promise. Jeffreys' project in this book is to put Pope John Paul II's political philosophy into a critical engagement with political realism. Jeffreys acknowledges the powerful insights of the realist tradition, but does not want to follow realism in its ends-justify-means ethics. He argues that the Pope's philosophy shares many characteristics with realism, but avoids realism's consequentialist trap.
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