John Paul II and the Goods of the Body (of Christ)

It has become commonplace to observe that one of the hazards of living in the modern world is that the modern world, for all the very real benefits it offers those of us who inhabit it, divides and scatters us. The circumstances of modernity disconnect us, not simply from the past, from the earth, and from each other, but also from ourselves. The philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre, who is certainly one of modernity’s most insightful critics, has referred to this series of disconnections as fragmentation, and has gone so far as to say that fragmentation is a predominant characteristic of life in modern societies. As the breadth and depth of human knowledge and technological capability have increased, enquiry has necessarily become more specialized. The great success of the physical and natural sciences have made them the paradigm for all human knowing, and the so-called “social sciences” have imitated their methods and aspired to equal their public status.