On Easter Monday 21st of April 2025, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Pope Francis died. He is sometimes depicted as an anti-intellectual Pope. It is however often forgotten that Bergoglio was trained as a Jesuit and got a deep theological and philosophical formation of six years and served as a university rector of the Colegio de San José in Argentina. He also started a doctorate and went to Germany in 1986 to finish his doctoral thesis on the personalist Romano Guardini. Throughout his life, Guardini has played an important role and he used the thought of Guardini on technique for Laudato Si.

Viktor E. Frankl (1905 – 1997) – the eminent 20th century psychiatrist, Holocaust survivor and Founder of Logotherapy, the Third Viennese "School" of Psychotherapy, after the respective "schools" Sigmund Freud (1856 – 1939) or psychoanalysis, and Alfred Adler (1870 – 1937) or individual psychology – was influenced by the "philosophy" of personalism. Like many “schools” of philosophy, personalism is difficult to define, or at least arrive at a rigid definition. It is very broad in perspective. Like existentialism, personalism cannot be confined to one particular system of thought. It is typically associated with existentialism but it crosses other disciplines, such as psychology and theology. However, a central idea of personalism is the recognition of the irreducible value or worth of the person.[i] Personalism, then, is a presupposition, a basic attitude toward the dignity of every human person.

With the sea change in human thinking that came with modern thought, bringing its distinct character of the ‘turn to the subject’,[1] few philosophers appeared to successfully present a valuable holding together of both the new and the old. Karol Wojtyla was one such philosopher and, as history shows, it became his thinking that principally shaped the Catholic Church’s theology of the body. Wojtyla took hold of the modern approach to the human person through subjectivity, yet in so doing he didn’t relinquish the rich value of objectivity found in classical thought.

That democracy is simply the result of people being heard, the so-called, ‘Will of the People,’ is the brain-child of Jean Jacque Rousseau. It is, in the words of Jacques Maritain, ‘the finest myth of Jean-Jacques.’[ii] The majority rules and becomes free not to obey anyone but themselves. Those who do not vote on the side of the majority are ‘forced to be free.’ Hence, it follows, according to Maritain, ‘that the first author of society is not God, the author of the natural order, but the will of man, and that the birth of civil law is the destruction of the natural law.’[iii] But mortal, fallible man on his own merits cannot produce a society that is protected against his very weaknesses. It needs help from above.

Personalism is a relatively young branch of philosophy, yet, it has its roots in ancient ideas. Among other influences, it draws on the Christian understanding of human dignity. Human dignity is an idea that dates back to time immemorial. Although the term itself was coined during the Renaissance, it can, in a sense, be seen as an expression of the Christian view of man. At the same time, human dignity, dignitas humana, has always been contrasted in theology with human misery, miseria. Human existence can only be understood through the paradox that man is simultaneously dignified and miserable, with life unfolding between these two extremes.

This essay explores the life and philosophy of Mounier, focusing on his foundational role in the development of personalism. It delves into key aspects of his thought and elaborates on the distinction he makes between the ‘person’ and the ‘individual’. Furthermore, it emphasizes the importance of personhood and briefly examines the political and societal implications of Mounier’s theory of action. I will conclude with thoughts on his enduring impact.

In this essay I will briefly introduce the development of Pope John Paul II’s understanding of Christian personalism, after which I will study the encyclical Laborem Excercens more closely, which introduces a significant social perspective of this philosophy. But first, in part by way of introduction I will provide the more general historical context that accompanied its publication, in part prompting a focused social perspective. The community, at its social and economic levels, among others, plays an essential role in who we are as persons and how we understand ourselves and the world. As Jonathan Sacks puts it, “Community plays an important role in the way our lives unfold, and is the living face of a shared moral order.”[1] And his own national community with its rich and dramatic history certainly had a substantial impact on John Paul II and his thought, not to mention his perception of work and the worker, crucial for the encyclical. I should add that where necessary I will also refer to Karol Wojtyła, for instance in the initial development of the Pope’s philosophical ideas before he was elected to the papacy in 1978.

In this essay I will briefly introduce the development of Pope John Paul II’s understanding of Christian personalism, after which I will study the encyclical Laborem Excercens more closely, which introduces a significant social perspective of this philosophy. But first, in part by way of introduction I will provide the more general historical context that accompanied its publication, in part prompting a focused social perspective. The community, at its social and economic levels, among others, plays an essential role in who we are as persons and how we understand ourselves and the world. As Jonathan Sacks puts it, “Community plays an important role in the way our lives unfold, and is the living face of a shared moral order.”[1] And his own national community with its rich and dramatic history certainly had a substantial impact on John Paul II and his thought, not to mention his perception of work and the worker, crucial for the encyclical. I should add that where necessary I will also refer to Karol Wojtyła, for instance in the initial development of the Pope’s philosophical ideas before he was elected to the papacy in 1978.

The life of Jacques Maritain (1882-1973) is a testimony of an unique attempt to answer the questions of our times with the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas. Although he has influenced many popes, encyclicals, intellectuals and politicians, his legacy is somewhat forgotten. Many contemporary Catholics vaguely remember his name but do not really know who Maritain was and what he means for the Catholic Church. His life and his writings however are of great importance and are an inspiration for all those who are interested in personalism.