Abstract

Human Dignity is the preeminent goal and principle of Catholic Social Teaching. However, there does not appear to be any systematic way of evaluating the effectiveness of proposed social actions or policies for their effectiveness in upholding Human Dignity. Social Doctrine identifies three additional permanent principles: the Common Good, Solidarity, and Subsidiarity; and, Human Dignity is upheld best when these other three are each fully and equally met. The resulting “triad stool” model proposed here which upholds Human Dignity offers the faithful a powerful means of understanding and evaluating social actions for their advancement of Human Dignity.