Richard Bayer makes two major claims regarding the social nature of the human person. First, sociality belongs to the very nature of the human person; second, the full realization of the human person is most closely bound up with communion (as distinct from mere social coexistence)properly ordered families, neighborhoods, churches, professional organizations, town communities, civic organizations, and other associations that fulfill our social nature. Bayer sketches some of the difficulties hindering the realization of our social nature in contemporary society. Rather than focus on this aspect of his paper, I will build on his claim that sociality is essential to the human person. My aim is to probe more deeply into the theological foundation of the human persons social nature, at least as this comes to expression in the Second Vatican Council and in the writings of John Paul II.
Eduardo J. Echeverria, "Reply to Ruchard Bayer's 'The Social Nature of the Human Person in Economic Personalism,'" Journal of Markets and Morality 4, no. 2 (Fall 2001): 311-315