Principles, once internalized, lead to something. They prompt activity, impel motion, direct choices. A principled person always has a place to stand, knows where he or she is coming from and likely to end up. Principles always lead the person who possesses them somewhere, for some purpose, to do something, or choose not to. -- William J. Byron, "Ten Building Blocks of Catholic Social Teaching"

One can read a novel or a poem alone, and one can create it alone. The same is not true of drama. Of all the art forms, drama is the most social. The very word "drama" comes from a Greek word that means "doing." We experience the theater communally, so it seems natural that the theater speaks about social issues.

Catholic Social Teaching (CST) is a body of principles, informed by religious tradition and centuries of historical experience, but directed towards establishing a just society for all people, whether Catholic or not.

Among the values promoted by CST are the principles of the dignity of the human person ("It is not what you do or what you have that gives you a claim on respect; it is simply being human that establishes your dignity," says Byron), and the principle of the common good ("the social conditions that allow people to reach their full human potential and to realize their human dignity").

• Drama is the most social of the art forms.
• The public nature of drama demands audiences to make moral judgments.
• Drama has deep religious roots, born through Greek worship services from 2500 years ago, and reappearing about 900 years ago an extension of the Mass (a ritual in which a priest re-enacts the words and actions of Jesus at the Last Supper).

Catholic Social Teaching (CST) is a collection of philosophical and moral principles that examine how human beings relate to each other in a just society. It is an extension of Christ's command to feed the hungry and clothe the naked.

For us, the plays will always be the main subject, and CST will be one of several tools we will use to examine the plays. The plays will be written by Protestants, Jews, the non-religious, and a pagan, in addition to Catholics. We will look at some plays that the pope would probably dislike, and some that the pope would love.

You won't be expected to be able to apply every principle of CST to every play on the syllabus. Your grade won't depend on how "Catholic" your answers are.

Every play ever written says something about humanity, and all religious thought describes human attempts to define ourselves in relationship to the universe, I hope that CST will be a productive guide to finding deeper meaning in dramatic literature, because CST invites... no, expects people to bring a well-informed conscience to bear on the important ethical issues of the day. Drama is a means for exploring many of the same questions. Under what circumstances is the death penalty acceptable? Under what conditions is war or insurrection justified? What is a just minimum wage?

We will absorb CST principles a few at a time, as the issues come up during class discussions. There will be some supplementary reading. Later in the term, you will write an exercise that asks you to apply some principle of Catholic Social Teaching to one or more of the plays we have read so far this term.