More on the Common Good.
Trevor has posted a number of Blogs that have brought up the concept of the “common good” including the Wednesday, December 07, 2005 post titled The Common Good
and the Friday, September 16, 2005 post titled What constitutes success in the workplace
Christine Wicker’s quote that I referenced in my last post also mentioned the idea of working towards the common good.
So what is the common good?
The August 25th National Catholic Reporter had several articles that discussed the common good and how this term is being bantered about by various folks. They included Left seeks to revive 'common good' as new strategy and The difficult case of the common good.
And from The Catechism of the Catholic Church comes a great (but wordy) explanation of what the “common good” entails.
“By common good is to be understood "the sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily.
First, the common good presupposes respect for the person as such. In the name of the common good, public authorities are bound to respect the fundamental and inalienable rights of the human person. Society should permit each of its members to fulfill his vocation. In particular, the common good resides in the conditions for the exercise of the natural freedoms indispensable for the development of the human vocation, such as ‘the right to act according to a sound norm of conscience and to safeguard . . . privacy, and rightful freedom also in matters of religion.’
Second, the common good requires the social well-being and development of the group itself. Development is the epitome of all social duties. Certainly, it is the proper function of authority to arbitrate, in the name of the common good, between various particular interests; but it should make accessible to each what is needed to lead a truly human life: food, clothing, health, work, education and culture, suitable information, the right to establish a family, and so on.
Finally, the common good requires peace, that is, the stability and security of a just order. It presupposes that authority should ensure by morally acceptable means the security of society and its members. It is the basis of the right to legitimate personal and collective defense.”
So what is your understanding of the "common good"? Whatever it might be, it seems to be a concept worth putting some effort into getting a better grasp of what it is all about.
and the Friday, September 16, 2005 post titled What constitutes success in the workplace
Christine Wicker’s quote that I referenced in my last post also mentioned the idea of working towards the common good.
So what is the common good?
The August 25th National Catholic Reporter had several articles that discussed the common good and how this term is being bantered about by various folks. They included Left seeks to revive 'common good' as new strategy and The difficult case of the common good.
And from The Catechism of the Catholic Church comes a great (but wordy) explanation of what the “common good” entails.
“By common good is to be understood "the sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily.
First, the common good presupposes respect for the person as such. In the name of the common good, public authorities are bound to respect the fundamental and inalienable rights of the human person. Society should permit each of its members to fulfill his vocation. In particular, the common good resides in the conditions for the exercise of the natural freedoms indispensable for the development of the human vocation, such as ‘the right to act according to a sound norm of conscience and to safeguard . . . privacy, and rightful freedom also in matters of religion.’
Second, the common good requires the social well-being and development of the group itself. Development is the epitome of all social duties. Certainly, it is the proper function of authority to arbitrate, in the name of the common good, between various particular interests; but it should make accessible to each what is needed to lead a truly human life: food, clothing, health, work, education and culture, suitable information, the right to establish a family, and so on.
Finally, the common good requires peace, that is, the stability and security of a just order. It presupposes that authority should ensure by morally acceptable means the security of society and its members. It is the basis of the right to legitimate personal and collective defense.”
So what is your understanding of the "common good"? Whatever it might be, it seems to be a concept worth putting some effort into getting a better grasp of what it is all about.
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