8.

The Common Good

The Common Good from the Metaphysical Viewpoint

 The notion of common good in general is the good of this or that (being) insofar as it is a part
of some whole.
 The perfect common good is God. Divine Goodness is compared to any other good as the
universal is to the particular. Any common good is a particular good in comparison with the
divine good which is the most common good because it is the greatest good.
o God is the highest good. “For the universal good stands higher than any particular good,
just as the good of the people is better than the good of an individual, since the goodness
and perfection of the whole stand higher than the goodness and perfection of the part. But
the divine goodness is compared to all others as the universal good to a particular good,
being, as we have shown, the good of every good. God is, therefore, the highest good” (I
Summa contra gentiles, 41).
 The created common good is an end for each creature; the end (objective/goal) of the part is
the good of the whole. At the same time, when each creature tends towards its own
perfection, it spreads its own good, thus contributing to the good of the created whole.
 A man by himself alone cannot achieve all the goods he needs to live a decent life. He needs
to live in a society, the first one being the family.
o Society is something natural to man. It is not a mere aggregate of persons. In a society the
members are bound one to another in an organic way by a principle that is beyond each
of them: this is the end for which they have come together and this is the common good.
o This common good is not reducible to the particular good of each member. And yet the
common good includes the good of each member. In a society, primacy is given to each
person and so the good of each person must be taken into consideration when we want to
discern what the common good is. The human person is the beginning, the subject and
the goal of all social institutions.
o And so, there is a good of each person and there is the common good: they are distinct
and yet they are related one to the other.
 A person naturally seeks his own good, his personal good. He cannot do otherwise because
he can only seek something if he sees it as a good for himself.
o But since man lives in a society, he cannot seek his personal goods outside of or at the
expense of the common good.
 Society has its own good: the common good. This is the good that is common to all of the
members of society and yet it is not the sum of all the personal goods of each member.
o Because it is common, it is not the good of just some, not even of the majority. It is the
good of all and of each one.
 In a pluralistic society people have very diverse ideas about what the common good is. It is
then thought that the true common good cannot be achieved in this kind of society.

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 o This way of thinking can be more theoretical than real. If a member of a society wants to
obtain a personal good (get to work on time) he must observe the prerequisites to assure
the good of the community (line up in an orderly way to get the train, or follow the traffic
rules).
o The common good requires the cooperation of each member.
o And so, the common good is achieved when there are good structures in a society that
enable each person to live a good life.
o It involves good relations of the individual members. It involves and demands virtues of
each one.
 The common good has the nature of an end: it is not a means.

The Principles of the Common Good

1. Common and Particular Good

 The common good and the particular good are not opposed to each other. The particular
good is the good of the person who is the “principle, end and foundation of all social
institutions” (GS 25).
 The common good is the end result of the action of all the members of a community: the
greater the sum of the virtues of the (individual) persons, the greater the common good is.
The good actions of persons lead to a situation that facilitates the good of all.
o Social dealings facilitate and induce individuals to act well: the common good redounds
to the good of individual persons.
 The common good is inseparable from the personal good. What benefits the whole benefits
the part and what benefits the part benefits the whole.

2. The More the Good is Shared, the Greater the Good

 The greater degree of participation there is in the good, the more spread is that good: a
greater good is that which is more common (i.e. shared by more beings).

3. Primacy, not Opposition

 This principle affirms the primacy of the common good over the good of a part; however, it
does not imply that there is opposition between the two, or that the good of the individual is
to be disregarded. In a way, the individual has primacy also because the basis and foundation
of any society is the individual.

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 o The classic example is the hand’s instinctive movement to (for example) deflect a blow,
protecting the rest of the body from danger, saving its life. In that instance, the hand is
defending itself through the life of the body, without which the hand would not survive,
since it has no (separate) life independent of the body.
o St Thomas says: “The part is opposed (non dividitur contra) not to the whole, but to
another part.” (S.Th., I, q. 93,a. 2, ad 3).

4. Relations between Common Good and Particular Goods: Hierarchy of Values

 The good of many is to be preferred to the good of one only if both goods belong to the same
order: e.g., a soldier who dies defending the city. (S.Th., II-II, q. 152, a. 4, ad 2)
o This does not mean that individuals cannot pursue their private goods or interests. What
is proscribed is the pursuit of one’s interests at the expense of the common good: the
common good is thus made an instrument for pursuing one’s own private goods.
 But if there is a good that belongs to a higher order, the particular good could be preferable to
the good of many or of all: e.g. to give public recognition to the memory of the soldier who
died saving the city, even though this public honor requires a financial sacrifice for all.
 In both cases the rule still holds: the true common good, even though it is prior to the good of
a part, includes, in an ordered manner (if it is an authentic good), the good of the part, and
vice-versa: every good action of a person is ordered to the common good.
 When there is opposition between the common good and the particular good: opposition
between the two goods occurs only when no distinction is made between kinds or degrees of
good.
o This is what evidently happens with materialism. The only things considered good are
material or sensible goods. The possibility of participating in them is limited: they can
only be distributed (divided), not participated in; distribution gives rise to distinct parts
which are in latent conflict.
o For this reason, the notion of justice in all socialist systems is reduced to the notion of
quantitative equality in the citizens’ possession of material goods even though it (1)
brings with it very grave injustices such as denial of freedom, of responsibility, of the
very meaning of society, and (2) requires, besides, structures of power that corrupts the
moral conscience of the citizens.
 The ordering of goods: by contrast, a more real perception of the good (which does not
reduce it to what is merely material or sensible) leads one to discover a gradation, an
ordering or hierarchy of goods.

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 o The greatest good is God: He can be participated in, to the greatest degree through
knowledge and love (both in the merely natural as well as the supernatural level).
o Immaterial goods are truth, knowledge, beauty, honor, the good of faith (religious
freedom).
o Common goods that do not involve material participation are love for country, common
culture, historical patrimony, awareness of a collective task, just laws, good customs,
mutual trust, respect for the rights of all, and honor due to virtue…
 Precedence. In a correct hierarchy of goods, eternal goods precede temporal ones; spiritual
goods, material ones.
o If everyone acknowledges, honors, and loves God, there will be unity among men and
disputes more easily settled.
 All men are bound by justice to strive to bring about the common good in all milieus, from
one’s own family, to one’s nation and international relations.
 The concrete content of this duty and its binding force vary widely, depending on the
cultural, economic, political (and other) circumstances of each person.

How to Contribute to the Common Good

 First, acquire and practice the moral virtues.

 Second, form upright moral standards for action, in one’s private life and in public life.
 Third, strive to give the right orientation to all professions and human institutions.