The Public Good and the Public Sphere

Abstract

Perhaps the first challenge faced in this chapter is the defining of the public good in a way that both makes sense politically and socially and captures (if such is possible) an indisputable description. A very brief beginning to a definition is that the public good embraces integrity, honesty, ethics, justice, and freedom. Of course, each of the components requires some explication. Integrity, which carries connotations of honor and virtue, also can be defined as being whole and complete. Being honorable is something most people can recognize, but virtue may mean different things to different individuals. That will warrant exploration. Honesty is a characteristic that almost all can recognize; a question that may arise, though, is whether complete honesty is called for in every situation. Ethical behavior is also usually recognizable by most of us, but it has come under some question in recent years. Justice and freedom, as is evident from the discussion in Chapter 1, are common rhetorical tropes but are used in malleable ways, especially politically. Some extended treatment of these characteristics is necessary before specific examples can be discussed.