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Is the common good an ensemble of conditions ?
Abstract
While appeals to the common good are a stock feature of political debate, the character of the common good in such discussions is often unclear. Since the 1960s the Roman Catholic magisterium has understood the common good according to a formulation of it as « the sum total of conditions of social life that allow social groups and their individual members relatively thorough and ready access to their own fulfillment ». This formulation (which I call the Vatican II formulation) has been criticized on at least three grounds : first, it reduces the common good from a true final cause to something merely instrumentally good ; second, its status as instrumental to the perfection of individual groups is still too demanding given the pluralism about perfection in modern societies ; and third, the formulation represents a deviation from the sound understanding of the common good found in specifically Thomistic-Aristotelian political philosophy. After some clarifying remarks about the formulation itself and the history of the idea of the common good itself I discuss each of these criticisms and conclude that the Vatican II formulation can be understood as appropriate in view of specifically modern political institutions and practices against the background of the older conceptions associated with the Thomistic-Aristotelian tradition.
This paper explores the contribution of Javier Hervada to the correct understanding of the juridical domain of the intrinsic common good of the political community. After some introductory remarks on the current status of the intrinsic political common good, in the first part of the article the concept of the intrinsic aspect of the political common good is presented from the viewpoint of the Thomistic social ontology and Catholic social doctrine. In the second part of the article, some crucial Hervadian perspectives are elaborated for the conception of the juridicity of the intrinsic bonum commune of the polity.
This chapter draws on the classic trope that polite company should not talk about sex, politics, or religion, and how the business world has largely followed that social custom. And yet this social custom is changing. Leading companies stress the business benefits of treating their employees holistically. But what does this actually mean or look like? Is it disruptive and problematic? Are there employee and business benefits to be gained? What are typical corporate attitudes towards this emerging phenomenon of faith at work? Is there a neutral language to help companies talk about faith and work? And is there a framework that can be useful? This chapter addresses these and other related questions pertaining to faith and work.
This chapter defines “good wealth” in terms of its interdependent and organic relationship among wealth’s creation, distribution and charitable dimensions. The relationship among these three functions of wealth fits well with what Catholic social teaching refers to as “moral ecology.” In terms of wealth creation, business enterprises are the economic engine of society. We also need to speak of wealth distribution, and in particular a just distribution. The third dimension of wealth is its charitable function, in many respects the most excellent of the three functions of wealth. This chapter addresses the tensions and challenges among these three dimensions and points to innovative practices where the three dimensions of good wealth can be integrated.
Christianity has been deeply implicated in American attitudes toward inequality. This chapter offers a sweeping survey of the last one hundred and fifty years, arguing that if one wants to understand our New Gilded Age, one must attend to its spiritual origins. In the original Gilded Age, a series of grassroots movements sent a shock wave through complacent churches and denominations. But the rise of the welfare state catalyzed a mighty backlash and so in the mid-twentieth century the energy for Christian fights against inequality returned once more to the grassroots. In the decades following, a surging Christian libertarianism would overtake it. A New Gilded Age was not far behind.
This open access book seeks to foster a multidisciplinary understanding of the ties between faith, financial intermediation, and economic progress by drawing on research across economics, finance, history, philosophy, ethics, theology, public policy, law, and other disciplines. Chapters in this edited volume examine themes as consequential as economic opportunities, real world outcomes and faith; values and consumerism; faith, financial intermediation and economic development in Western and Islamic societies; and the impact of faith issues on US workers, on the workplace and religion, and on the characteristics of good wealth. Though engaging with difficult questions, this book is written in an accessible style to be enjoyed by laypeople and scholars alike.
Islamic finance in its broadest sense has existed since the early years of Islam. While Islamic finance has much to offer with regard to financial management and ethical investing, it lacks cohesive and overarching regulatory structures. This chapter addresses these concerns by focusing on two central themes: (1) the importance of faith or religion for some people when it comes to financial decisions, and (2) the potential consumer protection concerns with respect to regulating what is or what is not “Islamic” in western financial markets. The chapter argues that Islamic finance, has much to offer to global finance, but its current practice falls far short of Islamic economic and ethical ideals.
This chapter begins with four broad claims from Gandhi’s moral and political outlook and proceeds to integrate them in an argument that (1) diagnoses the failure of the political Enlightenment to make its own ideals of liberty and equality compatible and then (2) looks to the conceptual resources of more traditional and religious outlooks of both the West and the East for a reconfiguration of our political ideals. In this reconfiguration, the ideal of an ‘unalienated life’ is seen as the most fundamental political ideal and liberty and equality are brought in no longer as central but as merely necessary conditions for this more basic and more human ideal in a way that removes the tension between liberty and equality.
This chapter focuses on three sets of ideas developed by three famous Anglican clergymen, George Berkeley, Josiah Tucker, and Jonathan Swift. George Berkeley provided the first integrated view of economic development. Josiah Tucker recognized with great clarity that richer countries possess a series of economic advantages which make it virtually impossible for the cheap-labor of poor countries to ever catch up. Jonathan Swift recognized that poor countries require more than simply good economic policies to grow, they also need a dedicated elite and that passive resistance was an effective tool in the hands of the populace to make their grievances known. These Anglicans clergymen were the primary theorists of modern economic development.
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