Ethics Finder

Common Good

The idea of the common good features in Aristotle’s thinking about the nature of political life and is talked up by Aquinas in his account of the rationale of politics and law as being the promotion and protection of the common good (bonum commune). It featured in later writing but declined with the rise of individualism and came to be replaced by the idea of collective goods. Again, it is sometimes taken to be equivalent to public good. In fact, these are all different but related notions. Individual goods are materials, resources, states or conditions that are good for particular individuals. Collective goods are aggregations of these, such as the added wealth of a set of people who might pool their resources for investment. Public goods in contrast to private goods, are ones access to which cannot be restricted. If an individual installs a wind turbine to generate electricity for his home he has created a private good. If, however, he installs lighting along a street to guide his route to and from his home he may also have created a public good if that illumination is available to others. A common good is something that is not available independently of others sharing in it. Friendship is a common good, so is family and community life. The idea was brought back into use following World War II by French Catholic writers such as Jacques Maritain and Yves Simon.

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