Describe the notion of the 'common good' as it has been articulated in Catholic writings and evaluate it in the context of recent debates about 'thick' and 'thin' theories of the good.

Synopsis

In this essay I have first attempted to briefly trace the development of the idea of justice and the 'common good' in Catholic thinking from its origins with the Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle, through Augustine and Aquinas to more modern times. Attention is drawn to the important place of the notion of the common good in the major social justice documents of the past one hundred years.

The role and influence of Jacques Maritain in shaping the contemporary Catholic understanding of the 'common good' particularly in regard to the teachings of Vatican II is then briefly discussed.

The problem of arriving at an agreed notion of the common good in a pluralist, liberal, democracy is then introduced. 'Thin' notions of the good as a basis for the ordering of society are examined using the thinking of a contemporary influential liberal philosopher, John Rawls, as an example.

Finally the 'thick' notion of the common good suggested by Maritain which underpins modern Catholic understanding, is explored in more depth. It is argued that Maritain's understanding of natural law in dynamic and developmental terms, his emphasis on the value and the dignity of the person and his commitment to liberal values such as freedom provides a basis for the Church to engage in dialogue with a pluralistic society about the conditions needed to enable full human flourishing without compromising its beliefs about the ultimate good.

Essay

The notion of the 'common good' first emerges in the writings of the Greek philosopher Plato (c428-348 BC). At that time and over the centuries since, philosophical debate has continued as to the nature of the 'good' and what constitutes the 'common good'. For Plato, Justice was a supreme virtue that was embodied in the common good, and his ideal system of government envisaged rule by philosopher-kings who used their wisdom to act justly for the good of all. Justice, understood traditionally as virtue and related to goodness, has ever since been seen to be the foundation of a good political order, and as such to be in everyone's interest. A key element in the thinking of Plato and of his disciple Aristotle (384-322BC) was the idea that society is more important than the individual. Aristotle argued for example that the good of the community should set the direction for the lives of individuals, for it is a higher or more "divine" good than the particular goods of private persons. [1] Seeking a balance between the rights and needs of the individual and those of society has been something succeeding generations of philosophers have wrestled with ever since.

For Christians, the pursuit of the common good follows from the Gospel's double commandment 'to love God with all one's heart and to love one's neighbor as oneself'. Augustine (354 - 430), one of the foremost and most influential philosopher-theologians of early Christianity, was greatly influenced by the teachings and philosophy of Plato. In his great work 'The City of God', Augustine contrasts the 'City of Man' characterized by division, disharmony and selfishness as a result of Original Sin, with the 'City of God', the building of which is the goal of human history, and in which the motivation of its citizens flows from their love for God and or each other. This ideal is also reflected in the rule he laid down for his followers:-
"In this way, no one shall perform any task for his own benefit but all your work shall be done for the common good, with greater zeal and more dispatch than if each one of you were to work for yourself alone. For charity, as it is written, is not self-seeking (1 Cor 13:5) meaning that it places the common good before its own, not its own before the common good. So whenever you show greater concern for the common good than for your own, you may know that you are growing in charity" [2]

The notion of the common good was central to the philosophy and theology of Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) that was to dominate Catholic thought even centuries after his death. Aquinas studied and wrote at a time when scholars had rediscovered the work of Aristotle and were attempting to reconcile it with Divine Revelation. Aquinas argued that God's own self is the highest good we can attain, and that a right relation to God requires a commitment to the common good of our neighbors and of all creation.
"Private good is subordinated to the end of the common good: for the being of a part is for the sake of the being of the whole: hence the good of the race is more godlike than the good of the individual man. But the sovereign good, which is God, is the common good, since the good of the whole community depends on Him: while the goodness which marks any given thing is its own private good, and also the good of other things which depend upon it. All things therefore are subordinate to the end of one good, which is God" [3]

The notion of the common good is a recurring theme in the great social encyclicals of the church from 'Rerum Novarum' of Leo XIII (1891) where for example it is stated "civil society exists for the common good"[4] and "all citizens, without exception, can and ought to contribute to that common good", [5] through to Centesimus Annus of John Paul II who said:-
"The social nature of man is not completely fulfilled in the State, but is realized in various intermediary groups, beginning with the family and including economic, social, political and cultural groups which stem from human nature itself and have their own autonomy, always with a view to the common good."[6]
The importance of such intermediary groups that 'mediate' between the State and the individual and the associated principle of subsidiarity has long featured prominently in Catholic teaching on social justice.

The influence of the thinking of Jacques Maritain, one of the most important Catholic thinkers of the twentieth century, can be detected in this passage. Maritain imagined society as "a network of local communities and organizations that help their members to live well"[7] He also welcomed pluralism and saw it as being "central to the common good because different communities centre on different components of the complex human good; because institutional diversity facilitates participation in social life and because no one association can claim to be the perfect community"[8] Presumably he included the Church in that description.

Maritain's philosophy emphasized the central importance of the human person and his ideas not only influenced the teaching promulgated by the Second Vatican Council in documents such as the 'Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World' (Gaudium et Spes), but significantly shaped the thinking of both Pope Paul VI and his successor John Paul II. For Maritain the common good is the shared good life of a community of free persons which in turn is the foundation for the fulfillment of individual persons. The common good:-
"involves as its chief value, the highest possible attainment (that is, the highest compatible with the good of the whole) of persons to live their lives of persons, and to their freedom of expression or autonomy and to the gifts of goodness which in their turn flow from it" [9]
Maritain's thinking is foundational for much current Catholic thinking around the notion of the common good - a point I will develop later in this essay.

'Gaudium et Spes' defines the common good as "the sum of those conditions of social life which allow social groups and their individual members relatively thorough and ready access to their own fulfillment"[10] Thus the common good involves the ordering of social institutions toward human fulfillment or flourishing. Gaudium et spes also insists that the common good involves rights and duties which are the concern of the entire human family. [11]

But what constitutes human fulfillment and flourishing? By definition a pluralist society is one in which there is disagreement about the meaning of the human good. This leads some to conclude that the idea of the common good and the reality of pluralist diversity are utterly incompatible.

Another problem encountered by those attempting to promote the common good as a motivation for human activity is that of individualism. Modern western culture places a high value on individual freedom, on personal rights, and on allowing each person to "do their own thing". It has a tendency to view society as comprised of separate independent individuals who are free to pursue their own individual goals and interests without interference from others. In this individualistic culture it is difficult, perhaps impossible, to convince people that they should sacrifice some of their freedom, some of their personal goals, and some of their self-interest, for the sake of the "common good".

This emphasis on individual rights is paramount in the thinking of the influential 20th century American philosopher John Rawls who attempted to offer a blueprint for the creation of a just, stable and well-ordered society. He argued in his book Political Liberalism, that:-
"pluralism and diversity make any notion of the common good impossible: A public and workable agreement on a conception of the good can be maintained only by the oppressive use of state power."[12]

He therefore rejected any notion of a universal truth or a religious worldview as a basis for the ordering of society. The individual�s right to religious belief was to be respected and other elements of his theory resonated well with the gospel, but Rawl's proposed the very 'thin', rationally developed notion of 'justice as fairness' as a unifying principle around which society might be organized. He believed it was a concept that would be freely and willingly accepted by a substantial majority of those who made up society. [13]

It is argued that a 'thin' notion of the good such as this is the only appropriate model for a pluralist society in which individual rights are more important than any notion of a 'common good' and where the value of freedom is paramount. However critics of the sort of liberal political theory proposed by Rawls have pointed out that its emphasis on rights and the individual leads to the neglect of community and social obligations. Indeed it overlooks the fact that:-
"the very ability of people to identify what is good or noble depends on their being part of a community or shared tradition, locked in argument, conversation and dialogue".[14]
Its exclusion of the contribution of any argument based on a religious worldview from public debate is also seen to impoverish society. [15]

The Church today then is confronted with a tension between a commitment to sustain and advance the Catholic tradition's understanding of the human good and its mission to serve the common good of our diverse world. Some within the Church would continue to believe that the Church alone possesses the fullness of truth and its task is to convert the world to that truth � even though increasingly that message might be falling on deaf ears, particularly in a post modern western society that is distrustful of institutions and rejecting of any claims regarding universal truth. [16]

The strand of Catholic thought that came to a flowering in the Second Vatican Council however, would put forward a different Catholic understanding, based on Maritain's vision for a pluralist, democratic society. Commencing with the belief that every human being is possessed of a dignity and rights, Maritain invokes a dynamic and developmental concept of natural law to argue that the inclination and desire to achieve our full potential which we all share, is enhanced when we live well with others and assist their flourishing. It follows that the various institutions needed to protect, support and assist this flourishing must be directed to the protection of the common good which takes precedence over the claims of the individual. [17]

However Maritain's emphasis on the God given dignity of the individual person means that in another sense the individual has primacy over the community. This means that the common good must also serve the good of the individual person. [18] Despite the theological underpinning of Maritain's 'communal liberalism' presenting a much 'thicker' notion of the common good than is contained in modern liberal philosophy, his affirming of freedom, human rights and pluralism, and the importance he places on reason and experience in his dynamic and developmental understanding of natural law has the potential appeal to a broad range of philosophical opinion.

This understanding of the common good also provides some resolution of the modern dilemma the Church faces that was referred to earlier. In respecting the diverse understanding of the good in a pluralist society and relinquishing any claim to having a monopoly of the truth, the Church is able to enter in to dialogue and co-operation with the world without compromising the ultimate goods it believes in.
"Intellectual solidarity and the method of dialogue...do not imply relativism..there is a truth about the human good that must be pursued and that makes a claim on the heart of all persons. Christians will contribute to the common good of society & the polis by starting from what they know about this terrestrial good from the gospel and their tradition."[18]

Rather than being a source of division, religious perspectives can thus be seen as making a valuable contribution to the search for consensus and harmony in society. Religious freedom then becomes an important value to be preserved and encouraged. For its part the Church will sometimes find itself in a position where it must tolerate features of society that are at variance with its teaching for the sake of respecting diversity and preserving harmony.
"The obligation of the church to political society is to advance the common good and the values that support freedom. The church's means to this end are 'moral influence and authority' that is preaching and teaching". [19]

It is unlikely given the diversity of civilizations and traditions of its inhabitants, that the world can reach agreement as to what best ultimately enables human flourishing. However agreement as to what constitutes the best human good for this group in this time and place may well be possible. Through its traditional teaching in regard to the 'common good' the Catholic Church is well placed to make an important contribution to this search for consensus.

Footnotes

[1] Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics , 1094b.
Translated by W D Ross
Retrieved from internet 10/4/05 http://academics.triton.edu/uc/files/ni_ethic.html

[2] The Rule of St Augustine. Ch5, 2.
Retrieved from the internet 10/4/05 http://www.op.org/international/english/Documents/index.htm

[3] Aquinas, Thomas
Summa Contra Gentiles III, 17
Retrieved from the internet 10/4/05 http://www.nd.edu/Departments/Maritain/etext/gc3_17.htm

[4] Rerum Novarum 51
Retrieved from the internet 12/4/05 http://www.papalencyclicals.net/

[5] Rerum Novarum 34

[6] Centesimus Annus 13
Retrieved from the internet 12/4/05 http://www.papalencyclicals.net/

[7] Stiltner, Brian
Religion and the Common Good: Catholic Contributions to Building Community in a Liberal Society
Lanham, Rowman and Littlefield, 1999 p 120

[8] Stiltner, Brian; Religion and the Common Good: Catholic Contributions to Building Community in a Liberal Society p 121

[9] Maritain, Jacques
The Rights of Man and Natural Law
trans Doris C Anson, New York: Scribner, 1943 as quoted in Stiltner, Brian; Religion and the Common Good: Catholic Contributions to Building Community in a Liberal Society p 115

[10] Gaudium et Spes 26
Abbott, Walter M ed
The Documents of Vatican II Chapman, London, Dublin, Melbourne, 1967

[11] ibid

[12] Coleman, John A
"Pluralism and the Retrieval of a Catholic Sense of the Common Good"
Retrieved from the internet 15/4/05 http://www.catholicsinpublicsquare.org/papers/spring2000commonweal/coleman/colemanprint.htm

[13] Stiltner, Brian;
Religion and the Common Good: Catholic Contributions to Building Community in a Liberal Society p60

[14] Coleman, John A
"Pluralism and the Retrieval of a Catholic Sense of the Common Good"

[15] Stiltner, Brian;
Religion and the Common Good: Catholic Contributions to Building Community in a Liberal Society p76

[16] Hollenbach, David
The Common Good and Christian Ethics
Cambridge CUP 2002, p151

[17] Stiltner, Brian;
Religion and the Common Good: Catholic Contributions to Building Community in a Liberal Society p91

[18] Hollenbach, David;
The Common Good and Christian Ethics p157

[19] Stiltner, Brian;
Religion and the Common Good: Catholic Contributions to Building Community in a Liberal Society pp132-133

Bibliography

Abbott, Walter M ed
The Documents of Vatican II
Chapman, London, Dublin, Melbourne, 1967

Aquinas, Thomas
Summa Contra Gentiles
Retrieved from the internet 10/4/05 http://www.nd.edu/Departments/Maritain/etext/gc3_17.htm

Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics ,
Translated by W D Ross
Retrieved from internet 10/4/05 http://academics.triton.edu/uc/files/ni_ethic.html

Boswell, John et al,
Catholic Social Thought: Twilight or Renaissance?
Leuven: Leuven University Press, 2000

Centesimus Annus
Retrieved from the internet 12/4/05 http://www.papalencyclicals.net/

Coleman, John A
"Pluralism and the Retrieval of a Catholic Sense of the Common Good"
Retrieved from the internet 15/4/05 http://www.catholicsinpublicsquare.org/papers/spring2000commonweal/coleman/colemanprint.htm

Curran, Charles
Catholic Social Teaching 1891-Present: An Historical, Theological and Ethical Analysis
Georgetown University press, 2002

Hollenbach, David
The Common Good and Christian Ethics
Cambridge CUP 2002

Rerum Novarum
Retrieved from the internet 12/4/05 http://www.papalencyclicals.net/

Stiltner, Brian
Religion and the Common Good: Catholic Contributions to Building Community in a Liberal Society
Lanham, Rowman and Littlefield, 1999

The Rule of St Augustine.
Retrieved from the internet 10/4/05 http://www.op.org/international/english/Documents/index.htm

Walzer, Michael
Thick and Thin: Moral Arguments at Home and Abroad
University of Notre Dame Press, Indiana, 1994

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