New Natural Law Theory and the Common Good of the Political Community

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 293-303
Author(s):  
Daniel Mark ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Law ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Group Membership ◽  
Political Community ◽  
The Political ◽  
Human Flourishing ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
The Family ◽  
Natural Law Theory ◽  
The Common

Some critics question new natural law theorists’ conception of the common good of the political community, namely, their interpretation of St. Thomas Aquinas and the conclusion that the political common good is primarily instrumental rather than intrinsic and transcendent. Contrary to these objections, the common good of the political community is primarily instrumental. It aims chiefly at securing the conditions for human flourishing. Its unique ability to use the law to bring about justice and peace and promote virtue in individuals may make the common good of the political community critically important. Nevertheless, it is still not an intrinsic aspect of human flourishing. Unlike the family or a religious group, membership in a political community is not an end in itself.

Political Authority and the Common Good

2017 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 877-892
Author(s):  
George Duke
Keyword(s):  
Natural Law ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Political Authority ◽  
Fundamental Question ◽  
Political Community ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Right ◽  
Reason For Action

This article argues that the natural law common good is the best candidate value to ground a direct justification of political authority. The common good is better placed than rival values to ground a direct justification for three related reasons. First, the common good is the right kind of value to serve in a justification of political authority insofar as it is a reason for action which provides a convincing answer to the fundamental question ‘why have authority at all?’ Second, the common good allows for a justification of political authority that pertains to a complete political community rather than subjects taken individually. Third, the common good allows for a reconciliation of two apparently conflicting features of political authority: (1) its ultimate role is to promote the good of individuals and (2) it can require the subordination of the good of the individual to the good of the community.

scholarly journals Natural law as a way to achieve the common good: an interpretation of Thomas Aquinas and John Finnis arguments

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 609-617
Author(s):  
Anton Didikin
Keyword(s):  
Natural Law ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
Instrumental Approach ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
Decent Life ◽  
Natural Law Theory ◽  
The Common ◽  
John Finnis ◽  
Conceptual Foundations

The paper interprets the arguments of Thomas Aquinas on natural law as a way to achieve the common good, which had a significant impact on John Finnis’ natural law theory. The author reveals the conceptual foundations of J. Finnis’ understanding the morally justified actions of people in the community aimed at the obtaining of basic benefits, and the debatable issues of his theory in modern philosophical and legal research. The author arrives to the conclusion that the reinterpretation of J. Finnis analysis of the grounds for ethically significant actions leads him to formulate an instrumental approach to natural law as a rational way to implement a decent life.

scholarly journals Bien común = Common good

2018 ◽  
pp. 191
Author(s):  
Timothy Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Natural Law ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
Natural Law Theory ◽  
The Common

Resumen: Existen varias concepciones o versiones del concepto de bien común. Este artículo trata de presentar un breve repaso de algunas de las más importantes. Se ofrecen ejemplos del bien común en la “nueva” teoría del derecho natural; en los pensamientos liberal y utilitario; y en los pensamientos comunitario, republicano y hegeliano. Así mismo, se añaden algunos comentarios a modo de conclusión.Palabras clave: Bien común, Aristóteles, Santo Tomás de Aquino, “nueva” teoría del derecho natural, utilitarismo, liberalismo, comunitarismo, republicanismo, hegelianismo.Abstract: There are several conceptions or versions of the concept of the common good. This article aims to provide a brief overview of some of the most prominent conceptions. Accounts are offered of the common good in new natural law theory; in liberal and utilitarian thought; and in communitarian, republican, and Hegelian thought. Some commentary is provided in a brief conclusion.Keywords: The common good, Aristotle, St. Thomas Aquinas, new natural law theory, utilitarianism, liberalism, communitarianism, republicanism, Hegelianism.

Love of Glory and the Common Good

1982 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 825-836 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Palmer
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Political Community ◽  
The Political ◽  
Highest Good ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
Political Problem ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The City

How the city, the political community, may ask its citizens to sacrifice their lives for the sake of its preservation has plagued us since the birth of political philosophy. This article examines Thucydides' presentation of Pericles' attempt to solve this problem by reconciling the highest good of the individual and the good of the city by means of the love of glory. I contrast the central themes of Pericles' speeches in Thucydides, especially his renowned funeral oration, with other parts of Thucydides' presentation of Periclean Athens, in particular his famous account of the plague, to demonstrate his doubts about the efficacy of the Periclean solution to the political problem.

Speaking for Islam

2009 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 110-127
Author(s):  
Abdoulaye Sounaye
Keyword(s):  
Common Good ◽  
The State ◽  
Institutional Transformation ◽  
The Political ◽  
Religious Authority ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
The Common ◽  
Religion And State ◽  
Islamic Values ◽  
French Model

Unexpectedly, one of the marking features of democratization in Niger has been the rise of a variety of Islamic discourses. They focus on the separation between religion and the state and, more precisely, the way it is manifested through the French model of laïcité, which democratization has adopted in Niger. For many Muslim actors, laïcité amounts to a marginalization of Islamic values and a negation of Islam. This article present three voices: the Collaborators, the Moderates, and the Despisers. Each represents a trend that seeks to influence the state’s political and ideological makeup. Although the ulama in general remain critical vis-à-vis the state’s political and institutional transformation, not all of them reject the principle of the separation between religion and state. The Collaborators suggest cooperation between the religious authority and the political one, the Moderates insist on the necessity for governance to accommodate the people’s will and visions, and the Despisers reject the underpinning liberalism that voids religious authority and demand a total re-Islamization. I argue that what is at stake here is less the separation between state and religion than the modality of this separation and its impact on religious authority. The targets, tones, and justifications of the discourses I explore are evidence of the limitations of a democratization project grounded in laïcité. Thus in place of a secular democratization, they propose a conservative democracy based on Islam and its demands for the realization of the common good.

What Theology Should and Should Not Learn from the Social Sciences About the Common Good

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary L. Hirschfeld
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Social Thought ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
Human Flourishing ◽  
Catholic Social Thought ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Common

There are two ways to answer the question, What can Catholic social thought learn from the social sciences about the common good? A more modern form of Catholic social thought, which primarily thinks of the common good in terms of the equitable distribution of goods like health, education, and opportunity, could benefit from the extensive literature in public policy, economics, and political science, which study the role of institutions and policies in generating desirable social outcomes. A second approach, rooted in pre-Machiavellian Catholic thought, would expand on this modern notion to include concerns about the way the culture shapes our understanding of what genuine human flourishing entails. On that account, the social sciences offer a valuable description of human life; but because they underestimate how human behavior is shaped by institutions, policies, and the discourse of social science itself, their insights need to be treated with caution.

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