The common good is neither a ‘collective heritage’ that may be expressed concretely in an entity separate from the human person, nor an aggregate of individual goods (in that case, we call it the collective good or the good of the totality). It is something that belongs, at the same time, to all the members of a community and to each of them, as it resides in the quality of relations amongst them. As regards the social sciences, it is here that the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity come into their own. A relational theory can represent the common good as an emergent consequence of the combined actions of subsidiarity and solidarity, on the part of subjects (individuals or social groups) as conceived of from within the framework of a relational anthropology. From such a relational vision it is possible to differentiate the negotiable from the non-negotiable common goods. The task of discovering and understanding the relational character of the common good has just started and must be further and more thoroughly analyzed in the future.
Discovering the Relational Character of the Common Good
DONATI, PIERPAOLO
2012
Abstract
The common good is neither a ‘collective heritage’ that may be expressed concretely in an entity separate from the human person, nor an aggregate of individual goods (in that case, we call it the collective good or the good of the totality). It is something that belongs, at the same time, to all the members of a community and to each of them, as it resides in the quality of relations amongst them. As regards the social sciences, it is here that the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity come into their own. A relational theory can represent the common good as an emergent consequence of the combined actions of subsidiarity and solidarity, on the part of subjects (individuals or social groups) as conceived of from within the framework of a relational anthropology. From such a relational vision it is possible to differentiate the negotiable from the non-negotiable common goods. The task of discovering and understanding the relational character of the common good has just started and must be further and more thoroughly analyzed in the future.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
