The Life Principles
The following article summarizes the explanation of "the common good" in the book, Healing the Culture: A Commonsense Philosophy of Happiness, Freedom, and the Life Issues (by Robert J. Spitzer, S.J., Ph.D.). This book provides the curriculum upon which our mission and activities are based.
Seeking the Common Good
by Marie Harkins and Camille Pauley
The journey toward true happiness is best guided by an understanding of the nature and purpose of human existence. In the same way, society's journey toward the common good is best guided by an understanding of the nature and purpose of community. The "common good" can be defined as "what is best for the community as a whole." Obviously, the way individuals in a community perceive personal happiness will have a great impact on the way that community interprets the common good. (If you have not already read the first article in this series on the Four Levels of Happiness, click here).
Common Good Level 1
If I am living with a Level 1 perspective of happiness, I will not be concerned with the common good at all. Why should I be concerned with what is best for the community when I believe that life is about gaining tangible, material goods and physical pleasures? A Level 1 mindset causes one to continually ask: "What's in it for me?" Naturally, if physical pleasure and possession is the purpose of my life, I won't really care what's in it for anyone else.
Common Good Level 2
Recall that Happiness Level 2 is about seeking achievement, power, and competitive advantage. If a community is filled with people who live on Level 2, they will likely build their community around the ideals of "success at all costs," "having more than and being better than other communities," and "exerting power and authority over others." Because principles tend to get in the way of success, achievement, and power, Common Good Level 2 will be driven by utilitarian ethics. Utilitarian ethics means that right and wrong is determined by looking at what will advance me personally, or increase the competitive advantage of my community. Utilitarian ethics ignores the intrinsic dignity of all human persons, and looks only for what will benefit me or my group.
So, for example, a community may believe that, in order to achieve the greater good for more people, it is necessary to sacrifice those members of the community who may hold the others back (such as those who are poor, uneducated, elderly, ill, orphaned, or disabled). This is the grounds of the argument that unborn children should be sacrificed in order to solve the problem of hunger or poverty, and that disabled infants should be euthanized in order to keep the race fit or prevent family struggles.
Level 2 will lead communities to believe that a good end (such as stopping hunger and poverty) justifies the means. The problem is that this idea of the common good disregards the intrinsic dignity of all persons, and tramples on inalienable rights. In addition, a Level 2 mentality leaves one with a rather pessimistic , narrow, and incomplete view of the common good. If my primary goal in life is to gain control, power, popularity, or esteem, I may see the world as a competitive place, and therefore come to the conclusion that the best I can hope for is to protect my freedom and tolerate everyone else's freedom.
Common Good Level 3
A Level 3 view recognizes that the protection of the individual good is necessary for the advancement of the common good. In fact, Level 3 recognizes that the whole purpose of community is to assist individual persons to live out their call to love and goodness.
In turn, when individuals are encouraged by a culture to seek contribution, love, compassion and generosity, their common Level 3 attitudes will affect the way the community as a whole approaches not only internal problems, but also the problems of their neighbors and even distant nations.
Furthermore, Level 3, encourages me to view the common good as something very real - something that I have a duty to uphold. Because I believe that my life's purpose is to love, I will recognize my duty to help bring about the greater good for all people, not just those who are independent, powerful, or accomplished.
The problem with a Level 3 view of the common good is that it can easily lead to an unrealistic sense of human Utopia. That is, we may begin to believe that our community ought to be able to arrive at perfect justice, peace, and harmony by itself. When we realize that our community, by itself, cannot achieve these goals perfectly (because human beings, even in community, are still human), we may become collectively pessimistic about the common good. We may even say: "If it can't be done, why try at all?" Or, worse, we may fall backwards into the belief that eliminating persons who suffer is actually compassionate and loving.
Common Good Level 4
Level 4 is focused on what is ultimately loving, true, just, pure, and beautiful. It acknowledges the perfection of God as the reality toward which we all are inclined. Thus, Common Good Level 4 recognizes that the ultimate good of all human beings is to attain heaven (eternal life with God).
If a Level 4 community finds that it cannot eradicate suffering from its midst, it will reject suggestions that it eradicate the people who are suffering. Instead, it will follow the example of God, and will suffer with those who are afflicted, with patience, commitment, and faith that God is sovereign and has the best interest of all His children in mind. The community will not attempt to replace God by deciding who should live and who should die. Nor will it condone scientific attempts to replace God by, say, cloning, or removing the creation of new human life from God's intended place in the marriage relation. Instead, the community will allow God to be sovereign, trusting that His plan is ultimately loving, and that He desires the good for all persons even more than we do.
This does not mean that the community no longer seeks ways to eradicate suffering. Rather, it means that the community is driven by the belief that every human person is made in God's image, and that no treatment, cure, or "solution" should in any way infringe on the ultimate dignity of human beings, or on the sovereignty of God. From a Level 4 understanding of the common good, then, a community allows God to be God, and allows itself to be His instrument in the world, assisting all of its members in reaching their final end.
© Copyright 2005 Healing the Culture. All rights reserved. Marie Harkins is past Director of Administration for Healing the Culture and currently contributes to special projects. Camille Pauley is the co-founder and President of Healing the Culture.
The preceding article summarizes the four levels of love in the book, Healing the Culture: A Commonsense Philosophy of Happiness, Freedom, and the Life Issues (by Robert J. Spitzer, S.J., Ph.D.). This book provides the curriculum upon which our mission and activities are based.
Donate to our ministry, today!