Virtue, Ambition, and the Balanced Constitution

2021 ◽  
pp. 135-154
Author(s):  
Sarah Mortimer

The turmoil in Europe in the early sixteenth century revealed some of the weaknesses of princely power and imperial authority; it was clear that the much-needed reform and rebalancing could not be enacted solely from above. This chapter focuses on works which called for the promotion of civic virtue and the strengthening of institutions, especially in a time of rapid social, economic, and political upheaval. In Venice, Gasparo Contarini set out an idealized model of mixed government while in the Holy Roman Empire magistrates and officials were encouraged to uphold the common good—often a common good shaped by Protestant thinking. However, the case of Miguel Servetus in Geneva sparked further discussion of the role of the magistrate in upholding religious truth and generated new arguments for toleration. Meanwhile, many writers looked to ancient Greece and Rome for inspiration and advice, and new research by men like Carlo Sigonio revealed that Rome’s political system had itself been affected by social and economic change. In England Sir Thomas Smith drew on some of this research to advocate a broadly based citizenry in which wealth, lineage, and merit were all seen as important qualifications for office-holding.

Author(s):  
Duncan Hardy

Associations such as alliances and leagues were not merely functional tools. The rhetoric found in treaties and correspondence suggests that some members of associations perceived their participation as an activity freighted with political and moral significance. Almost all alliance and league foundation treaties and renewals contain appeals to clusters of ideas, centred on the concepts of divinely ordained peace, the common good of the community, and the Holy Roman Empire (conceptually linked, from the late fifteenth century, to the ‘German nation’). These discourses can only be found in this precise form in one other setting: the imperial diets and Empire-wide correspondence and legislation that they produced. This indicates that members of associations claimed to be involving themselves in the most significant and legitimate spheres of political activity in the Empire, even when their immediate objectives were modest and localized, or the legality of their alliances was challenged by other authorities.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annemarie Kinzelbach

Recent historiographical studies of the Holy Roman Empire reveal that policy focused on defining and redefining the relationship between governors and citizens, largely through negotiating practices. Historians have applied these discoveries in limited ways when discussing public health policies in German-speaking areas, ignoring questions of compliance, resistance, or enforcement. Some lacunae result from archival losses, but survivals enable us to fill many gaps. In this chapter, relevant premodern statutes are first identified. Secondly, textual analysis of manifold sources uncovers implicit associations (for example, parallels between dirt and prostitution), while highlighting explicit relationships between communal health and such general issues as religion, morality, and the common good. Negotiation practices are unveiled, for instance, in modifications to statutes and regulations. Thirdly, contemporary chronicles, diaries, accounts, council minutes and administrative documents are examined for information on implementation of laws and ordinances.


2017 ◽  
pp. 98-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Tirole

In the fourth chapter of the book “The economy of the common good”, the nature of economics as a science and research practices in their theoretical and empirical aspects are discussed. The author considers the processes of modeling, empirical verification of models and evaluation of research quality. In addition, the features of economic cognition and the role of mathematics in economic research are analyzed, including the example of relevant research in game theory and information theory.


Author(s):  
S.J. Matthew Carnes

The transformation of political science in recent decades opens the door for a new but so far poorly cultivated examination of the common good. Four significant “turns” characterize the modern study of politics and government. Each is rooted in the discipline’s increased emphasis on empirical rigor, with its attendant scientific theory-building, measurement, and hypothesis testing. Together, these new orientations allow political science to enrich our understanding of causality, our basic definitions of the common good, and our view of human nature and society. In particular, the chapter suggests that traditional descriptions of the common good in Catholic theology have been overly irenic and not sufficiently appreciative of the role of contention in daily life, on both a national and international scale.


2021 ◽  
Vol 101 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 167-174
Author(s):  
James M. Stayer

Abstract Among the common ways of portraying Reformation divides are the following categories: Magisterial vs Radical Reformations; or a “church type” vs a “sect type” of reform. This essay offers an alternative view. It underscores the differences between Lutherans and Anglicans on one side; and the Reformed, Anabaptists, and Schwenckfelders on the other. The Lutherans, like the Anglicans under Henry VIII, worshipped in altar-centered churches which were Roman Catholic in appearance. They presented themselves as reformers of Catholic errors of the late Middle Ages. By contrast, when the Reformed, Anabaptists, and Schwenckfelders met for worship, it was in unadorned Bible-centered meeting houses. The Anabaptists were targeted for martyrdom by the decree of the Holy Roman Empire of 1529 against Wiedertäufer (“rebaptists”). Contrary to the later memory that they practiced a theology of martyrdom, the preference of apprehended Anabaptists was to recant.


Author(s):  
Michał Strzelecki

The contemporary state crisis is a derivative of complex economic and social processes. His indicators include not only the visible increase in the intensity of political conflicts (both on a micro and macro scale), the revival and development of separatist tendencies, and the weakening of the role of the state as the basic instrument of organizing collective life. It is also increasing fragmentation of the political scene, the development of particularisms, weakening and progressive dysfunctionality of existing political institutions, increasing economic rivalry and the collapse of the generally accepted axiological system, which is accompanied by increasingly clear questioning of the idea of the common good and progressing pragmatism and egoism. An important element is therefore the disappearance of civic awareness and activity. The intensification of these disturbing tendencies is certainly not supported by the modern education system, whose hallmarks are commercialization and economization, withdrawal of the state and professionalization.


2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anita Cloete

The main objective of the article is to identify the possible implications of social cohesion and social capital for the common good. In order to reach this overarching aim the following structure will be utilised. The first part explores the conceptual understanding of socialcohesion and social capital in order to establish how these concepts are related and how they could possibly inform each other. The contextual nature of social cohesion and social capital is briefly reflected upon, with specific reference to the South African context. The contribution of religious capital in the formation of social capital is explored in the last section of the article. The article could be viewed as mainly conceptual and explorative in nature in order to draw some conclusions about the common good of social capital and social cohesion.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article contributes to the interdisciplinary discourse on social cohesion with specific reference to the role of congregations. It provides a critical reflection on the role of congregations with regard to bonding and bridging social capital. The contextual nature of social cohesion is also addressed with specific reference to South Africa.


Author(s):  
Leonor Taiano

Este estudio examina la manera cómo Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora describe el binomio fiesta-revuelta en Alboroto y motín de indios de México. La investigación está estructurada en cinco partes. La primera toma como punto de partida el concepto de polis y los órdenes que rigen el bien común. La segunda alude a la percepción del fasto desde las diferentes perspectivas de los miembros de la polis novohispana. La tercera parte analiza la importancia del letrado en la organización virreinal. En la cuarta parte se examina el papel activo de las indias en la organización y desarrollo de la revuelta. Finalmente, en la quinta parte, propongo la existencia de una conciencia colectiva plebeya en el virreinato de Nueva España. A través de este análisis se llega a conclusión de que el motín de 1692 presenta las características propias de las revueltas que tuvieron lugar en los territorios españoles a lo largo del siglo XVII, en los cuales, durante el momento festivo, surgía una acción contestataria que trataba de imponer la isonomía en la polis This research analyses how Carlos de Sigüenza and Góngora describes the dichotomy of festivity-revolt in Alboroto y motín de Indios de México. This study is structured in five parts. The first one takes as its starting point the concept of polis and the regulations for the common good. The second one alludes to the Spanish splendor produced in the different members of Novohispanic polis. The third part analyses the letrado’s function within the viceregal organization. The fourth part examines the active role of Female Indigenous in the revolt’s organization and development. Finally, in the fifth part, I propose the existence of a Plebeian collective consciousness within the viceroyalty of New Spain. Through this analysis, the study concludes that the revolt that took place In 1692 has all the characteristics of the revolts that happened in the Spanish territories throughout the 17th century, in which, during a celebratory event, there could arise insurrectionary actions to impose the isonomia in the polis.


2021 ◽  
pp. 155-181
Author(s):  
Deborah L. Rhode

This chapter explores the challenges for families and schools in channeling ambitions in more productive directions. Today’s adolescents confront a world of growing pressures, which are also increasing mental health challenges. Parents’ vicarious ambitions can compound the problems if they push children to focus too much on extrinsic markers of success at the expense of intrinsic motivations to learn and ethical values. Both schools and families should help students to develop persistence, resilience, a strong moral compass, and commitment to the common good. Opportunities for service learning, internships and mentorships can encourage constructive ambitions. So too, parents and colleges must better control the preoccupation with prestige that has hijacked admission processes and encouraged gaming the system. Educators should also modify admission criteria such as legacy, donor, and athletic preferences that advantage already advantaged applicants.


2020 ◽  
Vol 85 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-168
Author(s):  
David Thang Moe

This article explores old issues and current challenges from new perspectives. It offers explorations of the role of the Trinity in interreligious dialogue and the roles of interreligions in Asian contemporary theology. It proposes some methodological concepts of how Christians should reconsider people of other faiths through the lens of the Trinity, and also how Christians should witness to shalom against sin in engagement with other faiths for the common good of social, gender and ecological liberation in Asia.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document