Reestablishing the Commons for the Common Good

Daedalus ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 142 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Howard Gardner
Keyword(s):  
Common Good ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Small Community ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
The Commons ◽  
The Common ◽  
American Society ◽  
Contemporary American Society

For individuals living in a small community, the notion of “common good” seems almost natural; it can be thought of simply as neighborly morality. However, in a complex modern society, it is far more challenging for individuals to define and agree upon what is the common good. Nonetheless, two contemporary roles would benefit from embracing a broader sense of the good: 1) membership in a profession; and 2) membership in a polity. Drawing on findings from the GoodWork Project, I describe how the common good can become a guiding value in the professional and civic realms; discuss threats to such guiding values; and suggest some ways to promote the common good in contemporary American society.

Progressive Catholicism in the United States

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew A. Shadle
Keyword(s):  
Common Good ◽  
The United States ◽  
Economic Life ◽  
Ethical Framework ◽  
Social Teaching ◽  
American Catholicism ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Common ◽  
American Society

American Catholicism has long adapted to US liberal institutions. Progressive Catholicism has taken the liberal values of democratic participation and human rights and made them central to its interpretation of Catholic social teaching. This chapter explores in detail the thought of David Hollenbach, S.J., a leading representative of progressive Catholicism. Hollenbach has proposed an ethical framework for an economy aimed at the common good, ensuring that the basic needs of all are met and that all are able to participate in economic life. The chapter also looks at the US Catholic bishops’ 1986 pastoral letter Economic Justice for All, which emphasizes similar themes while also promoting collaboration between the different sectors of American society for the sake of the common good.

scholarly journals THE IDEALISM OF DIALOGUE AND THE ECONOMY OF THE COMMONS

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 14-27
Author(s):  
Fernando Suárez Müller ◽  
Christian Felber
Keyword(s):  
Economic Model ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Ethical Values ◽  
Governmental Organization ◽  
Cooperative Action ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
Private Interests ◽  
The Commons ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Impact

This paper explores the possibility of an economic system different from both capitalism and communism, that is based on the major ethical values that constitute the principles of human dialogue, the so-called Idealism of Dialogue. This implies an economic model based on cooperativism. An economy modelled in this way envisions the Common Good of society. This is more than the sum of the interests of individuals and it can be measured by looking at the intended impact on society of actions taken by organizations. If the impact of these organizations is oriented towards cooperative action they can be characterized as developing the Common Good. If they block cooperative action they can be seen to be serving private interests. This paper shows how a group of Austrian entrepreneurs has started a network of enterprises that functions both as a kind of cooperative and as a non-governmental organization (Gemeinwohl-Ökonomie). They promote the ideals of Greek oỉkonomía and at the same time consider their own efforts to be the accomplishment of the main principles of Enlightenment which are liberty, equality and fraternity. 

scholarly journals Harnessing Social Processes for the Common Good

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-49
Author(s):  
John Raven
Keyword(s):  
Common Good ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Social Processes ◽  
Social Forces ◽  
Learning Society ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
Research Programmes ◽  
The Common ◽  
Physical Forces

Abstract This article argues that harnessing social processes for the common good depends on creating a learning society which will innovate, learn, and evolve in the long-term public interest. In essence, this involves establishing more embedded, interconnected, and interacting, “organic” feedback (sociocybernetic) loops which do not depend on long and distorting chains of “accountability” to distant “representative” assemblies of “decision takers”. Several important steps toward doing this are discussed. However, all depend on undertaking a great deal of adventurous, problem-driven (as distinct from literature-driven) research. By far the most important of these research programmes would be to develop a better understanding of the currently invisible (Kafkaesque) network of social forces that have the future of our species and the planet in their grip … and then to find ways of intervening in that network. It is suggested that this is analogous to Newton first conceptualising physical forces and then showing how to measure, map, and harness them. Answering the question of how work like Newton’s could be funded and conducted in modern society – and especially under current research-funding arrangements – thus emerges as crucial to finding a way forward.

Social Problems, Public Policy, the Church and the Common Good

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-63
Author(s):  
D. Eric Schansberg ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Social Problems ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
The Common ◽  
Political Agents ◽  
American Society ◽  
The Church

From professional pundits to casual observers, there are deep concerns about the state of American society and profound doubts about its future. Political cynicism is ascendant--and yet, the desire for politicians to “do something” remains. What role can public policy have in addressing the largest social problems and their causes? And beyond public policy, what are the potentially effective means in terms of social institutions, including the Church? Although public policy offers some promise, its usefulness is generally exaggerated. Its costs are typically subtle and often ignored. Knowledge of consequences and tradeoffs is insufficient, and the motives of political agents are less than pure. And many dilemmas, by their nature, cannot be ably addressed by politics and policy. In contrast, a resurgence in civil society--particularly the Church--holds more promise. Even in a time of potential “exile,” the Church is called to pursue the holistic welfare of society and enhance the common good.

Deeper Magic: Re-engaging the Virtues in School and Parish

2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 215-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison Milbank
Keyword(s):  
Elementary School ◽  
Virtue Ethics ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Harry Potter ◽  
Approach To Learning ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
Transcendent Reality ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Church

AbstractThis essay argues that modern society lacks a vision of the common good, which prevents education from having an adequate telos or goal. It calls for a restoration of the language of virtue and the ethical tradition of Aristotle and Aquinas. The Anglican parish and the church primary or elementary school are examined as sites where virtue ethics is still active: particularly in the intercessory work of parish prayer, and in the mimetic approach to learning employed with younger children. The article then addresses ways in which these institutions depend upon what C.S. Lewis called ‘deeper magic’ of a transcendent reality, and ways in which the school especially might develop further a pedagogy of the virtues using J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter stories as exemplars. Finally, it argues for a dimension of the beautiful in a recovery of an education in Christian virtue.

scholarly journals Inclusive groups can avoid the tragedy of the commons

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Arend Hintze ◽  
Jochen Staudacher ◽  
Katja Gelhar ◽  
Alexander Pothmann ◽  
Juliana Rasch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Common Good ◽  
Tragedy Of The Commons ◽  
Entire Group ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
Costly Punishment ◽  
The Commons ◽  
Group Members ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Cost

AbstractThe public goods game is a famous example illustrating the tragedy of the commons (Hardin in Science 162:1243–1248, 1968). In this game cooperating individuals contribute to a pool, which in turn is distributed to all members of the group, including defectors who reap the same rewards as cooperators without having made a contribution before. The question is now, how to incentivize group members to all cooperate as it maximizes the common good. While costly punishment (Helbing et al. in New J Phys 12:083005, 2010) presents one such method, the cost of punishment still reduces the common good. The selfishness of the group members favors defectors. Here we show that including other members of the groups and sharing rewards with them can be another incentive for cooperation, avoiding the cost required for punishment. Further, we show how punishment and this form of inclusiveness interact. This work suggests that a redistribution similar to a basic income that is coupled to the economic success of the entire group could overcome the tragedy of the commons.

scholarly journals In Defense of the Commons: Young Children Negatively Evaluate and Sanction Free Riders

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (10) ◽  
pp. 1598-1611 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fan Yang ◽  
You-Jung Choi ◽  
Antonia Misch ◽  
Xin Yang ◽  
Yarrow Dunham
Keyword(s):  
Young Children ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Free Riding ◽  
Human Flourishing ◽  
Normative Expectation ◽  
Free Riders ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
The Commons ◽  
The Common

Human flourishing depends on individuals paying costs to contribute to the common good, but such arrangements are vulnerable to free riding, in which individuals benefit from others’ contributions without paying costs themselves. Systems of tracking and sanctioning free riders can stabilize cooperation, but the origin of such tendencies is not well understood. Here, we provide evidence that children as young as 4 years old negatively evaluate and sanction free riders. Across six studies, we showed that these tendencies are robust, large in magnitude, tuned to intentional rather than unintentional noncontribution, and generally consistent across third- and first-party cases. Further, these effects cannot be accounted for by factors that frequently co-occur with free riding, such as nonconforming behaviors or the costs that free riding imposes on the group. Our findings demonstrate that from early in life, children both hold and enforce a normative expectation that individuals are intrinsically obligated to contribute to the common good.

scholarly journals The Commons, the Common Good and Extraterritoriality: Seeking Sustainable Global Justice through Corporate Responsibility

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (22) ◽  
pp. 9475
Author(s):  
Shuangge Wen ◽  
Jingchen Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Common Good ◽  
Corporate Responsibility ◽  
Global Justice ◽  
Theoretical Foundation ◽  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Global Trends ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
The Commons ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Relationship

Despite their laudable intent, extraterritorial legal initiatives to promote corporate sustainability development have not been well received in practice, and are often seen as a window-dressing exercise. This article aims to conduct a conceptual and doctrinal analysis, offering a theoretical foundation that interprets corporate extraterritorial legislative attempts as legitimate in the context of globalisation, using the lens of “the commons” and “the common good”. We try to link the values and dimensions of “the commons” to the goals of corporate extraterritorial legislation, so that lawmaking attempts with extraterritorial reach will gain additional foundational support and achieve more effective and better controlled compliance. In particular, the article makes an original attempt to justify and develop a new notion, namely “the extraterritorial commons”. This notion is in harmony with, rather than contradicting, progressive legal attempts to address the mismatching and conflicting nature of the relationship between the traditional voluntarism of corporate extraterritorial responsibilities, particularly in relation to sustainability issues, and global trends towards more regulation in this area.

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