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.

Can Communities Protect Autonomy? Ethical Dilemmas in HIV Preventative Drug Trials

1995 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 516-523 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah Zion
Keyword(s):  
Advance Directive ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Ethical Dilemmas ◽  
Drug Trials ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
Gay Community ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Trial Participants

Before sailing past the sirens' “flowery meadow,” Ulysses instructed his sailors to lash him to the mast so that he would not succumb to the siren's singing. His advance directive demonstrated that he valued his dispositional or long-term autonomy over his unquestioned right to make decisions. He also indicated to his oarsmen that he understood the nature of temptation and his inability to resist it. Ideas of autonomy and sexual choice are central to this discussion of new AIDS treatments, especially the trials of preventative vaccines. Questions arise over the rights of individuals and the extent that these should be limited by concerns of the gay community. Should the gay community intervene in the risky decisions of individuals if no explicit advance directive exists? If so, how do they justify their paternalism? Could their aims not be better served through strengthening the individual dispositional autonomy of trial participants rather than making specific claims about the common good?

The common good as an invisible hand: Machiavelli's legacy to public management

2008 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 497-521 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claude Rochet
Keyword(s):  
Common Good ◽  
Public Management ◽  
Public Affairs ◽  
Invisible Hand ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
Research Programmes ◽  
Complex Decision Making ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Right

Public management has been dominated by the quest for efficiency and has left us with fundamental ethical questions that remain unresolved. It is argued that Machiavellian thought may provide us with concepts and tools applicable to ruling societies confronted with uncertainties and change that are (1) in line with the most recent insights into institutional evolution and (2) appropriate to solve complex decision-making problems. The common good — a central concept of Machiavelli's thought — appears to be an invisible hand that lowers the transaction costs and acts as the keystone of complex public affairs thinking. This analysis is illustrated by a comparative case study of the two management projects of infrastructure crossing the Alps, the AlpTransit in Switzerland, and the Lyon Torino Link. It concludes with a proposal to upgrade the research program in public management that allows effectiveness (legitimacy of the ends) and effectiveness in its implementation. Points for practitioners The mainstream of public management theories and reform has been dominated by the quest of efficiency as a Holy Grail. I argue that theses reforms didn't deliver with their promises and left us with fundamental ethical questions unresolved: doing things right do not answer to the question of doing the right things. The main reason is a profound misunderstanding of the very nature of the ongoing change process that makes any kind one size fits all recipes inappropriate. Such a sea change occurred in the Renaissance era and Machiavelli bequeathed us a comprehensive understanding of how to rule a public body in a changing and uncertain world. I explain Machiavelli's misunderstood legacy and apply his teaching to analyzing two huge management projects of public infrastructures. I conclude on what has to be upgrade in the research programmes in public management to confront with the challenges of our era that call for a back to basics of classical political philosophy

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 A Catholic Perspective: Triage Principles and Moral Distress in Pandemic Scarcity

2021 ◽  
Vol 88 (2) ◽  
pp. 214-223
Author(s):  
Nuala Kenny ◽  
Jaro Kotalik ◽  
Leonie Herx ◽  
Ramona Coelho ◽  
Rene Leiva
Keyword(s):  
Common Good ◽  
Moral Distress ◽  
Healing Ministry ◽  
Term Survival ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
Triage Protocol ◽  
The Common ◽  
Scarcity Of Resources

Striving to be faithful to the moral core of medicine and to spiritual, moral, and social teaching of the church, Catholic physicians see their role as an extension of the healing ministry of Jesus. When faced with a situation in which a large number of gravely ill people are seeking care, but optimal treatment such as ventilation in intensive care unit cannot be offered to all because of scarcity of resources, Catholic physicians recognize the need to consider the common good and to assign a priority to patients for whom such treatments would be most probably lifesaving. Making these evaluations, physicians will use only objective medical criteria regarding the benefits and risks to patients and will be mindful that all persons deserve equal respect for their dignity. Discrimination or prejudicial treatment against patients based on factors such as age, disability, race, gender, quality of life, and possible long-term survival cannot be morally justified. Triage process should incorporate respect for autonomy of both the patient and the professional and opportunity for an appeal of a triage decision. Other principles and values that will affect how a triage protocol is developed and applied are proportionality, equity, reciprocity, solidarity, subsidiarity, and transparency. The current coronavirus pandemic can provide valuable lessons and stimulus for reforms and renewal. Summary: Catholic physicians strive to continue the healing ministry of Jesus Christ and be faithful to the moral core of medicine. In situations such as pandemic, the scarcity of personnel and technological resources create serious challenges and even moral distress. Church teachings on dignity, the common good and protection of the vulnerable help guide decisions based on public medical criteria and shared decision-making.

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.

scholarly journals Dobro wspólne czy interesy?

Politeja ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1(64)) ◽  
pp. 205-232
Author(s):  
Tomasz Homa
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Practical Importance ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
The Common ◽  
European Thought

The Common Good or the Interest? In Search for the Founding Stones of the Modern Society: Case Study – European Union The philosophical reflection on the common good, as one of the primary normative principles, and in this sense also the “founding stones” of a well-structured social life, has a multifaceted, diverse range of proposed approaches and solutions and a well-documented output. Bearing in mind the centuries-long theoretical and practical importance and validity of this concept in the European thought and practice of socially and politically organized collective life, the subject of my reflections is to raise the question of the cognitive and normative importance and validity of this concept for today’s Europe in the context of the European Union project contained in the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, signed on October 29, 2004 in Rome.

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