Although it's impossible to define it with objective standards, the concept of the "common good" is directly linked with "society" and the "majority." Which is better for humanity and should take precedence - pursuing the "common good" of society or pursuing the individual "good" of its members? Can you violate the rights of one individual for the "good" of society or the majority without violating the rights of all individuals? What are some examples of the "common good" taking precedence over individuals?
FTA:
The tribal notion of "the common good" has served as the moral justification of most social systems - and of all tyrannies - in history. The degree of a society's enslavement or freedom corresponded to the degree to which that tribal slogan was invoked or ignored.
"The common good" (or "the public interest") is an undefined and undefinable concept: there is no such entity as "the tribe" or "the public"; the tribe (or the public or society) is only a number of individual men. Nothing can be good for the tribe as such; "good" and "value" pertain only to a living organism - to an individual living organism - not to a disembodied aggregate of relationships.
"The common good" is a meaningless concept, unless taken literally, in which case its only possible meaning is: the sum of the good of all the individual men involved. But in that case, the concept is meaningless as a moral criterion: it leaves open the question of what is the good of individual men and how does one determine it?
It is not, however, in its literal meaning that that concept is generally used. It is accepted precisely for its elastic, undefinable, mystical character which serves, not as a moral guide, but as an escape from morality. Since the good is not applicable to the disembodied, it becomes a moral blank check for those who attempt to embody it...
[from Ayn Rand's "What Is Capitalism?" Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal]
Ayn Rand Lexicon - Common Good
DISCUSS!
Original posting by Braincrave Second Life staff on Oct 27, 2010 at http://www.braincrave.com/viewblog.php?id=363
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