Common good

In philosophy, ethics, and political science the common good (also common wealth or common weal) is a specific "good" that is shared and beneficial for all or most members of a given community.

The good that is common between person C and person B may not be the same as between person A and person C. Thus the common good can often change, although there are some things — such as the basic requirements for staying alive: food, water, and shelter — that are always good for all people.

Other definitions

Utilitarianism

The common good has sometimes been seen as a utilitarian ideal, thus representing "the greatest possible good for the greatest possible number of individuals". The "greatest possible number of individuals" would mean all human beings. This definition of the common good presents it as a quality which is convertible, or reducible, to the sum total of all the private interests of the individual members of a society and interchangeable with them. But this is a narrow, and many would argue impoverished, view of what the common good might encompass.

Common Good

Common Good is a nonprofit organization in the United States that advocates a basic shift in legal structures "to restore common sense to American law." In June 2008, the organization, founded in 2002 by Philip K. Howard, a lawyer and author of The Death of Common Sense, created NewTalk, an online public policy forum that tackles tough issues that are inadequately addressed in the national political debate.

Among the leaders who have participated in NewTalk discussions are New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former Presidential candidate and U.S. Senator Bill Bradley, Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, and former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker.

Common Good advocates, among other things, the creation of special health courts to address medical malpractice complaints. Pilot health courts are currently being designed by Common Good in partnership with the Harvard School of Public Health.

References

External links

Little Green

Little Green may refer to:

Reusable shopping bag

A reusable shopping bag, sometimes called bag-for-life in the UK, is a type of shopping bag which can be reused many times; this is an alternative to single-use paper or plastic bags. It is often made from fabric such as canvas, woven synthetic fibers, or a thick plastic that is more durable than disposable plastic bags, allowing multiple use.

Reusable shopping bags are a kind of carrier bag, which are available for sale in supermarkets and apparel shops. Some reusable bags have been found to contain high amounts of lead. Moreover, they require more energy to produce than common plastic shopping bags; one reusable bag requires the same amount of energy as an estimated 28 traditional plastic shopping bags or eight paper bags. "If used once per week, four or five reusable bags will replace 520 plastic bags a year", according to Nick Sterling, research director at Natural Capitalism Solutions. A study commissioned by the United Kingdom Environment Agency in 2005 but never published found that the average cotton bag is used only 51 times before being thrown away. In some cases reusable bags need to be used over 100 times before they’re better for the environment than single-use plastic bags.

Michael Walzer

Michael Walzer (/ˈwɔːlzər/; March 3, 1935) is a prominent American political theorist and public intellectual. A professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) in Princeton, New Jersey, he is co-editor of Dissent, an intellectual magazine that he has been affiliated with since his years as an undergraduate at Brandeis University. He has written books and essays on a wide range of topics—many in political ethics—including just and unjust wars, nationalism, ethnicity, Zionism, economic justice, social criticism, radicalism, tolerance, and political obligation. He is also a contributing editor to The New Republic. To date, he has written 27 books and published over 300 articles, essays, and book reviews in Dissent, The New Republic, The New York Review of Books, The New Yorker, The New York Times, Harpers, and many philosophical and political science journals.

Education

In 1956, Walzer graduated summa cum laude from Brandeis University with a B.A. in history. He then studied at the University of Cambridge on a Fulbright Fellowship (1956–1957) and completed his doctoral work at Harvard, earning his Ph.D. in government in 1961.