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The Common-Good Approach. Learning Plan 5 Shelly Bath, Julie Meyer, Tina Ruane, Jason Randall November 4, 2008. What is the common-good approach??. Individuals own good is inextricably bound to the good of the whole. Common-Good Examples. Affordable healthcare Effective Public Safety
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The Common-Good Approach Learning Plan 5 Shelly Bath, Julie Meyer, Tina Ruane, Jason Randall November 4, 2008
What is the common-good approach?? • Individuals own good is inextricably bound to the good of the whole.
Common-Good Examples • Affordable healthcare • Effective Public Safety • Peace among nations • A just legal system • Unpolluted Environment
Original Founders • Plato Aristotle Cicero
Plato • Philosophy is marked by • Dialectic • Cognitive Optimism
Aristotle • First to create comprehensive system of Western philosophy . • Morality • Aesthetics • Logic and science • Politics and metaphysics
Cicero • Used philosophy to bring about political goals
John Rawls • Certain general conditions that are… • Equally to everyone’s advantages • Contributions • Liberal political philosophy • Justice as fairness • A theory of Justice
Criticisms/Problems • “Free-rider” • Taking benefits the common good provides • Refusing to support common good themselves
Individualism • Individual freedom • Personal insights • “Do their own thing”
Unequal sharing of burdens • Some individuals/groups bear greater cost • Unjust to those bearing greater cost
Appeals to Common-Good • Should not be dismissed • Urge us to reflect • The society we want to become • How we will achieve that society
Challenges us • View ourselves as members of the same community • Respect and value the freedom of individuals • Further those goals we share in common
Affordable Health Care • Current ethical dilemma • No insurance- 50 million Americans • Underinsured-25 million Americans • Limits on coverage • Rising health care premiums
Questions • How does the up coming election affect the common good of all? • How does the common good approach affect us as students?