Excavating Liberalism
October 14th 2008 17:18
A Real Dig !
Excavating Liberalism for the sake of the Common Good
The old philosopher called it bonum honestum - seeking good for its own sake -
Liberalism tends to divide the Common Good. The aim of society can not be just a collection of individual goods. It is a collection of interactions by its members for the benefit of the whole and not just the parts. A mere collection of individual goods dissolves the purpose of gathering together in a society.
Society exists to maintain the freedom of each of its members but not at the expense of the weakest links. The common good rests on this. It is about a people more than about persons. It is about freedom under a moral code applied to all. It is about a multitude of persons but the common good is also not based on opinion or what is the most popular interactions. The common good has to define the reasons for life which have to be in sync with all that is intrinsically good. The common good has to insure the good as layed down by nature, laws, tradition, philosophy, sociology and religion or else particular evils take command.
A single human soul is more worth than the whole universe of bodies and material goods. There is nothing beyond the human soul, except God , the Creator. In this way society exists for each person and is subordinated to it for the sake of all in the society.
Persons are destined to surpass the low-water mark of any society and not take it in as the will of the people. The will of the people has to correspond the ulimate good.
The common good can be disrupted if the will of the people is faulty and the social body turns to errors of the collectivists who disregard private property ( and private property includes work and labor ) or turning over their rights to a elite governing body which can turn into totalitarianism. ( In the days of Rome, it was better to be a slave than a freeman because, of the will of the more powerful and greedy ruling class - much like it is today. With Globalism and Free Trade, work and labor as private property is being violated.)
The common good is thing ethically good. The human person is a material being who is born with many weaknesses as a finite being. We are full of needs and limited in many ways. Seneca said, " Every time I have been amongst men, I have returned a diminished man."
Liberalism approaches this problem with a good acceptance of the frailities of man but neglects to hunt down the core of these weaknesses and is too willing to accept them as the only reality.
Each of us must ask ourselves as persons and as members of a society what is the lowest water mark of our society and how can I surpass it.
Excavating Liberalism for the sake of the Common Good
The old philosopher called it bonum honestum - seeking good for its own sake -
Liberalism tends to divide the Common Good. The aim of society can not be just a collection of individual goods. It is a collection of interactions by its members for the benefit of the whole and not just the parts. A mere collection of individual goods dissolves the purpose of gathering together in a society.
Society exists to maintain the freedom of each of its members but not at the expense of the weakest links. The common good rests on this. It is about a people more than about persons. It is about freedom under a moral code applied to all. It is about a multitude of persons but the common good is also not based on opinion or what is the most popular interactions. The common good has to define the reasons for life which have to be in sync with all that is intrinsically good. The common good has to insure the good as layed down by nature, laws, tradition, philosophy, sociology and religion or else particular evils take command.
A single human soul is more worth than the whole universe of bodies and material goods. There is nothing beyond the human soul, except God , the Creator. In this way society exists for each person and is subordinated to it for the sake of all in the society.
Persons are destined to surpass the low-water mark of any society and not take it in as the will of the people. The will of the people has to correspond the ulimate good.
The common good can be disrupted if the will of the people is faulty and the social body turns to errors of the collectivists who disregard private property ( and private property includes work and labor ) or turning over their rights to a elite governing body which can turn into totalitarianism. ( In the days of Rome, it was better to be a slave than a freeman because, of the will of the more powerful and greedy ruling class - much like it is today. With Globalism and Free Trade, work and labor as private property is being violated.)
The common good is thing ethically good. The human person is a material being who is born with many weaknesses as a finite being. We are full of needs and limited in many ways. Seneca said, " Every time I have been amongst men, I have returned a diminished man."
Liberalism approaches this problem with a good acceptance of the frailities of man but neglects to hunt down the core of these weaknesses and is too willing to accept them as the only reality.
Each of us must ask ourselves as persons and as members of a society what is the lowest water mark of our society and how can I surpass it.
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