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Let me add something about the
idea of the common good. Sometimes people
think that utilitarianism is aimed at the
common good. But as I understand the concept,
that is not true.
Utilitarianism aggregates
individual goods (for example, individual
pleasures) and attempts to maximize the total
or the average good. My idea of the common
good is something different. For me, the
common good includes the good of each and
every individual. To advance the common good
we must advance the good of every person. It
might mean, for example, guaranteeing food,
shelter, education, and medical care for every
single person in our society. There is no
attempt to maximize something by trading off
one person's good for that of a group.
For that reason, the common
good can be used as the basis for individual
rights that are resistant to tradeoffs.
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