COVID and the Common Good
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COVID and the Common Good Greg Latemore 1 Received: 22 July 2020 / Accepted: 3 November 2020/ # Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Abstract
This article examines the nature of individual goods, public goods, and the common good in the context of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID). ‘Common’ in ‘common good’ is what applies to all persons without exception, and ‘good’ is what contributes to human flourishing. The common good is regarded as the communion of persons in good living. Addressing the relationship between the economy and society, it is proposed that the marketplace subsists within society. Acknowledging that we are deeply connected, the article employs the philosophies of MacIntyre, Maritain and Sandel to highlight the importance of reciprocity, relationships, and generosity as characteristics of the common good. Two narratives in the public discourse are observed in these COVID days – one characterised by fear and selfishness, the other by hope and generosity. The author recognises that this pandemic can be conceived as a ‘wicked’ problem in a ‘volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous’ world, and implications for leaders and citizens in managing COVID are suggested. Keywords Common good . Community . COVID . Human flourishing . Goods
Introduction The Master sat in rapt attention as the renowned economist explained the blueprint for development. ‘Should growth be the only consideration in an economic theory?’ he asked. ‘Yes. All growth is good in itself.’ ‘Isn’t that the thinking of the cancer cell?’ replied the Master (de Mello 1987: 80). This opening story highlights that growth for its own sake is not necessarily a good thing: after all, the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) – hereafter ‘COVID’ – is a virus that merely seeks to replicate itself and spread. This article begins by recognising that we are deeply connected, and addresses the relationship between the economy and society. In the context of COVID, the nature of the common good is then considered through the lenses of three
* Greg Latemore [email protected]; [email protected]
1
The University of Notre Dame Australia (School of Business), Broadway, NSW, Australia
Philosophy of Management
philosophies, those of MacIntyre, Maritain and Sandel. The article concludes by offering some suggestions for leaders and citizens in managing this pandemic through the paradigm of the common good.
COVID Reminds us that we are Deeply Connected COVID has reinforced that we are globally connected, both for ill and for good as a human species. According to the World Health Organization dashboard (WHO 2020a), this virus has already infected over 14 million people, with more than 600,000 deaths, and it has spread to every country except Antarctica. Just as COVID knows no borders and respects no boundaries, the human community is inexorably linked now in ways that were not possible during the so-called Spanish Flu (1918—1920) which killed an estimated 20—50 million victims, nor during the Black Death (1347—1352) which killed an estim
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