The Primacy of the Common Good

For Joel Feil

1 What is Commonly Thought About the Common Good

1.1 Honor and the Common Good

Honor is a concept that is closely related to the common good, especially the political common good. Honor, Aristotle, notes, seems to be the end, the telos, of the political life. In truth however, he goes on to argue, the end of political life is virtue; we seek honor to convince ourselves that we are good, since honor is the recognition that others give to our virtue.[2] We human beings long to contribute to something greater than ourselves, and to have our contribution confirmed by the recognition of others, by honor. Jan Eyre, in Charlotte Brontë’s novel, after turning up destitute at the doorstep of Moor House, ends up as a schoolteacher in a small village. The usefulness of her work as a schoolteacher to the community, and the recognition, the honor, that she receives from the villagers for that contribution, make her feel that she is “sitting in sunshine, calm and sweet” and that her feelings are budding and blooming under its rays.[3] What is true of honor in a small village is even more true in a greater, properly political society that can achieve a greater common good.

June 12, 2023June 12, 2023

Human Happiness and Virtue

Introduction

The Aristotelian tradition has always maintained that human happiness must consist in a life of virtue. Indeed, Aristotle himself defined happiness as “an activity of the soul in accordance with virtue, and if there is more than one virtue, in accordance with the best or most complete.”^[i] This definition may be one which is accepted by many, but it remains nonetheless debated and denied. Consider Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy’s notorious statement that “at the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life.”^[ii] In the 25 years since this startling declaration was made, society, especially in the West, has continued to wage war on common moral sense, and advocates for a more or less purely autonomous man. Man can now reimagine himself, and as if by fiat, determine what he is, who he is, and what will make him happy. To the contrary, the purpose of this paper is to lay out clearly and succinctly why the happy life for man must consist in a life of virtue. The necessary connection between happiness and virtue, far from being something known only by the wise, can be known by anyone through a careful reflection on their own lives.

June 5, 2023June 5, 2023

The Josias Podcast Episode XXXV: Thomistic Mystagogy

Thomistic theology is rarely associated with liturgical prayer. So, in this episode, Urban Hannon turns the conversation toward St Thomas Aquinas’ mystagogy of the Mass—that is, his theological teaching on the meaning and purpose of its various rites.

The handout mentioned in the episode may be found here.

Bibliography

St Thomas Aquinas, In IV Sent., d. 8, ex.
In IV Sent., d. 12, ex.
ST IIIa, Q. 83, a. 4.
ST IIIa, Q. 83, a. 5.

Header Image: Detail from ‘Mass of the 5 wounds of Our Lord,’ in the Da Costa Hours, Morgan Library MS M.399 (fol. 36v), c. 1515. Image courtesy of Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, Graz/Austria.

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May 29, 2023March 16, 2024

Book Recommendation: William of Tocco’s The Life of St. Thomas Aquinas

As a translator of medieval Latin, I keep a running list of works that I could potentially bring into English in the future. For years now, near the top of that list—but never quite near enough for me to have actually gotten around to doing it—has been the Ystoria of William of Tocco. Mentioned often in Thomistic circles, this is the great hagiography of St. Thomas Aquinas compiled for his cause for canonization by a fellow Dominican friar, perhaps twenty years his junior, with whom Thomas lived at the Dominican priory in Naples toward the end of his life. Alas, I missed my chance to translate it—because a friend has done so instead, and his edition is marvelous.

May 16, 2023May 16, 2023

The Coronation: A Josias Symposium

For the occasion of the coronation of King Charles III in Westminster Abbey, The Josias asked contributors and friends to share their reflections on the event. The contributions to this symposium cover a variety of topics from a variety of perspectives, all of them Catholic.

May 8, 2023April 27, 2023

Prayer as (Still) a Political Problem

Christians throughout the world are facing various levels of persecution and maltreatment from purportedly secular and agnostic regimes. To temper such abuse, there is a tendency to appeal to the regime’s religious indifferentism, to defend Christian practice in the name of neutral “religious liberty.” But might there not be hidden costs to doing so?

May 1, 2023May 1, 2023

The Josias Podcast, Episode XXXIV: De Koninck on Nietzsche

Urban Hannon is joined by Ed and Pat Smith for a conversation about Charles De Koninck’s unpublished course notes on the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche.

Bibliography

Charles De Koninck’s Course Notes on Nietzsche, which we have made available here.

Header Image: Frans Francken the Younger, Mankind’s Eternal Dilemma – The Choice Between Virtue and Vice (1633).

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April 24, 2023April 18, 2023

Our Contraceptive Speech

Master Adamo lies a bloated mass of “watery rot.” His amorphous frame bears his diseased paunch and distended limbs, as his lips curl and crack under his parching fever—despite being a waterlogged waste. He lies before Dante the Pilgrim and Virgil and explains how King Minos poured him into the last ditch of the eighth circle of hell. He was a counterfeiter of Florentine florins. He blurred the lines of reality in life and now he lays blurred—a poor counterfeit of his former self.

April 3, 2023April 3, 2023

The Josias Podcast, Episode XXXIII: Ego Sapientia

Urban Hannon is joined by Fr. Hugh Barbour, O.Praem., of St. Michael’s Abbey, and Fr. Jon Tveit for a conversation on Charles De Koninck’s work, Ego Sapientia: The Wisdom That Is Mary.

Bibliography

Charles De Koninck, “Ego Sapientia: The Wisdom That Is Mary” in The Writings of Charles De Koninck: Volume 2, pg. 1-62. Translated by Ralph McInerny.
For those without access to the McInerny volume, a publicly available translation by Ronald McArthur, a former graduate student of De Koninck’s, may be accessed here.

Header Image: Nicholas of Verdun, The Annunciation panel, Klosterneuburg (Verduner) Altar (1181), Stift Klosterneuburg.

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March 27, 2023December 5, 2023

A Brief Introduction to the Common Good

The common good is an uncommon concept today, and the genuine article is often confused with counterfeits. It may, therefore, be helpful to set out clearly and simply some definitions and distinctions, to explain what ‘the common good’ means to the integralist, as opposed to what it means to the totalitarian, the utilitarian, or the liberal. These notes are mostly gathered from other Josias posts; follow the links and footnotes for more in-depth treatments.