The Common Good and its PrimacyCharles De Koninck’s (1906-1965) Thomistic View

This article deals with the doctrine of the common good elaborated by the Cana-dian Thomist Charles De Koninck (1906-1965). In 1943, he wroteDe la primauté du biencommun contre les personnalistes. This book generated a controversy involving YvesSimon, Ignatius Eschman, and, at least indirectly, Jacques Maritain. First of all, theauthor stresses how De Koninck defended the idea of the primacy of the common good,presenting it as a universal good shared by each single member of a community. So, thecommon good is not an “alien good” the individual good is sacrificed to, but what theindividual good is enlightened by. Then, the article analyses De Koninck’s conception ofthe person and the link between the promotion of the correct idea of the common goodand the primacy of speculative reason. The final part is devoted to some points concern-ing which De Koninck’s Thomistic proposal can provide criteria valid for addressingsome of the challenges we face today regarding the way we conceive the common good:multiple forms of global crisis, the true promotion of human intelligence, and ecology