Religion and the Common Good: Catholic Contributions to Building Community in a Liberal Society

The term “common good” has often been ill-defined or undefined in political, philosophical, and theological discourses. Brian Stiltner seeks to repair this deficit in his study Religion and the Common Good. He explores the meaning of the common good and the prospects for pursuing it in a liberal society. Focusing on the conceptions of common good in liberalism and communitarianism—the former stressing individual rights and social tolerance, the latter stressing a community’s shared history and social practices—Stiltner argues that the two theories are not as irreconcilable as they seem, that they can be combined into a “communal liberalism.” Stiltner provides an outline of the twentieth-century Catholic common good theory as an example of such a synthesis. A fascinating study, Religion and the Common Good will be an invaluable volume for scholars of social ethics, religion, theology, philosophy and political science.