An Anglican common good?

Abstract

This article examines recent use of the key phrase ‘common good’ in Catholic social teaching as well as in the Anglican tradition. It explores who first developed the term, and looks at the evidence for Anglican use of it before such language became widespread among Catholics. Use of the ‘common good’ by Henry Scott Holland and William Temple is surveyed. It is argued that Thomas Hill Green, first, and Jacques Maritain, second, are the real architects of the modern use of ‘common good’.