IL BENE DI TUTTI E DI CIASCUNO: IL CARATTERE MORALE DEL BENE COMUNE IN SAN TOMMASO D'AQUINO.

Man, according to St. Thomas, is a being with a social and a political nature. To affirm that man is «naturaliter», (naturally) a social and political animal means that he has natural needs to live in society to improve his nature in all its dimensions. The life of the person in society has a certain well precise goal. Persons in the political community gather to realize the common good of all the members belonging to it. This common good is a good, at the same time, of the multitude and of the individual, that is, the good of all and of each. It not only allows man to live, but to live well, that is to live virtuously. The common good in the thought of St. Thomas is the temporal good of concrete political society, but at the same time, it allows every citizen to achieve the ultimate goal, that is, God. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]