A feminist retrieval of Aquinas' principle of the common good (Saint Thomas Aquinas, David Tracy, Sandra Schneiders, Rosemary Radford Ruether, Martha Nussbaum)

This dissertation explores the relationship between hermeneutics and ethics when a liberationist hermeneutic is employed. It draws on the insights of David Tracy, that without a process of mutually critical correlation classic texts become useless as a source of insight and guidance. In this dissertation a feminist hermeneutic is developed and applied to the principle of the common good in Aquinas' major writings.; In Chapter One a feminist hermeneutic is developed drawing on the work of Sandra Schneiders (textual hermeneutics), Rosemary Radford Ruether (retrieval of doctrinal and ethical principles) and Martha Nussbaum whose work on human functioning capabilities shapes the understanding of the human person (anthropology) used in this dissertation.; Chapter Two examines the principle of the common good in Aquinas' writings in the larger context of his conception of the good and the human good. The relationship between the individual good and the good of the community is explored as well as the effects Aquinas' conception of the virtue of justice has for understanding the common good.; In Chapter Three the hermeneutical method developed in Chapter One is used as a lens through which the elements of the common good discussed in Chapter Two are critically examined and retrieved.; Chapter Four presents a social issue through which to view the functioning of the retrieved principle of the common good. The issue that is explored is the availability of and access to health care by women in the United States. The issue is refined further to focus on the fact that African American women have a lower incidence of but a much higher mortality rate from breast cancer. While not offering a conclusion about this situation (medical researchers are pursuing this question), this chapter highlights the fact that the retrieved principle of the common good causes different questions to be asked in order to determine whether the common good of the community is authentically being pursued.