Which Takes Precedence Between Individual Goodness And Common Goodness?

In this study,we use the ethical concept of "goodness" as a keyword to examine the situation of"goodness" in the community,and explore the question of "which takes precedence between individual goodness and common goodness?" in the context of contemporary political philosophy.The study is focusing on the comparison of the theories of two contemporary political philosophers,Rawls and Sander.John Rawls,as a representative figure of contemporary liberalism,proposes the establishment of a community of justice that guarantees the priority of the individual good,which inherits the natural rights tradition of the Enlightenment thinkers and Kant’s moral obligation theory of absolute law.Rawls proposed the "original state" and the "curtain of ignorance" hypothesis,trying to create an environment of equal opportunity in the distribution process,so that decision makers would adopt a fair distribution strategy to ensure that their own rights and interests would not be lost when formulating policies.This is a self-interested act based on individual good,but in fact,it inadvertently contributes to the realization of social equity and justice,and achieves the purpose of common good.Michael Sandel,as a representative of contemporary communitarianism,opposes Rawls’ practice of putting"goodness" after "justice" and proposes to ensure that "the common good takes precedence" in the construction of social communities.He argued against the Rawlsian approach of putting "good" after"justice" and proposed that the construction of a social community should first ensure the priority of common goodness.The source of Sandel’s theory is Aristotle’s theory of the supreme goodness and Hegel’s theory of the state.Sandel believes that individuals are individuals living in a community,and that they have been influenced by the common cultural tradition since birth,and have incorporated the connotation of the community in their individual consciousness.Therefore,the way for individuals to reflect their own value is to realize the ultimate goal of the common goodness.After the community achieves the goal of the highest goodness,the individual life can be called a happy life,and individuals realize the individual goodness in the process of pursuing the common goodness.The differences between Rawls’ and Sandel’s theories are manifested in three aspects:different theoretical cores,different views of the self,and different views of the community.The difference in theoretical kernel lies in the fact that Rawls set the source of the concept based on the contractarian tradition,while Sandel set the place of the concept based on the teleological tradition.The difference in self-view is reflected in the difference in their understanding of the concept of "individual goodness,"which Rawls sees as the right to free choice and Sandel sees as the mapping of the common will in the mind.The difference in their views of community shows their different understanding of the role of community,as Rawls sees community as an instrumental subject for self-interest,while Sandel sees community as a true moral subject.These three differences directly contribute to the discussion between Rawls and Sandel on "which takes precedence,the individual goodness or the common goodness?In answering this proposition,both theories have reasonable explanations,but they also have certain limitations,as individual goodness and common goodness often appear to be intertwined,and a theory that overemphasizes the priority of the two is bound to have certain defects.Although both Rawls and Sandel want to realize one kind of "goodness" before the other,trying to realize both at the same time may be a new way to solve the problem of "which takes precedence between individual goodness and common goodness?".Instead of overemphasizing the priority of individual goodness or common goodness,a community with a shared future of mankind tries to take individual goodness as the content and common goodness as the form,taking into account the simultaneous realization of both.The common of a community with a shared future of mankind is solving the real problems faced by global human beings together and planning for the future destiny of human beings.The theory of a community with a shared future of mankind inherits the excellent Chinese traditional culture,is the latest demonstration of the theoretical achievements of contemporary Marxism,and is an active attempt of the Chinese nation to solve world problems.