Humans are not Cattle: Recapturing a True Vision of the Common Good
A Lesson from Dante's Purgatorio
What is the common good?
Many think of goods we all need—like food, water, and shelter.
But humans are not cattle—we need more.
Others think of goods we all desire—wealth, power, status, and sex.
But these cannot be shared in common and breed envy, avarice, gluttony, and lust.
Are there common goods that can be shared by all but do not diminish?
Yes. In fact, there are goods that grow when shared.
And Dante, pulling from St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, has the answer.
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Humans are not cattle
Dante is a master of the soul—but he is also a master of understanding how souls live together, a master of politics. Part of that mastery is a true vision of the common good.
What is the common good?
Well, most people immediately think of goods that benefit the most people or goods that are the most necessary. For example, the common good is often expressed as food, water, and shelter. Yet, man is not a cow. The basic needs of life are necessary but not sufficient for a happy life.
Is the common good then found in “greater goods” like wealth, status, power, and sex? One problem, amongst many, is that these goods are not truly “common,” just like food, water, and shelter. Common does not mean “wanted by all” but rather “shared by all.” Yet, these goods are competitive—or rather, to the degree one person has food, wealth, or power, another does not.
Think of a pie. To the degree that one person takes one slice, that slice is not available for others.
Many think of the common good in this manner. They think of an exhaustible good that benefits many or particular goods that many desire.
Yet, the competition for these goods is an invitation to lust, gluttony, avarice, and envy. As Dr. Jessica Hooten Wilson of Pepperdine observes, envy comes from a “mindset of scarcity.” It is one of the subtle lessons of Dante the Poet’s treatment of the envious in the Purgatorio (Canto 15). If you view these particular, exhaustible goods as the highest goods in life, it breeds competition, fear, and a desire to gather and consume.
Yet, even if these exhaustible goods are met with virtue, that does not make them a true common good, a good that is shared by all.
But how can a good be shared in common and not exhausted?
The Inexhaustible Goods
The true “common goods” of society are those that are inexhaustible. In other words, people sharing in them do not diminish them—like a pie in which all persons, no matter how many, can take a slice.
But are there goods that are truly common in this manner?
These are goods like justice, truth, goodness, and beauty. These are the true common goods in society. For example, if one person receives justice, that does not mean another cannot. Justice is inexhaustible and thus a true common good—one that all persons within society can participate. Similarly, truth can be shared by all without being diminished.
Moreover—and this is key—the more persons within society participate in these true common goods, the more they are marked by them and shared amongst others. In other words, a soul that is participating in justice or love becomes just or loving—and thus becomes an icon of the true common good to others.
Virgil, in the Purgatorio (Canto 15), speaks of this phenomenon as infinite rays of light reflecting on the soul like a mirror toward one another. In sum, the more souls that participate in these common goods the more the good develops within society. Each soul that participates in the common good of love becomes loving and creates a loving society.
The true common goods are not simply inexhaustible—they bloom within the soul and make human society beautiful and fragrant.
But, amongst these true common goods, is there a highest common good, the common good?
Is there a good in which all these common goods participate?
The Supreme Common Good
According to St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Dante, God is the supreme common good of humanity, including society. All other common goods participate in Him. He is the source and summit.
Every person can have a relationship with God and that in no manner exhausts God or makes His love scarce.
In fact, the more souls participate in God, the more they become God-like, and with them, society is elevated and made godly.
When you love God, there is a divine refulgence that cascades back down amongst all the other goods in life, exhaustible and inexhaustible, perfecting your relationship to them.
The man who loves God loves his wife better and not less. The love of God, the supreme common good, perfects all other goods in life.
Be a Divine Mirror
Do not allow a “mindset of scarcity” to lead you into fear and a disordered desire to attain and consume goods. Reject envy, avarice, gluttony, and lust.
Instead, follow the example of Dante the Poet and focus on the inexhaustible goods, the true common goods of human flourishing.
Be a mirror for justice, love, truth, and beauty in society—participating in those common goods and reflecting them horizontally throughout society.
Most of all, love God—the supreme common good.
Become God-like and be His mirror within society—inviting others to the common good that perfects all others.
Dcn. Harrison Garlick is a deacon, husband, father, Chancellor, and attorney. He lives in rural Oklahoma with his wife and five children. He is also the host of Ascend: The Great Books Podcast. Follow him on X at Dcn. Garlick or Ascend.
Very good article should be taught in school.