Beyond rethorics. Is there anything left from the concept of bonum commune?

Abstract

The article proposes an outlook over some classics of political philosophy, which payed a special attention to the traditional topic of bonum commune, from the Greeks to Schumpeter. The aim is to elucidate the sense that the concept of «common good» (in singular) might still have for us. Before that, in sight of the recent debate about «common goods» (in plural), the article proposes to distinguish –and tries to seek for possible compatibilities– between common good and common goods, and draws a critical view of the latter. In conclusion, the article states that Schumpeter's destruction of the very idea of common good remains a challenge for today's politics. Nonetheless, it will be argued that the claim for common good as an horizon for politics, as well as a field of confrontation and compatibility with the various contemporary trends of «benecomunismo», might be adequately framed within the recent theoretical contributions of Luigi Ferrajoli.