ABSTRACT
The idea of the ‘public’ or ‘common’ good is a long-standing theme in the history of Western thought, and it is one utilized by James Steuart. This chapter explores this utilization and assesses what significance it has in his thought. It outlines three versions of how the idea of a public good has been understood. The first version is the ‘objective’. It is characteristic of ‘classical’ thought and its paradigm exemplar is Aristotle. The public good was the objective end or telos of properly human action and was normatively superior to the pursuit of private interests. The second version is the ‘agonistic’. Steuart never articulates the relation between the statesman and those he governs. The statesman has to combine private and divergent interests to form ‘common weal’ or to ‘cement his society’. Steuart declares ‘governing’ to comprise ‘protecting, cherishing and supporting as well as punishing, restraining and exacting’ but this to be done ‘according to the spirit’ of a people.
