The common good is a surprisingly elusive concept. While we may reasonably assume it to describe a life of shared purpose and solidarity in ordered, just, and equitable community, there is, unsurprisingly, no one agreed description of the shape and structure of such a life – which is why those who write about the common good often prioritize the quality of the conversation over the substance of the vision. This article holds the notion of the common good, for all its imprecision, to be nonetheless importantly, and demonstrably, more than the sum of its variously described parts. It explores some historical and contemporary understandings of the common good before proposing an holistic and essentially Christological approach, rooted in a responsible and participatory account of being drawn principally from Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s theology.

共同利益是一个令人惊讶的难以捉摸的概念。虽然我们可以合理地假设它描述了在有序、公正和公平的社区中具有共同目标和团结的生活，但不出所料，没有人对这种生活的形态和结构达成一致的描述——这就是为什么那些写共同利益通常优先考虑对话的质量而不是愿景的实质。这篇文章认为共同利益的概念虽然不精确，但仍然重要且明显地超过了其不同描述部分的总和。在提出一种整体的、本质上是基督论的方法之前，它探索了对共同利益的一些历史和当代理解，该方法植根于主要来自迪特里希·邦霍费尔的神学的负责任和参与式说明。