The Glossary of Theological Terms is a general glossary of terms used on this site, as defined by the Catechism of the Catholic Church, St. Thomas Aquinas and the Catholic intellectual tradition.
Every society must have as a primary concern the common good. The common good consists of goods that are created by our interconnectedness and interdependence as a society. These are goods that are necessary for authentic human development. For this reason, they are considered rights of every member of a society. CCC 1910-1912
Keyword(s):
Interdependence
:
Human beings are by their naturesocial creatures. Interdependence specifies that human persons rely on each other to meet their needs, but also have a need to contribute to the well-being of others using their particular skills and abilities.
Keyword(s):
Subsidiarity
:
The social principle that states that economic,political and social decisions should be made at the lowest possible level of social organization.
Since society is made up of families interacting with each other in an interdependent way, the lowest, most foundational level of social organization is the family. Whatever the family is able to do for itself, it should have the freedom to do. What the family is not able to do for itself, the local community (collection of families) should provide aid for - only as much aid as is needed to help the family accomplish the task. What the local community cannot do for itself, the next (larger) level of society should provide aid to accomplish - only enough to support the lower level. In the end, large levels of social organization (corporations, governments, etc.) should be very careful not to take over decisions and functions that properly belong to lower levels of society, especially the family.
There are many reasons for subsidiarity, including . . .
