The overall goal of the Institute is to serve the Common Good through the promotion of science and independent research on the common good. This goal and the Institute’s purpose is realized in particular through:
- the conduct of scientific events and research projects
- open-source publications
- public-interest-oriented collaborations with research partner
The research goals of the Institute are aligned with a systems focus on sustainability, hence it is not focusing on single actors, organizations or sectors of the economy or natural environment, but rather on material and non-material factors (including relevant facilities and relevant interests) supporting or constraining the common good.
The Institute understands the common good as,
“a philosophical concept, the common good is best understood as part of an encompassing model for practical reasoning among the members of a political community. The model takes for granted that citizens stand in a “political” or “civic” relationship with one another and that this relationship requires them to create and maintain certain facilities on the grounds that these facilities serve certain common interests. The relevant facilities and interests together constitute the common good and serve as a shared standpoint for political deliberation” (The Common Good, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).
This practical reasoning is primarily understood through Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, focusing on virtues (like generosity) and values (reciprocity, trust), and striving for well-being (Eudaimonia).
The Institute aims to advance this practical reasoning with a focus on social relationships and social justice, investigating especially the conditions and consequences for agents serving the common good, in the context of our global social and ecological polycrisis.
Detail of The School of Athens by Raffaello Sanzio, 1509, showing Plato and Aristotle (Raphael, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
