<P> In philosophy, economics, and political science, the common good (also commonwealth, common weal or general welfare) refers to either what is shared and beneficial for all or most members of a given community, or alternatively, what is achieved by citizenship, collective action, and active participation in the realm of politics and public service . The concept of the common good differs significantly among philosophical doctrines . Early conceptions of the common good were set out by Ancient Greek philosophers, including Aristotle and Plato . One understanding of the common good rooted in Aristotle's philosophy remains in common usage today, referring to what one contemporary scholar calls the "good proper to, and attainable only by, the community, yet individually shared by its members ." The concept of common good developed through the work of political theorists, moral philosophers, and public economists, including Thomas Aquinas, Niccolò Machiavelli, John Locke, Jean - Jacques Rousseau, James Madison, Adam Smith, Karl Marx, John Stuart Mill, John Rawls, and many other thinkers . In contemporary economic theory, a common good is any good which is rivalrous yet non-excludable, while the common good, by contrast, arises in the subfield of welfare economics and refers to the outcome of a social welfare function . Such a social welfare function, in turn, would be rooted in a moral theory of the good (such as utilitarianism). Social choice theory aims to understand processes by which the common good may or may not be realized in societies through the study of collective decision rules . And public choice theory applies microeconomic methodology to the study of political science in order to explain how private interests affect political activities and outcomes . </P> <P> The term "common good" has been used in many disparate ways and escapes a single definition . Most philosophical conceptions of the common good fall into one of two families: substantive and procedural . According to substantive conceptions, the common good is that which is shared by and beneficial to all or most members of a given community: particular substantive conceptions will specify precisely what factors or values are beneficial and shared . According to procedural formulations, by contrast, the common good consists of the outcome that is achieved through collective participation in the formation of a shared will . </P>

The ethical principle that refers to bringing about good or benefiting others is called