In the Eucharistic liturgy we are enjoined to seek the common good. The aim of this chapter is to attempt to see what can be made of this notion in a complex market-driven society marked by a high degree of individualism and moral pluralism, and what contribution theology might make to an understanding of what the common good might mean. I shall concentrate first of all on issues of political economy and the possible sense that could be given to the idea of a common good in a market society before moving on to discuss the possible contribution of theology.

I shall begin by looking at the idea of social justice, and I need to explain why I am starting with this rather than with the concept of the common good itself. The reason is that it would not, as we have seen, be very plausible against the background of the pluralism of Western societies to argue that the common good can consist in a rich, deep and elaborated form of substantive agreement on values and human purposes.