LIVE BLOGCAST: Health Care & the Common Good: Dr. Edmund Pellegrino (continued)

All human beings have an inherent dignity that comes from the fact that they have been created equally. Agreed upon by the United Nations. The common good does not discriminate because we are all human beings.

What are some conditions for the common good? Everyone needs them, and someone needs to provide them. These are some elements

1. Security
2. Privacy
3. Education
4. Tolerance
5. Interaction
6. Freedom
7. Health
8. Peace
9. Medical care
10. Interaction

Objections to health care as the common good: why should we care for those who don't care for themselves? We must allow for the flourishing of every human being.

Can we be part of the human community if we are denied health care as a common good?
Benevolence is more important to a good society than autonomy. Not helping the sick undermines the kind of society we want to be (Adam Smith)

The function of a society as a whole is to preserve the above elements for a human being to flourish as a human being.