The second classic principle of Catholic social doctrine is the principle of the common good, or what might be called the communitarian principle; it complements and completes the personalist principle because men and women grow into the fullness of their humanity through relationships, each of us should exercise our rights in such a way that that exercise contributes to the general welfare of society, and not simply to our individual aggrandizement. Living in service to the common good is essential for the good of society, as well as for the integral development of persons. Thus, in the classic Catholic view, society is a "natural phenomenon", not a remedial reality (...).
--George Weigel, "The Free and Virtuous Society", in Against the Grain: Christianity and Democracy, War and Peace, 2008
