Editing Common good (section)

===Renaissance Florence===
During the 15th and 16th centuries, the common good was one of several important themes of political thought in Renaissance Florence. The thought goes back to Thomas Aquinas theory of common good being widespread in whole premodern Europe.<ref>Konstantin Langmaier, Dem Land Ere und Nucz, Frid und Gemach: Das Land als Ehr-, Nutz- und Friedensgemeinschaft: Ein Beitrag zur Diskussion um den Gemeinen Nutzen. In: . In: Vierteljahrschrift für Sozial- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte. Band 103, 2016, S. 178–200.]</ref> In a later work, Niccolò Machiavelli speaks of the {{Lang|it|bene commune}} ({{Gloss|common good}}) or {{Lang|it|comune utilità}} ({{Gloss|common utility}}), which refers to the general well-being of a community as a whole; however, he mentions this term only 19 times throughout his works.<ref name="Waldemar"/> In key passages of the ''[[Discourses on Livy]]'', he indicates that "the common good (''{{Lang|it|comune utilità}}'') . . . is drawn from a free way of life ({{Lang|it|vivere libero}})" but is not identical with it.<ref name="Waldemar">{{cite journal | last1 = Waldemar | first1 = Hanasz | year = 2010 | title = The common good in Machiavelli | journal = History of Political Thought | volume = 31 | issue = 1| pages = 57–85 }}</ref><ref>''Discourses,'' I 16, p. 174.</ref> Elsewhere in the ''Discourses,'' freedom, safety and dignity are explicitly stated to be elements of the common good and some form of property and family life are also implied.<ref name="Waldemar"/> Furthermore, the common good brought by freedom includes wealth, economic prosperity, security, enjoyment and good life.<ref name="Waldemar"/> However, though Machiavelli speaks of an instrumental relationship between freedom and common good, the general well-being is not precisely identical with political freedom: elsewhere in the ''Discourses,'' Machiavelli argues that an impressive level of common good can be achieved by sufficiently autocratic rulers.<ref name="Waldemar"/> Nevertheless, Machiavelli's common good can be viewed as acting for the good of the majority, even if that means to oppress others through the endeavor.<ref name="Waldemar"/><ref>''Discourses,'' I 2, p. 132;''Discourses,'' I 9, p. 154.</ref> Machiavelli's common good is viewed by some scholars as not as "common", as he frequently states that the end of republics is to crush their neighbors.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yCsxDwAAQBAJ&q=hulliung+citizen+machiavelli|title=Citizen Machiavelli|last=Hulliung|first=Mark|date=2017-07-05|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781351528481|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ia_oOgHlR58C|title=Machiavelli's New Modes and Orders: A Study of the Discourses on Livy|last=Mansfield|first=Harvey C.|date=2001-04-15|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=9780226503707|pages=193–194|language=en}}</ref>