Editing Common good (section)

===Jean-Jacques Rousseau===
In [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau|Jean-Jacques Rousseau's]] ''[[The Social Contract]]'', composed in the mid-18th century, Rousseau argues that society can function only to the extent that individuals have interests in common, and that the end goal of any state is the realization of the common good. He further posits that the common good can be identified and implemented only by heeding the general will of a political community, specifically as expressed by that community's sovereign. Rousseau maintains that the [[general will]] always tends toward the common good, though he concedes that democratic deliberations of individuals will not always express the general will. Furthermore, Rousseau distinguished between the general will and the will of all, stressing that while the latter is simply the sum total of each individual's desires, the former is the "one will which is directed towards their common preservation and general well-being."<ref>''Of the Social Contract'', Book IV, Chapter 1, Paragraphs 1 & 2</ref> Political authority, to Rousseau, should be understood as legitimate only if it exists according to the general will and toward the common good. The pursuit of the common good, then, enables the state to act as a moral community.<ref name="Britannica"/>