Metz on the Common Good and the Relational Theory

This paper discusses Thaddeus Metz’s claims about two of the moral theories he discusses in his book A Relational Moral Theory: the morality of common good developed by Kwame Gyekye, and the relational theory Metz himself defends. The paper begins by outlining the central claims Metz makes in comparing these theories. It then raises three questions about the relational theory and suggests a way of using some of Metz’s ideas to construct a collective consequentialist form of the morality of common good. It ends by noting that if we understand Metz’s contribution as part of a collective search for the correct moral theory, it matters less than he seems to think whether we are now in a position to show that the relational theory is superior to its rivals.