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72 REfLECTIvE COsMOPOLITANIsM Exercise: Common good and private property in society In each of the boxes on the left you will find one element which is part of the com- mon good and one which is part of private property. In each case, state what the pros and cons are for you and for society in general. It may be interesting to highlight that the pros and cons for each situation may be of a different order and not just something personal. For example, when valuing the advantages and disadvantages of using public swimming pools, we must bear in mind the impact on the environment (water consumption) and the expenses that private and public swimming pools imply. Advantages Disadvantages (personal and social) (personal and social) Books in a public library Books at home A public swimming pool A private swimming pool A public hospital A private hospital A car A bus or a train Discussion Plan: The right to common good and private property 1. Does the air belong to anyone? 2. Who needs the air? 3. What about knowledge/health/education? 4. Who needs knowledge, health and education? 5. Is the common good beneficial or harmful for us in any way? 6. Is private property beneficial or harmful for us in any way? 7. Could we have the right to common good and to private property at the same time? Do you think that one of these rights is more important than the other? 8. Do you think there is anything that should always be a common good? Explain your answer and give examples. 9. Do you think there is anything that should always be private property? Explain your answer and give examples. Leading Idea 2: Correlation, causes, reasons Causality is one of the most important problems in the history of Western philosophy. Aris- totle said that knowing something means knowing the causes of its existence. He talked about four causes, but in current science, when we talk about causes we generally limit