The Common Good
Private interest is legitimate only insofar as it does not conflict with the common good; the whole takes precedence over the part.
Stoic ethics holds that individual interests are naturally subordinate to the common good because individuals are parts of the social whole. Just as a limb exists for the body, individuals exist in part for their communities. Private advantage gained at social cost is a form of injustice violating natural order.
What injures the hive injures the bee.
Stoic common good ethics influenced Catholic social teaching and remains a powerful counterweight to extreme individualism.
Meditations