即使個人利益是不容否認的社會動力，但一個健全的社會能否僅僅只仰賴個人利益的驅動，仍不無疑問。事實上，在群體生活中，是否有未必能全然等同於每一個人的個人利益的公共利益存在，乃是當代政治理論所面臨的基本問題之一。此一基本問題的釐清也涉及了當代民主社會究竟是要繼續停留在熊彼得式的民主圖像，還是要進一步開展其內在的可能性。現今的世界無疑已是一個經濟理性和私利不斷施展更強大的形塑作用的時代，但此一形塑作用亦不無令人憂心之處。因此，對於公共利益的理論考察，可謂是針對此種形塑作用的負面後果的一種積極式應對。本文將針對何謂公共利益、公共利益與個人利益的可能關係、公共利益之彰顯、公共利益對於現代民主體制的重要性等主題進行嘗試性的探究。本文試圖指出，公共利益是檢視一個民主社會的集體性格和團體面貌的重要判準，缺乏對於公共利益的關注的社會，往往會是個人利益交相征伐的社會，在最終亦會是弱勢者的個人利益經常被漠視的社會。

Whether there exists public interest that is not wholly reducible to private or individual interests is one of the pivotal problems that modern political theory has to face. Though the modern scenario structured by private interests and economic reason has greatly marginalized discourses of public interest, the appeal of public interest still has undeniable importance both in theory and in practice. This essay tackles the relations between public and individual interests and argues that a democratic society without certain consideration of public interest is doomed to disappointment. Furthermore, the public interest a society embraces signifies its very collective character and testifies its peculiar way of life.