Thomas Aquinas - Summary Republics, Kings And People: The Foundations Of European Political Thought From Plato To Rousseau PDF

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A concise account of the political thought of Thomas Aquinas....

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Thinker profile: Thomas AquinasHistorical context: Aquinas was writing in the mid-thirteenth century, during a time of negotiation and battles between secular and spiritual life. Thus, his context is very different from that of Augustine. In Aquinas we can see him cite pagan and Christian sources side by side: Solomon with Aristotle, Psalms with Cicero. The languages of reason and grace are balanced. Thus, Aquinas had a general project that involved integrating the arguments and empirical authority of Aristotle’s natural history of society, and politics, within a Christian framework. Main Arguments: i) Relationship between religion and politicsUnlike Augustine, Aquinas valued the role of politics immensely, accepting Aristotle’s thesis that humans are naturally political. Thus, Aquinas made sure to redefine Christian theology around politics. ii) Nature of god, grace and natureThis is important in the context of the role religion plays in Aquinas’ political theory. He argues that ‘god does not take away nature, but perfects it’, contradicting the Augustinian notion of grace destroying the corrupted nature of humanity. iii) Role of politics after the fall from paradiseAquinas argues that whilst reason has weakened, it is up to politics to refurbish human potential after the fall from paradise. Aquinas shows how this is done: i) Politics thus has a divine end ii) Politics is architectonic and will achieve this end through the provision of just law. iii) Law is defined as just when it is enacted in pursuit of the common good iv) Law has two components: it is directive and coercive for the ‘general benefit’ of the community. This falls in line with the thinking of Plato iv) LawAquinas shared the view of Plato in the role that Law plays in politics- that is to maintain order and to benefit society. Most importantly, it can unlock virtue. Aquinas adapted it to make it religious, stating that Law is governed by divine reason. Here is Aquinas’ hierarchy of laws: a) Eternal law: God’s doing, i.e everything that stems from creation, which was a result of god’s devine reason b) Natural law: The use of reason, by humans that are virtuous, which analyse human nature to analyse what is good and evil in order to create binding, and universal, rules of moral behaviour. This happens when Rational creatures participate in eternal law. c) Divine law: Law that is good in order to make the people good, other laws come together in order to make this happen. It comes to humans through revelations, thus there are old divine law and new divine law in accordance to the old, and new testament. The prior focuses on earthly rewards, and the latter, heavenly rewards. d) Human law: What the law should be. It is only valid it conforms to natural law, thus a law is not a human law is law if it is unjust.

The hierarchy of law connects the earth and the divine world according to Aquinas. Aquinas posits that humans are emotional creatures when considering why humans violate natural law. Human emotions overrides reason, resulting in humans failing to do what they should do. v) Nature of politicsAquinas’ attitude to law also implied the direction of the nature of politics: i) He was keen to stress that politics was a legitimate forum for developing human virtue – even non-Christian communities had the human potential to make a virtuous life. ii) His commentaries on Aristotle’s Ethics and Politics make it very clear that human society was given by God to enable humankind to achieve some level of perfection. iii) Since politics was architectonic it was also meant to help human society to achieve its final end, which for Aquinas was Christian salvation. vi) RegimesIn agreement with Plato, Aquinas thinks that the rule of kings is best. Aquinas designed his work as a handbook of advice to the princes of his day, mostly advising them pursue good ends, for the common benefit of the community, opposed to pursuing private gain. Once again, in agreement with Plato. His argument develops along the following lines: a) The principle of unity, i.e. mirroring God’s government in the universe, suggests that the virtuous Monarch devotes his government to the pursuit of the ‘common good’ b) To support this Aquinas cites Solomon "A just King makes rich the earth, but the miser destroys it." c) Whereas monarchy is defined by rational government, tyranny is irrational and therefore like the rule of beasts. Aquinas identifies 6 regimes and ranks them accordingly: Ruled justly a) Monarchy: Ruled by one b) Aristocracy: Ruled by a few c) Republic: Ruled by many Ruled unjustly d) Tyranny: Ruled by one e) Oligarchy: Ruled by a few f) democracy: Ruled by many However, Aquinas argues that the best form of government is one ruler at the head, who is elected on their knowledge and virtue, as well as the governance of others, providing the positive aspects of monarchy, aristocracy and democracy. Aquinas states that anyone in society can be a part of the ‘others’ if they are virtuous, in accordance with Plato. This shows a difference to Augustine who thought all political authority was legitimate, regardless of its conduct. To him political power attracted obedience because God drew no distinctions between tyranny and kingship etc. Only providence and the Last Judgement made true value. Other points he makes are: i) Thus to enact and enable God’s rule in the community was a prime duty.

ii) A consequence of this duty to pursue godliness was that Kings could be subject to the Priests of the Church

vii) Resistance to regimes: The issue of resistance is important to illustrate Aquinas’ principles of the higher purpose of politics. By drawing the distinction between monarchy and tyranny, in De Regno, Aquinas also allows a consideration of how to deal with the problem of a corrupt king. If a King failed to pursue this spiritual end, citizens in authority may and indeed must resist tyranny, if so enjoined by the Church. Aquinas suggests there are two remedies to the problem of a tyrant: i) First, limitations on the exercise of power can be built into the constitution. ii) Second, if the conditions are so bad then resistance against the tyrant is legitimate. He is very clear that no private individual can embark on tyrannicide: such actions could only be legitimated by the public authority of the Church. This attitude to tyranny illustrates Aquinas’ commitment to the architectonic role of politics. Law and order was the best means to pursue perfection: good law was the enactment of divine government. This was a fundamental rejection of the Augustinian view of "obey the powers that be". Impact on other thinkers: Thought on the resistance of governance inspired reformation thinkers Quasi-utopian approach inspired Thomas More Inspires Dante to use a similar argument in relation to the relationship between the state and religion Similarities to previous thinkers: Agreed with Plato: a) Over the role of Law b) The ruler should work for the common good, opposed to private gain c) That anyone can become the governing class d) Politics can lead to perfection Difference from previous thinkers: Differed from Augustine: a) Looks a lot more at Greek, as Augustine condemned it b) Uses a lot more pagan referencing c) Interprets original sin differently, in that the role of politics can save humanity instead of punish them for their sins d) Thought certain regimes were legitimate, or illegitimate Essay questions: i) What is meant by saying that for Aquinas the state is a 'natural order'? ii) How far was Aquinas an advocate of limited monarchy? iii) How far was the distinction between kingship and tyranny important to Aquinas’s political thinking? iv) How important, and why, was the idea of law for Aquinas’s political thinking?

v) In what ways does Aquinas’s theory of the hierarchy of law relate to his understanding of political society? vi) What is the role and importance of the idea of reason in Aquinas’ political thought? vii) What is the role and importance of law in Aquinas’ political thought?

Summary: Aquinas was confident that all of human society could obtain virtue. Perfection was to be achieved by salvation under the direction of the Church who worked alongside, rather than against civil government. Although damaged by the fall from paradise, the human condition was not fatally compromised by sin....