ST. THOMAS AQUINAS (1227 AD- 1274 AD)

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS (1227 AD- 1274 AD) evansaggreydarkoh

The Background of St. Thomas Aquinas • St. Thomas Aquinas was born at Aquino, a tiny place near Naples (Italy) from which he obtained the title Aquinas, in 1227 AD. • But he was better known as Thomas and his thought as Thomism. He belonged to an aristocratic (noble) Italian family with connections to European kings and emperors. • In order to become a church father and to devote his life to the cause of Christianity, he surrendered his noble title ‘Count’ over the protests of his family. • He joined the Dominican order at the age of 19 and studied in Naples, Cologne and Paris. He died at the age of 47 in 1274 AD. evansaggreydarkoh

The Background of St. Thomas Aquinas • Aquinas was the most important Christian political thinker of the late Middle Ages, thoudgh as a theologian, politics was only one of his pre-occupations. • He wrote about seventy books on various subjects and was called an encyclopaedia. • His most important contribution to political thought is the incorporation of Aristotelian ideas into Christian thought.( Thomismis the synthesis of Aristotle and Christianity. eadarkoh

Political ideal of Aquinas (cont’d) • On his part, Aquinas in the “Treatise on Law”, part of his book Summa Theologica (written from 1266-1273), tried to discern a positive role for politics in a world of sinners, and to find a way in which reason and faith might work . • Aquinas’ philosophy was based on an all-embracing society in which man’s political and religious nature could be harmonized. evansaggreydarkoh

Political ideal of Aquinas (cont’d) • Following Aristotle, Aquinas says that man is by nature a social animal. • But there could not be a social life for many members unless there was the common good to which members of the society must aim at. • While there is a striking similarity between Aquinas and Aristotle, Aquinas feels Aristotle confines himself within the boundaries of the city-state and thinks of the good life and welfare of its inhabitants. • Aquinas argued that man cannot remain satisfied with the goodness and virtuousness of this mortal world. • To Aquinas, man tries to enjoy the company with God. In short, while Aristotle concerns himself with human-centred values, Aquinas is concerned with God-centred values. evansaggreydarkoh

Political ideal of Aquinas • Just as Augustine was phenomenal in the early Middle Ages, Aquinas also became the most important political thinker of the late Middle Ages. • Before Aquinas, the church fathers and other medieval thinkers held that the state was ordained by God and the government was the instrument devised by God to punish evildoers. • Aquinas sought a way to synthesize Christian thought, particularly Augustine’s, with that of Aristotle. • While for Aristotle, man is essentially a political animal who realizes himself in the political community, for Augustine, salvation of the soul is paramount: the kingdom of true justice is not of this world, but of the hereafter. evansaggreydarkoh

The Essence of Law • Law’, according to Aquinas, ‘is nothing else than an ordinance of reason for common good, made by him who has care for the community and promulgated’. • The above definition has the following two special features: • Law is the rule and measure of acts whereby man is induced to act or is restrained from acting and that measure of human action is reasoning. • Law therefore is something pertaining to reason. • The word ‘law’ is derived from the verb ‘to bind’ because it binds one to act. • Reason has the power to move the will, because whenever someone desires an end, reason commands what is to be done to reach it. evansaggreydarkoh

The Essence of Law • In order for an act of will that something is to be done to have the character of law, it must be guided by reason. • This is how we should understand the Roman saying ‘the will of the prince has the force of law’ otherwise the will of the prince would be iniquity rather than law. • Another foundation of law is the common good. • Law is directed towards the common good. • Although the law sometimes aims at the interest of private individuals, its chief purpose is the attainment of the general welfare. • That is why according to Aquinas, the one who promulgates the law must be acquainted with the common good of the community. evansaggreydarkoh

Significance of Law Aquinas’ conception of law is highly significant in the following ways: • He combines both reason and human factor in his concept of the law. • This differs from the Greek philosophers who regarded law as impersonal in origin and the Roman lawyers who emphasized the personal factor • Aquinas significantly combines both reason and human factor in his concept of the law. • In Aquinas’ definition law is both reason and expression of will. Even today we hold that reason must be embodied in every law, otherwise it cannot command allegiance from citizens. • Aquinas’ attempt to relate common good to law is also note worthy because he makes the law play a prominent role in society. • Aquinas also provides interesting answers to two important aspects of Law: • whether or not it is always directed towards the common good and • whether or not any person at all can make Law. evansaggreydarkoh

Significance of (Law cont’d) • On the question of whether Law is always directed towards the common good, Aquinas is affirmative, arguing that since every part (of a thing) is directed towards the whole as the imperfect is to the perfect, and as the individual is part of a perfect whole, that is, the community, the law therefore must concern itself in particular with the happiness of the community. • To the question whether any person can make law, Aquinas replies by emphasizing that properly speaking since the law has as its first and foremost purpose the ordering of the common good, the law is the responsibility of the whole people, or someone who represents the whole people. • In order for a law to have the needed binding force it must be made known to those who are to be ruled by it through promulgation. evansaggreydarkoh

Types of Law • Aquinas’ classification of law was one of the most characteristic part of his philosophy. • An unlawful ruler is not merely a violator of human rights and institutions but a rebel against the whole divine system by which God rules the world. • He classified law into four kinds: • Eternal law, • Natural law, • Divine law and • Human law. evansaggreydarkoh

Types of Law Eternal law • Eternal Lawis the reason existing in the mind of God by which the whole community is governed. It is identified with the divine reason that governs the universe. • Aquinas calls it eternal because God’s reason or God’s rule of the world is not subject to time but is eternal. • The eternal law is above the physical nature of man and it is beyond man’s comprehension (understanding). Man acts in accordance to the wishes of God and he participates in His goodness and wisdom. • Man has no contribution to the making and changing of eternal law and he cannot keep himself away from the operation of this law. • In short, eternal Law derives from God as the ruler of the universe, is governed by divine reason and providence and not subject to time. evansaggreydarkoh

Types of Law (cont’d) The Natural Law • Aquinas argues that Natural Law emanates from God and expresses itself in nature. • Aquinas like Cicero sees natural law as universal and unchanging. • To him, since everything that is subject to divine providence is regulated and measured by eternal law, all things participate in the eternal law in a certain way. • This is because it is imprinted upon them through their respective inclinations to the proper actions and ends. • Rational creatures are under divine providence in a more excellent way than the others since by providing for themselves and others they share in the action of providence themselves. • They participate in eternal reason in that they have a natural inclination to their proper actions and ends. evansaggreydarkoh

Types of Law (cont’d) • According to Aquinas, natural lawbelongs to those things to which a man is inclined naturally. • It is proper for man to be inclined to act according to reason. Nature implants the inclination in all animals. • Man with his superior intelligence and capability is able to find out the distinction between good and bad and he acts according to reason. • Aquinas distinguishes between three species of natural law • (a) There is the good that man pursues in accordance with the nature he has in common with all substances such as self preservation; • ( b) There is the inclination man has towards certain forms of conduct that he shares with all animals such as sexual activities and education of offspring, etc; and • (c) There is the inclination in him that is specifically human such as the desire to know God and avoid offending those with whom one lives. evansaggreydarkoh

Types of Law (cont’d) • Natural Law, therefore, derives from the eternal law by rational creatures in their natural inclination to their proper actions and ends. • Aquinas argues that the world is governed by divine providence,therefore the rational governance of everything on the part of God, as the ruler of the universe, has the quality of law. • Since the divine reason’s conception of things is not subject to time but is eternal, this kind of law must be called eternal. evansaggreydarkoh

Types of Law (cont’d) The Human Law Human Law proceeds from the precepts of the natural law. • Man possesses a natural aptitude for virtue but needs a certain discipline to perfect that virtue. • The man who can develop such discipline by himself is rare. • Parental discipline through moral suasion is sufficient for those young people who are inclined to the life of virtue by natural disposition, or custom, or even more because of the help of God. • But since there are some who are dissolute and prone to vice who cannot easily be moved by words alone, these have to be restrained from doing evil by force and fear so that they will cease to do evil and leave others in peace, and so that after they become habituated in this way they will do voluntarily what they did earlier out of fear, and become virtuous. evansaggreydarkoh

The Human Law • Now this kind of discipline through fear of punishment is the discipline of law. • Therefore laws are adopted to bring about peace and virtue among men. • For as Aristotle says; ‘Man is the noblest of animals if he is perfect in virtue, but if he departs from law and justice he is the worst.’ • For unlike other animals man possesses weapons of reason which he can use to satisfy his passions and base instincts. • Aquinas justifies the existence of human law on two grounds. • That it is not always possible for human beings to apprehend perfectly the inner meaning and objective of divine law. • The natural law cannot always be applied to specific problems. evansaggreydarkoh

Types of Law The Divine Law • He treats divine law as the gift of God’s grace that is communicated to man through revelation rather that a discovery of natural reason. evansaggreydarkoh

The significance of Divine Law • Aquinas justifies the existence of Divine Law in addition to Natural and Human Law on four grounds. • Man is destined to the end of eternal bliss which exceeds the capacity of the natural human faculties, it is necessary for him to be directed to this end by divinely-revealed law. • The uncertainty of human judgement. It happens that different decisions are made about different human acts, so that laws are often divergent and even contradictory. For man to know what he should do and not to do without any doubt, it is necessary for him to be directed in his actions by a law given by God, for it is certain such law cannot err. (Use the song “adze bi ara meye no, asem biara meka” to explain) evansaggreydarkoh

The significance of Divine Law (cont’d) • Man can make laws about matters that are capable of being judged, only about external actions that are public and not about internal motivations that are hidden. • To be perfectly virtuous, however, man must be upright in both kinds of actions. • Since human law could not punish or direct interior actions sufficiently, it is necessary for there to be a divine law. • Human law cannot punish or prohibit every evil action, because in trying to eliminate evils it may also do away with many good things and the interests of the common good which is necessary for human society may be adversely affected. • In order for no evil to go unpunished, there is the need for divine law which forbids all sin. evansaggreydarkoh

The Effect s of Law • On the effect of the law, Aquinas answers the following questions such as: • ‘Is it the intention of the law to make men good?’ • ‘Should human law repress all vices?’ • ‘Is everybody subject to the law?’ • ‘Are we obliged to obey the law?’ and • ‘What is the relationship between Law and Justice?’ evansaggreydarkoh

The Effect s of Law (cont’d) • In reaction to whether the purpose of the law is to make men good, Aquinas argues as follows: If the intention of the legislator is directed at the true good, i.e. the common good, and regulated according to the principles of divine justice, it follows that the law will make men good absolutely. • In response to whether human law should repress all vices, Aquinas argues that: not everything is possible for both the virtuous man and one who does not have the habit of virtue, just as the same thing is not possible for a boy and a full-grown man. Many things are permitted to children which would be punished or at least criticized in adults. It prohibits those vices that harm others. evansaggreydarkoh

The Effect s of Law (cont’d) • Aquinas responds to whether everyone is subject to the law by distinguishing between two characteristics of Law to explain how the ruler can be said to be above the law. • It is the rule of human actions • It has coercive force. • Similarly, Aquinas refers to ways in which a law may be unjust in responding to whether we are obliged to obey the law. A law may be unjust if it is contrary to human good in its object, in its author, or in its form. Some laws are imposed for the cupidity(greed for money or possessions) of the ruler and not the well being of the society. • Augustine says ‘A law that is unjust is considered to be no law at all’. evansaggreydarkoh

The Effect s of Law (cont’d) • Therefore laws of this kind are not binding on the individual. But to avoid scandal or disorder, a man may give up his right to disobey as Matthew’s Gospel says ‘if someone forces you to go a mile, go with him an extra two, if he takes your coat, give him your cloak as well’ (Matthew 5: 40-1). • On the other hand, if the law is unjust because it is contrary to divine goodness. For example, laws enforcing idolatry or another action that is against divine law. • To Aquinas, under no circumstance may such laws be obeyed for as it is said in the Acts of Apostles, ‘We must obey God rather than men”. evansaggreydarkoh

The Effect s of Law (cont’d) • Aquinas’ idea of justice is also related with his concept of law. • In his view, justice is the fixed and perpetual will to give everyone his own rights. • The fundamental principle of justice is equality. • He says that if a man gives something and in exchange of that he gets back the same then it will be said that there is equality. • But nature may not always be conducive to achieve equality and may not always be conducive to the fostering of justice. • This may not be a deficiency of nature but the peculiarity of human society. • However, human law has a positive part to play in implementing rights and justice. • The purpose of the written law is to supplement the natural justice and not to create new justice. evansaggreydarkoh

The State and Government • To Aquinas, man is naturally social and the state is a natural institution. • Man is also a political animal for he must live in a group, not merely to survive but to learn how to think. • God intends that man develop ‘natural knowledge’ which is the capacity of reasoning from ‘universal principles’ to ‘what in particular concerns his well-being’. • But an individual’s reason is inadequate to reach these matters without the help of a political community. • Like any other entity, a political group has a regulative principle by which it can and must be guided to its proper end. • The guiding in this case should be done by a governor motivated solely by interest in the public good. • “If a government is directed in the particular interest of the ruler and not for the common good, this is a perversion of government and no longer just”. evansaggreydarkoh

The State and Government • Aquinas agrees with Aristotle that it is man’s social impulse that is the origin of the state and also that the good life is the purpose of the state. • Whereas Aristotle thought that everything could be attained here and now on this earth, Aquinas as a Christian was concerned with the other world. • The universe forms a hierarchy reaching from God at its summit down to the lowest being. • In such hierarchy, human nature has a unique place among created beings, since man possesses not only a bodily nature but also a rational and spiritual soul by virtue of which he is akin to God. evansaggreydarkoh

Government St. Thomas Aquinas posits that the virtuous life for all is the proper aim of government. Aquinas gives two reasons for government: • Man is naturally a social being and so in the state of innocence he would have led a social life. 1. Because there must be some organization of social life, government sprang up for the purpose of ensuring a superintending of the common good. 2. If one man surpasses others in knowledge and justice, it will be wrong to disregard such superiority for the benefit of all. evansaggreydarkoh

Types of Government Aquinas following Aristotle says that broadly there are two types of government: • One that aims at the welfare of the ruler and • The other that seeks the welfare of all men- ideal and just. Whereas in the perverted form of government there are tyranny, oligarchy and democracy in the ideal type there are kingship, aristocracy and polity. • Monarchy is the best form of government.-it follows that the best form of government in human society is that which is exercised by one person’ evansaggreydarkoh

Functions of government Aquinas’s concept of the functions of government has two aspects – the first is the influence of Aristotle and second, the influence of the Bible. • Aquinas agrees with Aristotle’s view that the true function of the government is to promote rights and moral living of all subjects. • According to Aquinas the duty of every ruler is to direct his activities to the happy and virtuous life. evansaggreydarkoh

Functions of government (cont’d) • The government must provide security to all its citizens and defend its people from any external aggression. • Failure in this field will jeopardize the moral and the right living of citizens to which it is committed. The Bible adds a number of other functions. • It is the duty of the prince to keep the roads safe and free. • The government must look after the poor, in line with Christian sympathy towards the weak and suffering people. evansaggreydarkoh

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS (1227 AD- 1274 AD)