Topic

Political Philosophy of Saint Thomas Aquinas:

Life:
St. Thomas Aquinas was born in 1225 A.D into a highly noble and influential
family in Aquino, a small town near Naples in Italy.
His father, Landulph, was Count of Aquino; Theodora, his mother, was
Countess of Teano; the family was related to the Emperors Henry VI and
Frederick II, and to the Kings of Aragon, France and Castile.
His formal education began in 1230 as an oblate at the Benedictine monastery
of Monte Cassino.
In 1245, despite great opposition from his family, he became a member of the
Dominican order. Latter he went to the University of Paris to study under the
famous German theologian Albert Magnus, who is considered one of the
greatest scholars of Aristotle in the western world.
Between 1252 and 1256, in partial completion of his master’s degree in
theology he compiled the treatise on the Sentences of Peter Lombard, which
was later, included in the curriculum of medieval university education.
After completing his master's degree in 1256, he was awarded a licence to
teach.
He spent last 18 years of his life in teaching and writing, at Paris, Naples,
Orvieto, Viterbo and Rome.
His Summa Contra Gentiles – a manual for missionaries was completed at
Orvieto in 1264.
It was at the University of Paris that he wrote twelve commentaries on the
works of Aristotle, including the Ethics and Politics.
He began the Summa Theologica at Rome in 1266 and worked on it until forced
by ill health to desist in 1273.
It is a remarkable fact that he ceased work on the Summa because of some
mystical experience while he was saying Mass in a Church. Shortly afterwards
he died at a very young age on 7 March 1274.
He was canonised by Pope John XXII in 1323.
His Philosophy began its rise to prestige two centuries later, in 1567, when Pope
Pius V proclaimed St. Thomas Aquinas a Doctor of the Church.
His philosophy met the needs of the Church in the late medieval period when
new institutions were emerging to challenge the supremacy of Church.
The virtually exclusive place occupied by Thomist doctrines in Catholic
philosophical education during most of the twentieth century is due to the
encyclical (Aeterni patris) issued on 4th August 1879 by Pope Leo XIII,
which recommended the work of St Thomas, as an antidote to the threat of
liberal thought in the Church. It unequivocally said: Let carefully chosen
teachers strive to implant the doctrine of St. Thomas Aquinas in the minds of
students, and set forth clearly his soundness and excellence over others. Let the
universities . . . illustrate and defend this doctrine, and use it for the refutation
of prevailing errors.’
His philosophy is still influential in the Catholic Church and he is generally
recognised as the greatest thinker Catholicism ever produced.

Environment:
The 13th Century was a period of extraordinary religious and intellectual
moment. The Franciscan and Dominican orders were in their early
developmental phase. The universities of Paris, Bologna, Oxford and Naples
were beginning to flourish. It was really a revolutionary era of synthesising
Knowledge and philosophy with theology.
It was the golden period of Scholasticism, which as a philosophy of life was all
comprehensive of moral, ethical, theological, social, political and economic
domains.
The scholasticism of 13th Century represented an attempt to reconcile faith and
reason, Hellenism and Clericalism so as to bring about a unification of all
knowledge.
Moreover it was the time when the works of Aristotle became available for the
first time in Europe in Latin translations. As the works of Aristotle found their
way through Arab scholars initially the Church resisted and condemned
Aristotelian prepositions, but it could not prevent the revival of Aristotle’s
secular Philosophy.
Under such compelling circumstances, the widely accepted extreme theocratic
views of St. Augustine began to be increasingly challenged.
The new institutions such as, universities, independent towns, craftsmen’s
guilds were beginning to grow and assert their autonomy.
Aristotle’s thought fit well with this new populism because it legitimised the
entire realm of politics as something natural to human beings and necessary to
their complete development.
Thus the profound intellectual currents of the Middle Ages such as
Universalism, Scholasticism, and Aristotelianism provided a stimulating
environment to Saint Thomas Aquinas to be the best exponent of Medieval
political thought in synthesising the classical with the Christian thought.

Influences:
St. Thomas was a theologian philosopher, in his theology he was a Christian
and philosophically he subscribed to the views of Aristotle.

Christian Theology:
The primary influence in the works of St. Thomas Aquinas is that of Christian
Theology. He devoted his life to a thorough study of Scripture and was a true
believer in Christianity. His Philosophical discourses are conditioned by his
religious views in so far as he is primarily a theologian philosopher.
For St. Thomas theological discourse begins with what God has revealed about
the world and the world is understood in that light.
Many of the questions that can be raised philosophically are such that the
believer already has answers to them from his religious faith.
Thus according to St. Thomas the inquiries in which the believer who also
philosophizes will often indicate his religious interests.
Religion is not a system of revelation alone. A large part of religious knowledge
is based on rational deliberation and many of the claims of religion could be
approached through rational argument.
He viewed human wisdom as structured like a pyramid with the sciences of
ethics and politics at its base with philosophy above and theology at its apex.

Theology

Philosophy

Science
of
(Ethics and Politics)
Aristotle:
In the realm of philosophy St. Thomas was greatly influenced by Aristotle.
It was at the University of Paris under the tutelage of Albert Magnus, that St.
Thomas was introduced to the works of Aristotle.
Aristotle’s works had fallen into disarray, because the Catholic Church, allied
with neo-Platonism had followed a deliberate policy of sidelining them.
Fortunately, Aristotle’s works were safeguarded by Muslim scholars in Spain
that had become the repository of classical culture and learning.
The study of Aristotle was for many years the province of Arab commentators,
prominent among them being Avicenna and Averroes. Not surprisingly, the
Church regarded the ‘recovery’ of Aristotle with hostility. The interpretations
of Averroes were perceived as being particularly at odds with the fundamentals
of Christianity.
Repeated ecclesiastical censures culminated in 1270 when thirteen Aristotelian
propositions were condemned as heretical.
Therefore almost the whole of St. Thomas’s professional life was passed in an
atmosphere of ecclesiastical hostility towards Aristotle.
Despite this atmosphere St. Thomas strongly believed that it was possible to
reconcile the teachings of Aristotle with those of the Church.
St. Thomas was convinced that Aristotle had carried the philosophical
investigation as far as it can go without the advantage of divine revelation.
If Aristotle’s conclusions are divested of error and supplemented by revealed
truth, the resulting synthesis of reason and revelation will yield an intellectually
complete system.
He diligently wrote as many as 12 commentaries on Aristotle between 1269 and
1272 and tried to assimilate many of Aristotle’s arguments into the teachings of
Christianity.
In his most methodical work, On Kingship, St. Thomas follows the politics of
Aristotle.
He is in agreement with the central theme of Aristotle’s philosophy that man is
a social being and the state is natural to man.
He embodies Aristotle’s theory of state in his general theory of laws and agrees
with Aristotle that law is identical with reason and that the best government is
the one which is based on virtue.
Thus while rejecting Augustinian views of state; St. Thomas successfully
infused Aristotle’s naturalism with Christian spiritualism.
St. Thomas is said have Christianised Aristotle.
His political thought departs fundamentally from the Platonist and Augustinian
orientation of earlier generations. In this sense, St Thomas represents a turning-
point in the history of political thought.

Main works:
St Thomas Aquinas was a prolific writer; beginning with his commentary on
Peter Lombard's Sentences in the year 1252 till the last days of his life in 1274
he compiled numerous works.

Summa Theologica:
The Summa Theologica is the greatest work of St. Thomas Aquinas. Written
between 1265 and 1273 in three parts, it is a systematic presentation of his
views.
Intended as a manual of theology for beginners it is the most influential
compendium of all the main teachings of Catholic Church.
The Summa Theologica in a cyclical order provides in its three parts an outline
of understanding God and his creation.

The first part of Summa deals with God and His creation which reaches its
perfection in man.
In it, he gives five proofs for God’s existence, and the doctrine that God governs
the world as the universal first cause.

Teleologically there are varying perfections of varying degrees throughout the

universe. These degrees assume the existence of an ultimate standard of
perfection. As perfection must have a pinnacle. This pinnacle according to St.
Thomas Aquinas is God.

Since God is the first cause of everything, he is the cause of even the free acts of
men through predestination. In every work of God both justice and mercy are
united, and His justice always presupposes His mercy since He owes no one
anything and gives more bountifully than is due.

The second part of Summa is about Ethics.

Its theme is man’s striving after the highest end which is God. Faith and reason
together could guide the human mind in its desire for God and for truthful
knowledge about the world.

The last part of the Summa is on Jesus Christ.

In it, he shows how Christ not only offers salvation, but also represents return of
creation to God through man. For Thomas the way which leads to God is Christ
and the sacraments are the instruments through which this process takes place.
This cyclical process can be shown in the following illustration:
 God

sacrement Creation

Christ man

Return to
God

St. Thomas left Summa Theologica mysteriously unfinished.

It was due to a mystical experience during a mass in 1273, that St. Thomas
abruptly abandoned the work and it remained unfinished.
Thomas did not talk much about that mystical experience but only said that
“All I have written seems as straw compared to what I have experienced.”
A few months later, he died at a very young age.

On Kingship:
On Kingship or On the Government of princes is his only exclusively political
work. As is evident from the preface it was written to the King of Cyprus.

“it seemed to me a highly appropriate offering that, for a king, I should write a
book on kingship, in which, so far as my ability permits, I should carefully
expound, both the origin of kingly government and the things which pertain to
the office of a king”.
In this work St. Thomas discusses his classification of government and
identifies the characteristics of the good and the bad forms of governments. He
believes that Kingship is the best form of government and Tyranny is the worst
and the “most unjust form of government”.

Political Philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas:

Most of the political philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas emerges incidentally,
during the theological and philosophical discussions in the Summa Theologica.
Just as St. Augustine made a unique contribution by combining Christian faith
with elements of Platonic philosophy, St. Thomas Aquinas similarly combined
Christian belief with the thought of Aristotle.
The successful synthesis of Knowledge, reason and faith equips St. Thomas to
forge a new kind of political philosophy because it lacks Augustine’s stringent
insistence on the unworthiness of this world and its ends.
Thus as a turning point in the latter middle ages the politics and political
speculation once again assumed importance as it had in the classical times.

St. Thomas’s views on Politics:

St. Thomas describes reason, not sin to be the defining characteristics of
Politics.
He believes that God has implanted reason in human beings and when people
follow the dictates of reason in their social and political relationship with others;
their behaviour involves both a natural and a spiritual dimension.
By uniting reason with nature and sprit St. Thomas indentifies compatibility
between politics and spirituality.
Consequently he was successful in integrating theology with rediscovered views
of Aristotle to make politics a benign and worthwhile activity from a Christian
perspective.
In this way he found a means to justify the existence of state, Government, and
the law.

St. Thomas’s views on State:

St. Thomas believes that man is a social and political animal whose reason
dictates him to live in association with others. Since man unlike other animals,
is not provided, with a coat of fur as protection and sharp claws, horns and teeth
as armour, he is compensated by nature with the gift of reason.
Social and political activity becomes necessary and good, because reason alone
cannot fulfil all human needs. Political rule is conducive to human welfare and
not an aspect of human sin as was propounded earlier by St. Augustine in his
City of God.
So like Aristotle St. Thomas also reaches the same conclusion teleologically
that state is natural to man and its end is realisation of good in a virtuous life.
State should be organised upon justice, and that the best should rule under the
constraint of law. This argument leads St. Thomas to identify the best
government.

St .Thomas’s views on Government:

According to St. Thomas the source of all political authority is God. It is from
God that legitimate authority to govern passes on to the whole community. The
people under God are sovereign and may delegate their authority to a
monarchical, aristocratic or republican government. St. Thomas Aquinas while
following Aristotle in using both quantitative and qualitative criteria concluded
that governments can be good or bad. The main object of the government was to
promote virtue among men to enable them to achieve eternal salvation. A
government was good or bad according to the realisation or otherwise of this
objective.
St. Thomas Aquinas preferred Monarchy over other types of Government. Since
the universe is governed by one God, St. Thomas finds it a clear model of the
best Government. Those things are best which are natural, for in every case
nature operates for the best; and in nature government is also of one Omnipotent
God.
Thus According to St. Thomas Aquinas Monarchy was the best form because it
gave to the state important advantages of Unity, and regularity analogous to
Divine rule.
But Monarchs are to rule justly, for the common good, and must not aim for
personal wealth or power. So Monarchy may degenerate into Tyranny which is
the worst form of government, but experience shows that it is actually the rule
of many that more frequently descends into tyranny.
St. Thomas argued that men have right to resist government and its law if it is
oppressive in the sense that it contravenes Natural law.
Moreover, the ruler cannot claim authority in the matters of religion. The king
had the power of organising the secular functions of the state only. The pope
possessing authority with regard to spiritual things must therefore be obeyed by
everyone including the temporal rulers so that, within the limits of legitimacy, it
is necessary that the division between church and state be upheld in that the
former possessing the authority of the Eternal law, the latter the authority over
Civil law.
Apparently it was this argument that led St. Thomas to present his classification
of law.

Classification of Law:
St. Thomas Aquinas through his classification of Law tried to connect God,
Nature and Man in a rational unity.
According to him universe represents a rational unity which is governed by a
system of interrelated scheme of laws. As such same principles operate in the
regulation of human society as they did in other levels of universe.
Both Human society and the universe are governed by reason, divine or human.
Reason governing four different levels of Universe manifests in four
corresponding types of laws which are Eternal, Divine, Natural and Human.

Eternal law:
Eternal law is reason existing in the mind of God by which the whole universe
is governed. This law regulates the heavenly and earthly spheres, including all
animate and inanimate worlds.
It is beyond the comprehension of ordinary human beings. It is not contrary to
human reason but human reason is too imperfect to be able to comprehend it.

Divine Law:
Divine law is a special category of eternal law. It is the commandment of God
in scripture. Divine law is a gift of God’s grace to His chosen people rather than
a discovery of human reason. St. Thomas believed that revelation added to
human reason instead of destroying it. As a devout Christian, he strongly held
that reason and faith are complimentary. So Divine Law when understood
properly and correctly by humans manifests as Natural Law.

Natural Law:
Natural Law is a reflection of divine reason in human beings. It is reflected in
the natural inclination of men to live together in society to preserve their lives,
to beget children and nourish them, to seek good and avoid evil, etc. The reason
of man helps him to evolve certain good principles of conduct through his
innate knowledge of what is good or bad and these general principles form the
body of Natural Law. Since human reason is imperfect and can grasp only
certain general principles of Natural Law, a more comprehensive body of law is
necessary for man’s guidance and regulation, hence there is Human Law.

Human Law:
Human Law is derived from Natural Law. It is subordinate and valid only if it
does not conflict with Natural Law.
It is a positive law, and is subdivided into Law of Nations and Civil law.
St. Thomas defines Civil law as an ordinance of human reason for the common
good, promulgated by one who has care of the community.

Attributes of Human Law:

As an ordinance, for the common good, human law has the following attributes:
1. It is a standard rule of human action based on reason.
2. The end of law being common happiness, it is always ordained for common
good.
3. Since it is ordained for common good, it is created by reason of the multitude
or by the reason of the king acting for the multitude.
4. In order that law may have obligatory power, it is necessary that it should be
promulgated and brought to the notice of those to whom it applies.
5. It must be in conformity with Natural Law.
6. And finally he concludes that human law does not operate over spiritual side
of man for which Divine Law is authoritative.

Church State relationship:

St Thomas was able to defend the superiority of the church as the repository of
faith and at the same time argue that the state has its own legitimate realm of
activity with which the Church need not interfere.
He admits the necessity and usefulness of the state but insists that church is the
highest institution. It is not the rival of the state but its completion and
perfection.
He illustrated the relationship of the state and the church by comparing the state
to the carpenter of the ship and the church to pilot. It is the pilot that directs and
regulates. This means that a secular ruler could properly perform his functions
only in cooperation with and under the guidance of the Church.
Thus in the ultimate analysis, by demonstrating that faith and reason being
complimentary are linked in a higher unity he once and for all liberated
medieval thought from the apparent dualism.
He was the foremost classical proponent of natural theology, and the father of
Thomism. His influence on Western thought is considerable, and much of
modern philosophy was conceived in development or refutation of his ideas,
particularly in the areas of ethics, natural law, metaphysics, and political theory.
We may conclude with the remarks of Dunning who says, that St Thomas is the
channel through which the philosophy of Aristotle, Stoics, Cicero, the Roman
Imperial Jurist and St. Augustine blended into a rounded whole were
transmitted to modern times.
And finally in this way the politics and political speculation once again assumed
importance as it had in the classical times.