While reading the second part of St. Thomas Aquinas on Politics and Ethics I noticed a trend, which is that he focuses a lot of the individual. He discusses whether "a Private Person Can Kill a Criminal" (69), if "It is Permissible to Kill in Self-Defense" (70), he rules of suicide, etc. It is logical that he denied the individual power over so many things and condemned the acts of suicide and taking justice into one's own hands, due to his position in the church. He lived during a time when Holy Roman Empire was still in existence and the sense of unity that was felt by the Romans must have been incredible. This is why he emphasizes that many decisions should be left to a higher power, like the Emperor or God, because the average individual is just a piece of the community and therefor should not make decisions for it.
It is interesting how although he gives the individual so little power, our founding fathers set up a nation based on the principles of individual rights and liberties. His work was groundbreaking in the 13th century and was very influential in the Western world, given he did die five hundred years prior to the founding of the United States and almost all works lose some of their influence over time, it is still odd. His work continues to lose traction in the United States as everyday individuals gain more and more power. My question to the class is whether you think that our world today would be better off if we followed St. Thomas Aquinas' rules or if we continues to live by the rules that govern society as it is now?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteValues are relative to time. If we take 13th century political thought and enforce on today's politics, it simply would not fit. It would be like trying to fit a puzzle piece where it did not belong. So, if we tried to live by Aquinas' rules today, the simple answer would be "no." We would not be living better lives under rules based upon 13th century Christian thought due its out datedness.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI like your point on the differences in the importances of individuality in today's world and that world! It is also interesting to consider the differences in the values of individuality in other cultures, as some some Asian cultures do not place such a high value on individuality as Americans do. I do think that there are some benefits to the type of community thinking that these other cultures and Aquinas value, but there are definitely costs to individual freedoms that would not be tolerated in today's society.
ReplyDelete