Two interesting quotations from Thomas Aquinas that pertain to our present concerns:
"A law is imposed on others by way of a rule and measure. Now a rule or measure is imposed by being applied to those who are to be ruled and measured by it. Wherefore, in order that a law may obtain the binding force which is proper to a law, it must needs be applied to the men who have to be ruled by it. Such application is made by its being notified to them by promulgation. Wherefore promulgation is necessary for the law to obtain its force" (I-II, 90, 4).
"But since some are found to be depraved, and prone to vice, and not easily amenable to words, it was necessary for such to be restrained from evil by force and fear, in order that, at least, they might desist from evil-doing, and leave others in peace, and that they themselves, by being habituated in this way, might be brought to do willingly what hitherto they did from fear, and thus become virtuous. Now this kind of training, which compels through fear of punishment is the discipline of laws" (I-II, 95, 1).
Amen, brother Aquinas. If I understand him correctly, he endorses the proper function of law and force as ensuring that the depraved desist from evil-doing and leave others in peace. He is not calling for a law that would force others to do good, is he?
ReplyDeleteHere's what I know, which isn't much: Aquinas stressed that "In a case of extreme necessity everything becomes common property," yet he also held in general that "nobody should live unbecomingly, and hence it would not do for a man so to impoverish himself by almsgiving that he could no longer live in decency on the residue according to his position and business commitments." To which I would concur. None of what I've been exploring is meant to imply that the modern welfare system as a national level is a good example of the extreme scenario that Aquinas allows for. I think what we're discussing is whether it is ever appropriate for the government to step in and "force" a redistribution of property--we really ned to define this word, by the way--in order to address injustice and suffering, i.e. Sudan not whether the lower classes deserve big-screen TV's.
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