CHAPTER VII

THOMISTIC AND AMERICAN RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES

The politics of Aquinas could be epitomized in his doctrine on rights. There we see his principles in their application, and realize the living value of his thought. When he traces rights to man's rational nature and the natural law, he places them securely above the arrogance of rulers who claim that the prerogatives of the subject come from the State and that the sovereign is the State. Laws are not rights, but the public expression of them and a direction to them.696 Deducing rights from humanity, Aquinas esteems them as universal as humanity and as lasting as time. That is why his teaching has been, in so many respects, as pertinent in so many periods after his death as during his life, and why it could not be democratic.

To see just how modern this medieval mind was, let us consider some American bills of rights and, in parallel, the corresponding Thomistic teaching. Since Virginia and Massachusetts stand out as the earliest and best representatives of the spirit which won our American liberties, we shall turn to their Constitutions.

Back in 1776, a month before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a list of rights was written "by the representatives of the good people of Virginia, assembled in full and free convention; which rights do pertain to them and their posterity as the basis and foundation of government.' Its first section was as follows:

I. "That all men are by nature equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a State of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive

"Le droit se découvre par la raiLes droits s'impose aux faits et Saint Thomas a admirablement

696 Summa Theol., 2a 2ae, qu. XLVII, a. 1. Cf. Laveleye, Le Gouvernement dans la Démocratie, t. I, p. 2. son, car il n'existe pas dans les faits. aux hommes par l'autorité légitime. appelé le droit: Ratio gubernativa totius universi in mente divina existens."

or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety."

With regards to which, we find in the doctrine of Saint Thomas, 2 Sent., d. 6, Q. I, a. 4, ad 5: "Men are not superior to each other according to the order of nature.”

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And, 2 Sent., d. 44, Q. I, a. 3: "Nature made all men equal in liberty.'

Summa Theol., 2a 2ae, Q. CIV, a. 5:-"In two respects, the subject is not bound to obey his superior in all things: first, in the case of a command on the part of a greater power; secondly, if the latter orders something in which the former is not subject to him. Hence in such affairs as appertain to the inner volitional life, man is not beholden to man, but to God alone. His obedience is due in regard to his external, bodily activity; yet in those acts which belong to the nature of the body, God alone is his superior; for all men are equal by nature."

Summa Theol., 2a 2ae, Q. XLVII, a. 2:—"The human will by common agreement can make a measure just in such cases as are not intrinsically repugnant to natural justice; thus creating a positive right. But if the measure is opposed to natural justice, human will cannot make it just."

Comment:

According to this teaching, men, when they enter into a state of society, cannot by any compact, commit the injustice of depriving or divesting themselves, let alone their posterity, of certain inherent rights. (Vs. Hobbes, Spinoza, etc.)

Summa Theol., 2a 2ae., Q. LXVI, a. 2:-"Two offices pertain to man with regard to exterior things. The first is the power of precuring and dispensing them, and, in respect to this, it is lawful for man to hold things as his own. It is even necessary for human life................................”

Comment:

Aquinas is plainly with the Virginians in their declaration of the right of property. Further, as we shall later see, he explains, rationalizes, and interprets the right in a way to attain the advantages, without any of the harms, of socialism.

II.-Section 2 of the Virginia Bill of Rights:-"That all power is vested in, and consequently derived from, the people; that magistrates are their trustees and servants, and at all times amenable to them."

The Doctrine of St. Thomas:

Summa Theol., 1a 2ae, Q. XC, a. 3:-"It is the property of the whole people or of the public person who has care of them, to make law."

Comment:

Here the popular source of civil power is so strongly indicated that any other interpretation of the text would be weak.

Contra Gentiles, Book III, Ch. 31:-"Human power is very imperfect; for it is rooted in the wills and opinions of men, in which inconstancy is very considerable; and the greater the power, the greater the number of those on whom it depends; which is another source of weakness, since that which depends on many can be destroyed in many ways."

Comment:

By this critique of power, St. Thomas surely suggests that the greatest power in the State originally resides not in any individual or individuals, but in the greatest number, i. e. the people. And he warns the possessors of power of their relation to the source of it.

De Eruditione Principum, Book I, Ch. 6:—“If the head is higher than the human body, nevertheless the body is greater; the body is ruled by the head, but the head is carried by the body; no less does the head need the body than the body the head. Thus the ruler has power from the subjects, and eminence; and in the event of his despising them, sometimes he loses both his power and his position...........

Comment:

This simile of the body and the head fitly proposes the truth of Sec. 2 of the Virginia Bill, and has the merit not only of expressing the right of the people but also that of the ruler. III.-Section 3 of the Virginia Bill of Rights:-"That govern

ment is, or ought to be, instituted for the common benefit, protection and security of the people, nation, or community; of all the various modes and forms of government, that is best which is capable of producing the greatest degree of happiness and safety, and is most effectually secured against the danger of maladministration; and that, when any government shall be found inadequate or contrary to these purposes, a majority of the community hath an indubitable, inalienable, or indefeasible right to reform, alter, or abolish it, in such a manner as shall be judged most conducive to the public weal."

De Reg., Book I, Ch. 2:-"It is the duty of the captain to steer the ship to the port of safety, by keeping it safe from the perils of the deep. But the good and the salvation of the people consist in this: that their unity, which is another word for peace, be preserved; for when peace flies, the benefits of social life perish.............

Comment:

Here the Doctor clearly teaches that the object of government is the benefit, the protection, and the security of the State, and that rulers must take these purposes to mind and heart. He lays stress on the interior foes of social life; for he considers these even more ominous than enemies from without. nation can weather a storm like an iron-clad ship.

A united

De Reg., Book I, Ch. 15:-"The unity of the people, called peace, is to be procured through the assiduity of the ruler. Three things are requisite to the good living of the people. First that they be constituted as a harmonious whole; secondly, that, thus united in the bonds of peace, they may be directed to a fair existence.............. Thirdly, it is required that, through the endeavors of the ruler, a sufficiency of those things which are necessary to a good life be available."

Ibidem:-"A good life for the people entails whatever particular goods are procurable by human effort; e. g.—wealth, profit, health, eloquence, learning."

Comment:

When we connect this text with the preceding one, we perceive even more clearly how much Aquinas considered the pur

pose of government the benefit of the governed. He declares that the ruler must strive to provide a good life for the people; and by a good life he means bodily, mental, economic, and moral well-being for everybody—education and opportunity for all.

De Reg., Book I, Ch. 1:-"In proportion as a government is effcacious in the preservation of unity, it will be the more useful."

Comment:

We have just seen what civil unity implies in the politics of Aquinas. Hence this principle can only mean that "of all the various modes and forms of government, that is best which is capable of producing the greatest degree of happiness and safety."

De Reg., Book I, Ch. 3:-"According to the degree in which it departs from the common good, a government is unjust.”

Comment:

This is the negative form of the positive principle that the polity which consults and secures the public good most is the best.

De Reg., Book I, Ch. 6:-"The rule of a kingdom should be so disposed that the occasion of royal corruption is removed. The king's power should be so curtailed, that he cannot readily turn into a tyrant."

Comment:

St. Thomas was as duly concerned with "the danger of maladministration," and security against it, as the Virginian sires of our Republic.

Summa Theol., 2a 2ae, Q. CIV, a. 6:-"Man is bound to obey secular rulers only insofar as the order of justice requires; and therefore, if the government be not just, but usurped, or if the rulers command unjustly, the subjects are not held to obedience, save accidentally, to avoid scandal or peril.”

De Reg., Book I, Ch. 6:-"It seems that procedure against the excess of tyrants should be made not by the private presumption of some, but by the public authority. First of all, if it is the