The Just Polity in Thomas Aquinas’ “De Regno”

• In Event: Alternatives to the Liberal Paradigm

Abstract

This paper will explore the principles of a just political order as found in St. Thomas Aquinas’ letter to the King of Cypress, De Regno (On Kingship). Aquinas provides an account of a ruler’s responsibilities to the ruled—what a king owes to his people in justice. In the context of the modern liberal political order, we have come to expect from our leaders primarily freedom to pursue our own conceptions of the good, secure from external harm or interference. In Aquinas, however, we find that such complacent rulers—who are agnostic with regard to the common good—have failed to meet their obligations. Firstly, such polities (generally polyarchies or government by group) are frequently riven by dissension which destroys the principle social good—peace (37). In addition, Aquinas advises that rulers must aim to “establish virtuous living in a multitude” first, by creating peace through unity, then by directing the multitude towards acting well, and finally by procuring through his own efforts “a sufficient supply of the things required for proper living” (118). In essence, he holds that rulers owe the ruled a government that pursues unity, virtue, and well-being. In the current political order, we have come to expect the opposites: dissension, vice, and immiseration. If a more just political order is to emerge, it ought to start by aiming at proper ends, and must view liberty not as an end-in-itself, but as a means to attain unity, virtue, and well-being.

Author

• Mary Clare Imparato, Belmont Abbey College