Thomas Aquinas's Political Science
Philosophy or Theology
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10436612 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Steven Waldorf (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 86 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 1-23 |
| Publication date | 2024-03-14 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Review of Politics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0034-6705 • E-ISSN: 1748-6858 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0034670524000044 |
| OpenAlex | W4392817280 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 7 |
This article examines whether Aquinas's political science is philosophy or theology, a question that arises from his understanding of happiness. If the supernatural vision of God constitutes perfect beatitude or the ultimate end, then how can an account of imperfect happiness—political virtue—be given without reference to it and hence without appeal to revealed theology? I argue that Aquinas provides a strictly philosophical account of imperfect happiness by showing that, among temporal goods, virtue most fully instantiates general attributes of beatitude such as self-sufficiency and continuity, even though it does not perfectly instantiate them. This way of demonstrating the superiority of virtue to other temporal goods requires no appeal to supernatural beatitude, and thus political science, which takes this imperfect happiness as its first principle, is philosophy
Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Political philosophy · Political science · Political theology · Politics · Sociology · Theology · Karl Barth and Christian Theology · Law · Medieval Philosophy and Theology · Philosophy · Reformation and Early Modern Christianity · Religious studies · Religious Studies
| Highly cited | No |
|---|