W. W. Norton College Books : English : NCE : St. Thomas Aquinas on Politics and Ethics

Introduction
Note on Translation
Selections from the Work of St. Thomas Aquinas
The Summa against the Gentiles (Summa contra Gentiles, 1259–1264)
BOOK I
- 3. The Two Ways of Knowing the Truth about God.
- 4. Truths about God that Known by Reason are also Properly Made Available to Man by Faith.
- 7. The Truths Based on Reason Are Not Contrary to the Truth of the Christian Faith.
- 8. The Relationship between the Human Reason and the Primary Truth of Faith.
BOOK II
- 68. How an Intellectual Substance Can Be the Formative Principle of the Body.
BOOK III
- 2. Everything that Acts Acts for an End.
- 3. Everything that Acts Acts for a Good.
- 25. The End of Every Intellectual Substance Is to Know God.
- 27. Human Happiness Does Not Consist in Bodily Pleasures.
- 32. Happiness Does Not Consist in the Goods of the Body.
- 37. Man’s Ultimate Happiness Consists in the Contemplation of God.
- 48. Man’s Ultimate Happiness Is Not in this Life.
- 51. How God May Be Seen in His Essence.
- 53. A Created Intellect Needs the Influence of (Divine) Light in Order to See God in His Essence.
- 63. In that Final Happiness Every Human Desire Will Be Fulfilled.
- 64. God Governs the Universe by His Providence.
- 81. Order among Men and in Relation to Other Things.
BOOK IV
- 54. It Was Fitting for God to Become Man.
- 76. On the Rank of Bishop and (the Pope) Who Is Highest in That Rank.
On Kingship or The Governance of Rulers (De Regimine Principum, 1265–1267)
- 1. Men in Society Must Be under Rulers.
- 2. Is It Better for a Group to Be under One Ruler or Many?
- 3. Just Rule by One Person Is the Best Form of Government; Its Opposite Is the Worst.
- 4. The Kinds of Government in Rome, and How the Republic Sometimes Prospered under Popular Rule.
- 5. Tyranny is More Likely to Develop from the Rule of Many than of One Person. Therefore Monarchy Is Preferable.
- 6. The Rule of One Man Is Best. How to Limit the Possibility of Tyranny. Tyranny Is to Be Tolerated to Avoid Greater Evils.
- 12. The Duties of a King. The Likeness of the King in His Kingdom to the Soul in the Body and to God in the Universe.
- 14. The King Should Follow the Example of God’s Rule. The Similarity between Government and Piloting a Ship. A Comparison of the Rule of Priests and Kings.
- 15. To Gain the Ultimate End, the King Should Direct His Subjects to a Life of Virtue as Well as to Intermediate Ends. What is Needed for the Good Life.
The Summa of Theology (Summa Theologiae, 1266–1273)
I PART I (1266–1268)
- Qu.2. The Existence of God
- a.3. Does God Exist?
- Qu. 12. How We Know God
- a. 12. Can We Know God in this Life by Natural Reason?
- a. 13. Do We Know God Better through Grace than through Natural Reason?
- Qu. 20. On God’s Love
- a. 2. Does God Love All Things?
- Qu. 75. The Essence of the Soul
- a. 2. Is the Soul Self-Subsistent?
- a. 5. Is the Soul Composed of Matter and Form?
- a. 6. Is the Human Soul Corruptible?
- Qu. 79. The Powers of the Intellect
- a. 12. Is Synderesis a Special Power?
- Qu. 85. The Manner and Order of Understanding
- a. 1. Does Our Intellect Know Bodily and Material Things through Abstraction from Sense Images?
- a. 2. Are Intelligible Types (Species) Abstracted from Sensory Images Known by the Intellect?
- Qu. 92. The Creation of Woman
- a. 1. Should Woman Have Been Made in the Original Creation?
- Qu. 96. Dominion among Men in the State of Innocence
- a. 3. Would All Men Have Been Equal in the State of Innocence?
- a. 4. Would One Man Have Been Lord over Another in the State of Innocence?
- Qu. 98. The Preservation of the Race(Species)
- a. 2. In the State of Innocence Would Procreation Have Taken Place through Sexual Intercourse?
- Qu. 108. The Hierarchies and Order of the Angels
- a. 2. Are there Several Orders in Each Hierarchy of the Angels
I—II THE FIRST PART OF PART II (1269–1270)
- Qu. 3. What is Happiness (Beatitudo)?
- a. 8. Does the Happiness of Man Consist in the Vision of the Divine Essence?
- Qu. 5. The Attainment of Happiness
- a. 3. Can Anyone Be Happy in this Life?
- Qu. 21. The Consequences of Human Acts
- a. 4. Are Good and Evil Human Acts Meritorious or Lacking in Merit in Relation to God?
- Qu. 62. The Theological Virtues
- a. 3. Is it Right to Call Faith, Hope, and Charity the Theological Virtues?
- Qu. 81. The Cause of Sin in Man
- a. 1. Was the First Sin of our First Parent Pass on to His Descendants as Original Sin?
THE TREATISE OF LAW (Qu. 90–97)
- Qu. 90. The Essence of Law
- a. 1. Is Law a Matter of Reason?
- a. 2. Is Law Always Directed toward the Common Good?
- a. 3. Can Any Person Make Law?
- a. 4. Is Promulgation Necessary for a Law?
- Qu. 91. The Kinds of Law
- a. 1. Is There an Eternal Law?
- a. 2. Is There a Natural Law?
- a. 3. Is There Human Law?
- a. 4. Was There a Need for Divine Law?
- Qu. 92. The Effects of Law
- a. 1. Is an Effect of the Law to Make Men Good?
- Qu. 93. The Eternal Law
- a. 1. Does the Eternal Law Exist in the Highest Reason of God?
- a. 3. Is All Law Derived from the Eternal Law?
- Qu. 94. The Natural Law
- a. 2. Does the Natural Law Contain One Precept or Many?
- a. 4. Is the Natural Law the Same for All Men?
- a. 5. Can the Natural Law Be Changed?
- Qu. 95. Human Law
- a. 1. Was it Useful for Man to Make Human Laws?
- a. 2. Are All Human Laws Derived from the Natural Law?
- a. 4. What Are the Divisions of Human Law?
- Qu. The Power of Human Law?
- a. 2. Should Law Repress All Vices?
- a. 4. Does Human Law Oblige in Conscience?
- a. 5. Is Everyone Subject to Law?
- a. 6. May Someone Subject to the Law Act Contrary to the Letter of the Law?
- Qu. 97. Change in the Law
- a. 1. Should Human Laws Ever Be Change?
- a. 2. Should Human Law Be Changed Whenever an Improvement Is Possible?
- a. 3. Can Custom Obtain the Force of Law?
- a. 4. Can Rulers Grant Dispensations from Human Law?
- Qu. 100. The Moral Precepts of the Old Law
- a. 1. Do All the Precepts of Morality Belong to the Natural Law?
- Qu. 105. The Reason for Judicial Precepts
- a. 1. Did the Old Law Contain Useful Provisions on Government?
- Qu. 109. The Grace of God—the External Foundation of Human Acts
- a. 2. Can Man Will or Do Anything Good without Grace?
II—II THE SECOND PART OF PART II (1271–1272)
- Qu. 10. Unbelief
- a. 8. Are Unbelievers to be Forced to Accept the Faith?
- a. 9. May One Associate with Unbelievers?
- a. 10. May Unbelievers Exercise Government or Dominion over the Faithful?
- a. 11. Are the Rites of Unbelievers to be Tolerated?
- a. 12. Are the Children of Jews and Other Unbelievers to be Baptized against the Will of Their Parents?
- Qu. Heresy
- a. 3. May Heretics Be Tolerated?
- Qu. 12. Apostasy
- a. 2. Are Subjects Obliged to Obey a Ruler Who Apostasizes from the Faith?
- Qu. 40. War
- a. 1. Is Warfare Always Sinful?
- Qu. 42. Sedition Against Peace
- a. 2. Is Sedition Always a Mortal Sin?
- Qu. 57. Justice
- a. 2. Is it Correct to Divide Law (Jus) into Natural Law and Positive Law?
- a. 3. Is the Law of Nations (Jus Gentium) the Same as the Natural Law?
- a. 4. Should Paternal Law and Property Law Be Specifically Distinguished?
- Qu. 60 Judicial Decisions
- a. 6. Are Judicial Decisions Made by Usurpers Invalid?
- Qu. 64. Homicide
- a. 3. Can a Private Person Kill a Criminal?
- a. 5. Is Suicide Permissible?
- a. 7. Is It Permissible to Kill in Self-Defense?
- a. 8. Is Someone Who Kills a Man by Accident Guilty of Murder?
- Qu. 66. Theft and Robbery
- a. 1. Is the Possession of External Goods Natural to Man?
- a. 2. Is Private Property Legitimate?
- a. 7. Is Stealing Allowed in a Case of Necessity?
- Qu. 69. Self-Defense
- a. 4. Is it Permissible for Someone Who Has Been Condemned to Death to Defend Himself?
- Qu. 77. Fraud
- a. 4. Is It Legitimate to Sell Something for More than its Cost?
- Qu. 78. The Sin of Usury
- a. 1. Is It Sinful to Charge Interest (Usury) for Lending Money?
- Qu. 104. Obedience
- a. 1. Is One Man Obliged to Obey Another?
- a. 5. Are Subjects Obliged to Do Everything that Their Superiors Command?
- a. 6. Are Christians Obliged to Obey Secular Authorities?
- Qu. 110. Lying
- a. 3. Is Every Lie a Sin?
- Qu. 150. Drunkenness
- a. 2. Is Drunkenness a Mortal Sin?
- Qu. 152. Virginity
- a. 2. Is Virginity Lawful?
- Qu. 154. The Types of Lechery
- a. 2. Is Ordinary Fornication a Grave Sin?
- a. 4. May Caresses and Kisses be Mortally Sinful?
- a. 8. Is Adultery a Specific Kind of Lechery?
- a. 11. Is Unnatural Vice a Kind of Lechery?
- a. 12. Is Unnatural Vice the Worst Sin of all the Types of Lechery?
III PART III (1272–1273)
- Qu. 8. The Grace of Christ as Head of the Church
- a. 3. Is Christ the Head of All Mankind?
SUPPLEMENT (POSTHUMOUS COMPILATION, 1274 ff.)
- Qu. 52. Slavery as an Impediment
- a. 1. Is Slavery an Impediment to Marriage?
Backgrounds and Sources
Aristotle
Physics
- Bk. II, ch. 1 [Nature and the Natural]
- Bk. II, ch. 3 [The Four Causes]
On the Soul
- Bk. II, ch. 1 [The Soul and the Body]
Metaphysics
- Bk. XII, ch. 5 [The Unmoved Mover]
Nicomachean Ethics
- Bk. I, ch. 7 [Happiness as the Life of Virtue in accord with Reason]
- Bk. II, ch. 6 [Virtue as the Mean between Extremes]
- Bk. V, ch. 7 [Natural Justice]
- Bk. X, ch. 7 [Contemplation as Perfect Happiness]
Politics
- Bk. I, ch. 1-2 [Man Is by Nature a Political Animal]
  ch. 3-6 [Natural Slavery]
  ch. 8-10 [Interest-Taking is against Nature]
- Bk. II, ch. 5 [The Natural Basis of Property]
- Bk. III, ch. 11 [The Collective Wisdom of the Many]
St. Augustine
The City of God
- Bk. IV, ch. 4 [Kingdoms as Large-Scale Robberies]
- Bk. XIV, ch. 28 [The Two Cities]
- Bk. XIX, ch. 6 [Judges Condemn the Innocent]
  ch. 13 [Peace as the Tranquillity of Order]
  ch. 15 [Slaver as Punishment for Sin]
  ch. 20 [True Wisdom]
- Bk. XXI, ch. 16 [Sinful Man and Grace]
Interpretations
THE INGREDIENTS OF THE THOMISTIC SYNTHESIS
St. Thomas and Aristotle
- Walter Ullmann, The New Orientation
- Harry Jaffa, Thomism and Aristotelianism
St. Thomas and Platonism
- Fernand van Steenberghen, Thomism as a New Philosophy
- Etienne Gilson, The Christian Philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas
St. Thomas and Augustinian Christianity
- Frederick Copleston, S.J., Aquinas and Augustine
THOMISM AND POLITICS
Aquinas as Medieval Conservative
- Katherine Archibald, The Concept of Social Hierarchy in the Writings of St. Thomas Aquinas
The Transmission of Thomism
- Paul Oskar Kristeller, The Thomist Tradition
Thomism and Early Modern Political Thought-England and Spain
- Richard Hooker, The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity-Book I Laws in General
- Francisco Suarez, S.J., Political Authority and Community Consent
Thomism in Papal Social Thought, 1888–1963
- Leo XIII, Human Liberty
- Leo XIII, Rerum Novarum-The Condition of Labor (1891)
- Pius XI, Quadragesimo Anno-Reconstructing the Social Order (1931)
- John XXIII, Mater et Magistra-Christianity and Social Progress (1961)
- John XXIII, Pacem in Terris-Peace on Earth (1963)
Neo-Thomism and Christian Democracy in Europe and Latin America
- Jacques Maritain, The Rights of Man; Church and State
- Jaime Castillo, Natural Law and Communitarianism
- Julio Silva Solar, St. Thomas and Property-A View From the Christian Left in Chile
- Paul E. Sigmund, Thomistic Natural Law and Social Theory
CONTEMPORARY PROBLEMS IN THOMISTIC ETHICS
The Just War and Self-Defense
- Paul Ramsey, War and the Christian Conscience
Contraception
- John T. Noonan, Jr., Aquinas on Contraception
- Pius XI, Casti Connubii-Christian Marriage (1930)
- Germain Grisez, A New Formulation of a Natural Law Argument against Contraception
- Louis Dupré, A Thomistic Argument against the Ban on Contraception
Abortion
- John T. Noonan, Jr., Aquinas on Abortion
Selected Bibliography

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St. Thomas Aquinas on Politics and Ethics

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