Prudence is a virtue - the virtue of good council and right decision - and nowhere does that virtue shine more brightly than in the leadership of men (Summa Theologica 2-2, q. The door is, therefore, shut to the modern glorification of political leadership, though not to a proper appreciation of leadership as such.
The idea of sin is confined to narrow limits, merely to explain certain inevitable hardships of social and political experience, such as the penal character of laws or the existence of unjust rulers. The state would not be possible without authority, and without those who are more wise and righteous having command over the rest. The political nature of man has a bearing upon the treatment of political obligation. Man as a political being must attain his proper end and the highest form of life and of virtue. The ultimate end of man, the perfecta beatitude, is the common good which is higher in value than that of the individual and that of the family (Summa Theologiae 1-2, q. Thomas Aquinas follows Aristotle, when he asserts the state as the highest achievement of man. Man is unthinkable without the state, because it is only in the state and through the state that he can achieve perfection. All that pertains to that fellowship is natural to man. It is the highest expression of human fellowship. The state is not a work of art, but a historical product. This means that the justification of the state must be sought in the very nature of man and this is precisely the leading idea Thomas Aquinas derives from Aristotle. Instead of considering the state as an institution which may well be necessary and divinely appointed, Thomas Aquinas followed Aristotle in deriving the idea of the state from the very nature of man. However, sin itself has not invalidated ipsaprincipia naturae. For Thomas Aquinas, the idea of sin and its consequences remained a fundamental dogma of the Christian faith. It is significant that Thomas Aquinas did not contradict, in all respects directly and categorically, the explanation of this institution as the result of and divine remedy for sin. He had attributed a positive value to social and political institutions, as being grounded on the very nature of man. To Aquinas, Aristotle had provided a rational explanation of the state. The former retrace the foundations of the state in sin. He perceived the latter's philosophy on politics and the state to be predominant.
On the one hand he was influenced by Augustine and on the other hand by Aristotle. Thomas Aquinas makes it possible to retrace the foundations of the state in nature rather than in sin. Trefwoorde: Wet Tirannie Weerstand Regering van die Wet Katolieke Politiek Keywords: Law Tyranny Resistance Rule of Law Catholic Politics If the prince or state acts without legal authority, it is acting lawlessly, which is against the notion of a constitutional democracy. It also means that the prince or branches of state must obey the law. Hereafter the rule of law requires the prince or state to act in accordance with the law. The purpose of the rule of law is to protect basic individual rights. The idea of the Constitution is also bolstered by the entrenchment of the rule of law. This notion is concomitant with the constitutional principles entrenched in the Constitution of South Africa, Act 108 of 1996. This principle is in accordance with the rule of law. The vis directiva limits the authority of the prince. With regard to the latter, the prince's power should be subject to the law. According to this principle property, liberty and life (basic individual rights) are subordinate to or even sacrificed for the supposed public good. It implies the principle of Salus reipublicae suprema lex, which means that the safety of the state is the supreme law. With regard to the former, the prince is above the law (legibus solutus). The function of the law culminates in two maxims: quantum ad vim coactivam legis and quantum ad vim directivam.
#Tyranny government examples free#
When those who bear the law command things which exceed the competence of such authority, the subject is free to obey or disobey. Thomas Aquinas's notion on law, tyranny and resistance served as a limitation on governmental powers. Thomas Aquinas: on law, tyranny and resistance
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