Bound by the Good

2018 ◽  
Vol 92 ◽  
pp. 241-260
Author(s):  
Leonard Ferry ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Natural Law ◽  
Common Good ◽  
World Order ◽  
Political Authority ◽  
Political Obligation ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
Globalizing World ◽  
The Common ◽  
What Matters

Political authority is not eliminable, even if in a globalizing world order the particulars of its exercise might be undergoing a transformation. What matters to political philosophy is whether or not its existence and exercise can be justified. In this paper I begin by contrasting two paradigmatic approaches to justifications of political authority and political obligation: political naturalism and political voluntarism. Having set the stage for the debate, I connect Aquinas’s account of political authority with the former—though one will not find a full-fledged version of that account in this paper (it appears elsewhere). More importantly, I connect Aquinas’s naturalist defense of political obligation to a non-instrumental account of the common good, though the bulk of the paper deals with what I argue are failed attempts to offer non-naturalist accounts of the common good as alternative natural law defenses of political authority.

Consent, Custom, and the Common Good in Aquinas's Account of Political Authority

1997 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 323-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark C. Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Natural Law ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Political Authority ◽  
Customary Law ◽  
Present Account ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
The Common

According to Aquinas's view, while the mandate that political authority be instituted and exercised is an immediate consequence of the natural law precept that the common good be promoted, the question of who possesses political authority is settled by customary law. Samuel Beer's rival interpretation, one of the few attempts to discern Aquinas's view on political authority, is incompatible with Aquinas's explicit remarks on these matters. The present account provides an interpretation that both fits Aquinas's few explicit remarks about the source and form of political authority and explains the terseness of his remarks on that subject.

Political Authority and the Common Good

2017 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 877-892
Author(s):  
George Duke
Keyword(s):  
Natural Law ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Political Authority ◽  
Fundamental Question ◽  
Political Community ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Right ◽  
Reason For Action

This article argues that the natural law common good is the best candidate value to ground a direct justification of political authority. The common good is better placed than rival values to ground a direct justification for three related reasons. First, the common good is the right kind of value to serve in a justification of political authority insofar as it is a reason for action which provides a convincing answer to the fundamental question ‘why have authority at all?’ Second, the common good allows for a justification of political authority that pertains to a complete political community rather than subjects taken individually. Third, the common good allows for a reconciliation of two apparently conflicting features of political authority: (1) its ultimate role is to promote the good of individuals and (2) it can require the subordination of the good of the individual to the good of the community.

The Individual, The State, and The Common Good

1996 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Haldane
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Common Good ◽  
The State ◽  
Aesthetic Theory ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
The Common ◽  
Political Deliberation ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Civil Order

Let me begin with what should be a reassuring thought, and one that may serve as a corrective to presumptions that sometimes characterize political philosophy. The possibility, which Aquinas and Madison are both concerned with, of wise and virtuous political deliberation resulting in beneficial and stable civil order, no more depends upon possession of aphilosophical theory of the state and of the virtues proper to it, than does the possibility of making good paintings depend upon possession of an aesthetic theory of the nature and value of art.

Between Scylla and Charybdis

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pia Valenzuela
Keyword(s):  
Property Rights ◽  
Natural Law ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
Political Ideas ◽  
Political Conflicts ◽  
The Common ◽  
Ius Gentium

In the process of secularization of legal institutions, the thirteenth century—with all its political conflicts between emperors and popes—is relevant to understand the evolution of those institutions in modernity. Contextualized in that period, this chapter shows the importance of Aquinas’s line of thought about the common good, law, and right in this process. In general, the context of Aquinas’s era and his personal circumstances were characterized by tensions between two perilous alternatives, the imperial and the papal power. Because of this, Aquinas was cautious to express his opinion in specific political issues of the time. This chapter argues that, in spite of Aquinas’s caution in putting forward his political ideas, the essence of his political thought and his opposition to the theocratic theory of government could be inferred also from his notions of natural law and ius gentium, in which he addressed the basic issues of property rights and slavery.

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