Saint Thomas Aquinas’ Theology and His Commentary on the Book of Psalms

This is a brief commentary of the Spanish bilingual edition of Aquinas’ Commentary to the Book of Psalms, by Carlos Casanova and Enrique Alarcón, with the outstanding introductions to each of its four volumes. It deals with the relevance of Biblical studies for the understanding of Aquinas’ theological work, the hermeneutical tools used by Aquinas when commenting the Book of Psalms, the contemporary representatives of the school of Biblical Thomism and the main lessons a reader could draw from Aquinas’ reading of the Book of Psalms.

Neo-Thomism in Action

In his encyclical Aeterni Patris (1879), Pope Leo XIII expressed the conviction that the renewed study of the philosophical legacy of Saint Thomas Aquinas would help Catholics to engage in a dialogue with secular modernity while maintaining respect for Church doctrine and tradition. As a result, the neo-scholastic framework dominated Catholic intellectual production for nearly a century thereafter. This volume assesses the societal impact of the Thomist revival movement, with particular attention to the juridical dimension of this epistemic community. Contributions from different disciplinary backgrounds offer a multifaceted and in-depth analysis of many different networks and protagonists of the neo-scholastic movement, its institutions and periodicals, and its conceptual frameworks. Although special attention is paid to the Leuven Institute of Philosophy and Faculty of Law, the volume also discloses the neo-Thomist revival in other national and transnational contexts. By highlighting diverse aspects of its societal and legal impact, Neo-Thomism in Action argues that neo-scholasticism was neither a sterile intellectual exercise nor a monolithic movement. The book expands our understanding of how Catholic intellectual discourse communities were constructed and how they pervaded law and society during the late 19th century and the first half of the 20th century.

Law and Ayn Rand: Objectivism from the Perspective of Legal Philosophy

Objectivism, the philosophy of Ayn Rand, subordinates legal concepts to radical capitalism as a political ideal. Such concepts, however, play an important role in her political thought. Scrutiny of those writings where Ayn Rand deals with these concepts shows a middle ground between Natural Law, Positivist and Legal Realist perspectives. According to Objectivism, objectivity becomes the essential feature of Law in the stricter sense. In this respect, Rand’s approach moves away from the philosophical influences of Aristotle and Saint Thomas Aquinas, and proclaims the incompatibility of the minimal state with uncertainty and any kind of discretionary powers in the legal field. The contrast with Hayek’s later legal-philosophical contribution points to the feasibility of an integration into what could constitute the basis for a Libertarian legal science. Keywords: Ayn Rand, Objectivism, political philosophy, philosophy of Law, Law. JEL Classification: K10, K20, K21, K30. Resumen: En el objetivismo, la filosofía de Ayn Rand, el tratamiento de los conceptos jurídicos se subordina al capitalismo radical como ideal político. Dichos conceptos, sin embargo, juegan un papel importante en esta teorización. El examen de los textos donde Rand los aborda revela un posicionamiento intermedio entre las perspectivas iusnaturalista, positivista y realista. Lo determinante en la configuración del Derecho, para el objetivismo, será la objetividad de la ley. En la materia, Rand se distancia de Aristóteles y Santo Tomás como únicas influencias filosóficas reconocidas y proclama la incompatibilidad del Estado mínimo con cualquier indeterminación o discrecionalidad en el ámbito de lo legal. El contraste con los sucesivos planteamientos iusfilosóficos de Hayek apunta a la posibilidad de una integración en lo que podría ser el fundamento de una ciencia jurídica libertaria. Palabras clave: Ayn Rand, objetivismo, filosofía política, filosofía jurídica, Derecho. Clasificación JEL: K10, K20, K21, K30.

Proposals for Social Pedagogy and the Best Political Practices From the Crown of Aragon

The authors analyze the figure of the Franciscan Francesc Eiximenis, and especially his Regiment de la cosa pública, from a reflection on medieval pedagogy and politics. Likewise, they establish meeting points between the thought, the words and the pedagogy of Eiximenis and those of other authors. So, the chapter draws a chronological-analytical line between him and other relevant figures of the 13th through the 16th centuries, such as Saint Thomas Aquinas, Beatus Ramon Llull, Niccolò Machiavelli, (Saint) Thomas More, Saint Vincent Ferrer, and Joan Lluis Vives.

OS DIREITOS DA PERSONALIDADE NO CÓDIGO CIVIL BRASILEIRO

RESUMO Objetivo: O estudo objetiva compreender e apresentar o desenvolvimento dos direitos da personalidade; para tanto, parte-se da perspectiva de São Tomás de Aquino e sua trajetória durante o transcurso da história até a compreensão de que os direitos da personalidade são, e somente são, aqueles direitos encarnados na pessoa cuja concepção basta para afirmar como tal. Metodologia: Para atingir os fins esperados, a metodologia utilizada é bibliográfica, adotando-se como marco teórico São Tómas de Aquino, especialmente pelo fato de ter reflexionado que persona significat id quod est perfectissimum in tota natura. Resultados: Com alicerce na teoria dos direitos da personalidade, o artigo aborda a pesquisa científica, na medida em que atesta a existência de um patrimônio moral, que podem ser definidos como os direitos extrapatrimoniais porque não encontram, puramente, estimativa em pecúnia — senão quando lesionados e para efeito compensatório ou por motivo de cessão das potencialidades econômicas, que com o direito em si não se confunde —, razão pela qual revelam influxo pecuniário. Contribuições: A contribuição central do presente trabalho cinge-se em apresentar o tema de direitos da personalidade como reconhecimento, indisputavelmente sedimentado, do apreço pela pessoa que orientou e orienta os codificadores constitucionais e privados. O index de direitos postos em Constituições nacionais concerne, originariamente, à proteção endereçada ao particular versus Estado, bem como, reitera que os direitos personalíssimos (vida, inteireza física e espiritual, liberdade, honra, imagem, privacidade, identidade e direito moral do autor de obra intelectual, v.g.) estão compreendidos na listagem a que a Constituição Federal dedicou um rol fundamental, mas não são os únicos ali postos. Palavras-chave: Direitos da personalidade; São Tomás de Aquino; Código Civil brasileiro. ABSTRACT Objective: The study aims to understand and present the development of personality rights starting from the perspective of Saint Thomas Aquinas and his trajectory during the course of history until the understanding that the rights of the personality are, and only are those rights embodied in the person whose conception is enough to affirm as such. Methodology: To achieve the expected ends, the methodology used is bibliographic, adopting the theoretical framework of Saint Thomas Aquinas, especially because it reflected that persona significat id quod est perfectissimum in tota natura. Results: Based on the theory of personality rights, the article addresses scientific research, insofar as it attests to the existence of a moral heritage, which can be defined as extra-patrimonial rights because they do not find, purely, an estimate in pecuniary - unless when injured and for compensatory effect or due to the assignment of economic potentialities, which is not confused with the law itself - which is why they reveal a cash inflow. Contributions: The central contribution of this paper is limited to presenting the theme of the personality rights as a recognition indisputably sedimented of the appreciation for the person who guided and guides the constitutional and private codifiers. The index of rights placed in national constitutions concerns, originally, the protection addressed to the private versus the State, as well as, it reiterates that the very personal rights (life, physical and spiritual integrity, freedom, honor, image, privacy, identity and moral law of the author of intellectual work, v.g.) are included in the list to which the Federal Constitution dedicated a fundamental role, but they are not the only ones placed there. Keywords: personality rights; Saint Thomas Aquinas; Brazilian Civil Code.

Conflict of Ethics: Indigenous Americans and Settler Colonists = Conflicto de ética: Los pueblos indígenas y los colonos en las Américas

The objective of this paper is to develop and present a novel approach to the conflict of ethics on the foundation of legal theory, particularly the legal rules governing conflict of laws. The focus is on the conflict of ethics impacting Indigenous Americans in the context of Occidental settler colonialism in the Americas. This paper contains three major contributions. First, the interplay between Indigenous American concepts categorized as ethics in the Occident and Occidental ethics in a settler colonial context was assessed. Second, Occidental concepts in Roman Law and Saint Thomas Aquinas’ natural law was used to determine the precedence of Indigenous American equivalents to ethics vis-à-vis Occidental ethics in the Americas. Third, rules-based solutions synthetized from conflict of laws in international law were applied to conflict of ethics in the settler colonial context in the Americas.Keywords: Cultural and epistemic racism, decoloniality, indigenous Americans, settler colonialism, sumak kawsay, wakohtowin.Resumen: El objetivo de este artículo es desarrollar y presentar un enfoque novedoso del conflicto de ética sobre la base de la teoría legal, particularmente las reglas legales sobre el conflicto de leyes. La atención se centra en el conflicto de ética que afecta a los indígenas en el contexto del colonialismo en las Américas. Este artículo contiene tres contribuciones principales. Primero, se evaluó la interacción entre los conceptos de los indígenas categorizados como ética en el occidente en el contexto colonial. Segundo, los conceptos occidentales en la ley romana y la ley natural de Santo Tomás de Aquino se usaron para determinar la procedencia de los equivalentes indígenas en las Américas. Tercero, las soluciones basadas en reglas sintetizadas a partir del conflicto de leyes en el derecho internacional se aplicaron al conflicto de ética en el contexto colonial en las Américas.Palabras clave: Racismo cultural y epistémico, descolonialidad, indígenas en las Américas, colonialismo, sumak kawsay, wakohtowin.