SocSci 2—Dennis Quilala, Sem 1, AY 23-24

LE 1 notes

Coverage:

• Plato—The Republic
• Aristotle—Politics
• Saint Augustine of Hippo—City of God
• Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica, De Regimine Principum (On Kingship)
• Niccolo Machiavelli—The Prince

Plato (428-348 B.C.)

• Greek philosopher from Athens from a distinguished noble family; he was a
citizen, a select class in Athenian society who can trace their lineages back to
Athens' founders
o Citizenship in Athens also included considerable responsibility; citizens as
shareholders or board-members
• Founded the Academy in 387 B.C.
• Considered the first great systematic political theorist
• Student of Socrates

The Republic (written 375 B.C.)

• A Socratic dialogue set in the time of the Peloponnesian War, concerning the
question of "What is justice?", "What is the order and character of the just city-
state?", and "Who is the just man?".
o What is the meaning of Justice?
o Is the just man happier than the unjust man?
• The book starts as Socrates visits Piraeus, the port section of Athens in which
mainly tradesmen reside, where there is a festival being held in honor of the
foreign Thracian goddess, Bendis.
• He, along with his companions Glaucon and Adeimantus is invited by
Polemarchus into his house, where he meets the aging tradesman father,
Cephalus, who has been having recurring nightmares (possibly about his former
sins), and the cynic Sophist Thrasymachus.
o Thrasymachus, the Sophist is said to teaching nothing else than the
opinions and beliefs expressed by the public itself when it meets on any
occasion; and that is what he calls wisdom.
• What is justice?
o Cephalus: To give each what is owed to them.
▪ Socrates replies that it is not just to return a knife one owes to a
mad friend.
o Polemarchus: To help one's friends and harm one's enemies.
▪ Socrates replies that we often do not know who is our friend and
who is our enemy.
▪ Additionally, doing harm to anyone, even your enemy, is not just.
o Thrasymachus: What is advantageous for the stronger party
▪ Socrates replies that if it is just to do what rulers say and rulers
make mistakes about their advantage, then it is just to do what is
disadvantageous for the stronger
▪ Thrasymachus counters that insofar as the stronger make
mistakes, they are not in that regard the stronger
 ▪ Socrates then replies that since rulership is a craft and crafts aim at
the good of their object, and therefore to rule is for the benefit of the
ruled and not the ruler
o Glaucon
▪ Divides good things into three:
• Things good in themselves
• Things good for their consequences
• Things are good for both in themselves and for their
consequences
▪ He cites justice as a form of social contract; giving up the best so
as to not experience the worst; everyone would prefer to get away
with harm to others so as to not suffer it themselves
• Hence this creates a situation in which people only try to be
just out of fear and weakness
• Glaucon points out the legend of the ring of Gyges, which
makes people invisible; Glaucon claims that even the most
just man would behave unjustly if given the ring—people are
only just because they are afraid to be punished
▪ Socrates replies that justice is something that is good in itself and
for its consequences.
o Adeimantus
▪ The reputation of justice is better than justice itself
• Socrates counters Glaucon's and Adeimantus' challenge by starting to look for
justice at the level of the city-state, thus he built up a perfect city from scratch,
and see when and where justice enters it.
o The city is built upon the foundation of human specialization; it starts with
at least 3-5 individuals; each individual in the city works to provide for the
necessities of life: food, shelter, and clothing.
▪ A city governed only by necessary desires is what Socrates
considers a "healthy city".
▪ Glaucon, however, considers this as a "city of pigs", since it lacks
human wants such as art and luxuries.
o As the amount human wants increases, the "healthy city" turns into a
luxurious "feverish city"; the constant hunger for more material wants will
inevitably lead to wars, necessitating a warrior class whose sole purpose
is to keep the peace within the city and protect it from outside forces.
o The tenets of the ideal city
▪ There will be no one rich no poor since there will be no money
▪ There is no need to worry about specific laws since proper
education ensures lawful behaviour
 ▪
• Who should rule—the guardian class?
o The tenets of guardianship, according to Plato:
▪ The elderly must have authority over the young
▪ The Guardians of the commonwealth must be best; with natural
talent and the ability to watch over a commonwealth
▪ A Guardian of the commonwealth must also be a Guardian of
himself
▪ Must have a concern for the commonwealth in which its interests
and fortunes are held to be identified with the guardian's own
interests and fortunes
▪ Full of zeal, never willing to act against the commonwealth, and
capable of preserving this conviction
▪ Guardians must live together in housing provided for them by the
city; they will also receive from other citizens the wages of their
guardianship; they are not allowed to own private property or touch
gold and silver.
• Adeimantus interjected: "Why are we not making these
people particularly happy?"
• Socrates replied that the aim of the state was not to make
one class especially happy but to secure the greatest
possible happiness for the community as a whole.
• They will not rend the community asunder by each applying
the word "mine".
o The class of rulers called Guardians are divided into the Auxiliaries and
the Rulers
▪ Auxiliaries = enforcers of the decisions of the Rulers
o In order to find a true ruler:
▪ One must be subjected to situations of pain and pleasure
▪ Trained in music and poetry so as to attain rhythm and harmony
o The tenets of rulership
▪ Rulers shall be the ones to determine the size and the
proportionate amount of territory; the state should increase in size
but not decrease in unity
▪ Class assignment
• Assigning each individual to a specific class according to
each one’s temperament
▪ To educate and nurture the citizens
• Guardians are educated in gymnastics (harmony in body)
and in music (harmony in the soul)
 ▪ Keep the number of citizens as constant as possible
• The Noble Lie
o In order to maintain harmony in society, and to make each member of
society inclined to care for the state and one another, a noble lie must be
propagated, to ensure that there is never controversy over who should
rule.
o The "Myth of the Metals" contends that all citizens of the were born out of
the Earth; hence the Earth is to be considered their mother and their fellow
citizens their brothers and sisters.
▪ This myth holds that each citizen has a sort of metal mixed in their
heart.
• Rulers - Gold
• Auxiliaries - Silver
• Producers - Iron and Brass
▪ Those born to a class but seem to be more fit to another class shall
be moved to the class in which he is better fitting.
▪ The myth also contends that the state will be ruined if it becomes
ruled by a man with a composition of silver or brass.
o This concept can be compared with the Plato's Allegory of the Cave
▪ Normal people, the cave dwellers neither see the way to a good life
nor are capable of getting there; they only see the shadows
projected from outside the cave.
▪ However, as the philosopher gets out of the cave (the case of the
Republic's Philosopher-King or Queen), he can transmit what he
knows to the cave dwellers, through the Noble Lie.
• With the city being complete; now we can look for each of the four virtues:
wisdom, courage, temperance, and justice—if you can find the first three virtues,
you can find justice
o Wisdom - lies with the guardians because of their knowledge; different
from the kind of wisdom of the members of the producer class
o Courage - lies with the auxiliaries; their belief in what to fear and what not
to fear
o Temperance - lies with the guardians and the producer class, the
governors and the governed; it extends throughout the state
▪ Pertains to the unanimous or harmonious agreement between the
governors and the governed regarding which of the two should
govern.
o Justice - also lies with the guardians and the producer class, the
governors and the governed
▪ This virtue is the complement of the other three virtues.
 ▪ When each class—tradesman/producer, Auxiliary, Guardian keeps
to its own proper business in the commonwealth and does his own
work
• Composition of the soul
o The same virtues/elements in the state/city/commonwealth can also be
found in the soul of man—reason, spirit, and appetite;
o These correspond to the classes of the state with reason being the truth-
loving rulers, spirit being the honor-loving auxiliaries, and appetite being
the money-loving producers which are kept in line both by the rulers and
the auxiliaries.
▪ Reason - rational part of the soul that lusts after the truth
▪ Spirit - spirited part of the soul that lusts for honor
▪ Appetite - appetitive part of the soul that lusts after everything else;
food, drink, sex, and money
o A just soul is one that does not allow the several elements to usurp one
another's functions; justice is the balance of the soul's parts and injustice
is the imbalance.
• The Three Waves
o guardian women should perform the same job as the male guardians; both
sexes are naturally suited for each task
o Abolition of the family—all spouses and children be held in common
▪ Human reproduction for guardians ought to be regulated by the
state; should only take place during festivals
▪ All offspring should be ignorant of their actual biological parents
▪ To ensure unwavering loyalty of the citizens; the city is unified
because all citizens chare all their aims and concerns, pains and
pleasures
o Philosophers must be kings, for the above conditions to be possible
▪ Our philosopher will be quick to learn and to remember,
magnanimous and gracious, the friend and kinsman of truth,
justice, courage, temperance.
▪ Difference between the philosopher and the lover of sights and
sounds
• So when people have an eye for the multitude of beautiful
things or of just actions or whatever it may be, but can
neither behold Beauty or Justice itself nor follow a guide who
would lead them to it, we shall say that all they have is
beliefs, without any real knowledge of the objects of their
belief.
• These people are called lovers of belief rather than wisdom
 ▪ Only philosophers can have knowledge, because only they have
access to the Forms
▪ Man who believes in beautiful things but not in Beauty itself
• The Useless Philosopher
o Parable of the ship; the sailors do a mutiny to try and take out the captain,
each tries to become his own captain
o The best sort of philosophers useless to the public; our present rulers may
fairly be compared to the sailors in our parable, and the useless
visionaries, as the politicians call them, to the real masters of navigation.
• The Perfect State/Constitution
o When philosophers, whether they like it or not, take charge of as state
which will submit to their authority.
o Or until kings and princes become divinely inspired with a genuine passion
for true philosophy
o Unless the philosopher-king is given a clean slate, a clean surface to work
on, he will not consent to take in hand an individual or a state or to draft
laws
• Immortality of the Soul
o The myth of Er
▪ A soldier who was found alive in a pile of bodies and was thought to
have been death. He was the messenger of those from the afterlife.
During the tine that he was dead he saw what happened in the
afterlife.
▪ In Greek society, they believed in the cycle of life; round of
punishment, round of rewards
▪ Er saw that the sould had to decide their next life in this world.
▪ Actions have consequences; in the Greek context in which human lives
are decided by the Gods, the myth of Er posits human responsibility in
living and deciding for their own lives
▪ Reason as proof if the immortality of the soul; the fact that you are
choosing what life you want to live, given the cycle of life.
 Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)

• Greek philosopher born in Stagira, Northern Greece

• Unlike his teacher Plato, he was not a citizen of Athens, he was a citizen alien
with less rights
• Student of Plato for 20 years in the Academy
• Teacher of Alexander the Great in 342, while Alexander was 13 years old
• In 334, he founded his own school in Athens: the Lyceum
• Like Plato, he lived in the context of the Greek city-state which often formed
alliances and sometimes, centrally governed confederations
• Aristotle lived in the time of the growing power of the Macedonian Empire, which
challenged the notion of the traditional city-state

Politics (written 4th century B.C.)

• Human association—Aristotle contends that all such associations or
partnerships, like all deliberate human acts, were formed with the aim of
achieving some good
o Why are these associations formed?
▪ Natural impulse
▪ Inability of the individual
▪ Man's Reason and Speech
o Evolution of human association
▪ Human association—while it grows for the sake of mere life, it
exists for the sake of a good life.
▪ The first associations/partnerships among human beings,
happened by nature as they are driven by natural impulses:
• the male and the female, for the sake of reproduction
• the naturally ruling and rules, on account of preservation, in
which Aristotle refers to his concept of slavery
▪ If these pairs of people come together:
• Family - naturally instituted for the satisfaction of daily needs
• Village - a colony or an offshoot of a family, however it is still
not fully self-sufficient
▪ The highest form of community is the polis; political association is
the most sovereign form of association
• This association is said to have reached the height of full
self-sufficiency thus it is sovereign (autarkeia, autonomy)
• Aristotle comes to this conclusion because he believes the
public life is far more virtuous than the private and because
"man is by nature a political animal"
 • Aristotle also defines the political community as a
partnership; thus they pursue a common good, in the case of
the city, it is the most authoritative good—the highest good
• The state is natural
o The polis or the state is prior in the order of nature to the family and the
individual, since the whole is necessarily prior to the part.
o The common goal, the chief end of the polis, and all association is the
good life—the institutions of social life are a means to that end.
o What constitutes a polis is an association of households and clans in
good life, for the sake of attaining a perfect and self-sufficient
existence.
▪ Why is the state natural?
• The polis with its ultimate goal/end of self-sufficiency can be
considered as 'natural' since it is the culmination of a
complete growth or evolution
• From the very first partnerships of male and female and
master and slave, nature has been aiming at the creation of
cities
▪ Only as part of the city can people fully realize their nature; outside
the city, human happiness and well-being are impossible
▪ Separated from the city, you are either a god or a beast
• You alone cannot be self-sufficient hence, one must have
the natural inclination towards forming associations.
• Men are capable of becoming beasts—when separated from
law and adjudication (justice), they may become the worst of
all
• Justice belongs to the polis—the determination of what is
just, an ordering of the political association
o Reasons why man is meant for political association:
▪ Man alone, among all of the animals is the only one furnished with
the faculty of speech
• Human language serves to declare what is advantageous
and the reverse; thus man is able to declare what is just and
unjust, good and evil, among other things.
• Defense of slavery
o In the Ancient Greek context, there were two kinds of slaves:
▪ Those who are slaves because they are from the losing party in
war, thus indicating that they were inferior and are meant to serve
▪ Those who were born to parents who were slaves, meaning that
they are naturally inferior due to their parentage.
o Aristotle defends slavery by noting that in nature, there are usually the
ruling and the ruled elements
▪ The Greeks regard themselves as noble in and out of their country;
they regard barbarians as noble only in their own country
o Natural slavery
▪ Some people are slaves by nature while others are masters by
nature—it is better that man rules animals rather than the reverse
▪ A slave is someone who is capable of being the property of a
master
▪ The slave is better suited for labor while the master is better suited
to civic duties
▪ Aristotle also contends that slavery is a mutually beneficial
association
• The master possesses rational, commanding powers while
the slave, lacking the faculty of reason, gives back to the
master by doing menial duties
• Aristotle likens this relationship to that of the soul and the
body; rationality rules over irrationality
▪ However, Aristotle states some of his reservations when it comes to
slavery
• Aristotle considers it unjust to enslave those who are not
slaves by nature, such as slavery after warfare.
• A wrong exercise of his rule by a master is a thing which is
disadvantageous for both master and slave as the latter is
part of the former; harming a part will damage the whole.
o Slavery by law or convention
▪ Aristotle also describes another form of slavery, citing those who
are punished by law to become slaves.
• He puts forth the idea that "power goes with goodness".
• The superior in goodness ought to rule over and be the
master of his inferiors.
o The household as an example
▪ Marital association
• Compares this with the rule of the statesman over freemen,
since both husband and wife are 'free' by nature
• However, man is the natural leader and the husband makes
the decisions.
▪ Parental association
 • Aristotle likened this relationship to that of a king and his
subjects; the father rules by virtue of his children's love for
him and their respect for his age.
• Age and maturity are fitter to command that youth and
immaturity
▪ Master-slave association
• Aristotle believed in natural slavery; someone who will not be
able to make decisions for themselves; both master and
“slave” are benefitted
▪ Aristotle also speaks of a fourth element: "the art of acquisition"–the
whole of household management; he contends that accumulation of
wealth is necessary but only to a certain extent
• Natural acquisition - securing food, shelter, and other
necessities
• Unnatural acquisition - accumulating money for its own sake;
business and banking
• Critiques of the Republic
o Aristotle interprets Plato's Ideal City as a place in which the citizens should
share in common as much as possible, including wives, children, and
property, with the goal of achieving as much unity as possible
▪ However, Aristotle posits that the polis requires an essential
plurality—different people must make different contributions, fill
different roles, and fit into distinct social classes, for the goal of
self-sufficiency.
▪ Aristotle also objects to the abolition of the family in Plato's work—
lack of family ties would render citizens less capable of showing
friendship and love
▪ On the subject of communal property, Aristotle contends that
generosity requires individual ownership of property.
▪ Lastly, Aristotle objects to the notion of a single political class being
the sole governor of a city; he also believes that guardians should
not be deprived as it defeats the goal of human association—the
good life
• Citizenship
o A citizen:
▪ Is anyone entitled to share in deliberative or judicial office
▪ Is someone who shares in the administration of justice and the
holding of public office
• This definition is particular to those who are citizens of a
democracy
 ▪ Is free from the necessary tasks of life—this excludes laborers to
become members of the citizenry, a recurring theme with Aristotle's
disdain for manual/menial labor.
• Laborers are necessary, sure, but not everyone who is
necessary can be a citizen.
• In an oligarchy, however, where wealth dictates citizenship,
a wealthy laborer can surely become a citizen.
o A state:
▪ Is a body of such persons adequate in number for achieving self-
sufficiency
o Different from Plato’s concept of citizenship which means a simple claim
of descent from the Polis’ founders
o If you are a good citizen are you automatically a good man?
▪ A man is a good citizen insofar as he upholds and honors the
constitution of the state.
▪ The good citizen must also possess the knowledge and the
capacity for ruling and being ruled.
▪ Citizen excellence can only be obtained by those who are free from
menial duties.
▪ However, the existence of different kinds of constitutions means
that there are different kinds of good citizens; hence a good citizen
might not automatically mean that he is a good person.
• The classification of constitutions
o Aristotle defines a constitution (also called a polity) as the civic body that
is sovereign in all issues insofar as the polis is concerned—in a
democracy, the people are sovereign, in an oligarchy, it is the oligarchs.
o "An organization of offices in a state, by which the method of their
distribution is fixed, the sovereign authority is determined, and the
nature of the end to be pursued by the association and all its
members is prescribed."
o He contends that there are six kinds of government
▪ Three are just while three are unjust
▪ Aristotle's ranking of the constitutions: polity, aristocracy, monarchy,
democracy, oligarchy, tyranny
o Just vs. Unjust
▪ Just constitutions - geared toward the well-being of all its respective
citizens
• Rule by a single person - kingship
o Aristotle considers a large body preferable to a king,
due to the latter's susceptibility to impartiality
 • Rule by a small group - aristocracy
o Rule of the best rulers
• Rule by the masses - polity or politeia (also called a
timocracy)—constitutional government in which participation
is reserved for those who bear arms; rule for the common
interest
▪ Unjust constitutions - geared toward the benefit of those in power
• Rule by a single person - tyranny; rule for the sole interest of
the ruler
• Rule by a small group - oligarchy
o directed toward the sole interest of the wealthy
o granting benefits and rights proportion to a person's
wealth
• Rule by the masses - democracy
o directed towards the sole interest of the poor
o all who are equal at birth must equally share the
wealth pf the city
• Justice
o Justice - benefits must be extended to those who contribute the most,
those with great civic excellence; meritocracy; Aristotle sees this as the
end goal of politics, granting benefits in proportion to merit
o Aristotle contends that constitutions such as oligarchy (whose end goal is
wealth) and democracy (whose end goal is equality and security) do not
match the end goal of the polis which is a life of good quality—
devotion to the encouragement of goodness
o If there is one person so outstanding by his excess of virtue…such
persons can no longer be regarded as part of the city”. It would be wrong
for the other people in the city to claim the right to rule over them or share
rule with them, just as it would be wrong for people to claim the right to
share power with Zeus
o Who must be sovereign?
▪ If the sovereign or the civic body is allowed to determine what is
just, then democracies, oligarchies, and tyrannies would be
considered just
▪ Although aristocracies and kingships can rule justly, they would bar
the entire citizenry from the honor of holding office
▪ Laws also cannot be allowed to determine automatically what is just
since they may be formulated unjustly;
• However, to the extent possible, they must be allowed to
rule.
 • In regimes in which laws do not rule, there are no citizens,
just masters and slaves.
▪ However, the Many or the politeia who, collectively may be the best
body who can define what is just.
▪ Nonetheless, Aristotle concludes that rightly constituted laws must
be sovereign in areas in which laws can govern; personal rule—
those mentioned above should only be sovereign in those matters
on which law is unable.
• These laws are according to their constitutions.
• Hence laws from a just constitution are just while laws from
unjust constitutions are unjust.
o What then, is the most practicable type of constitution?
▪ Given that, a truly happy life is one that lives in freedom from
impediments, and that goodness consists in a mean.
▪ The middle class has the least ambition; they know how to rule and
to be ruled; they do not covet the goods of others and others do not
covet their goods;
▪ Thus, a state must aim at being composed of equals and peers
who belong to the middle class
▪ Hence the best form of political association is one in which the
power is vested in the middle class; a constitution between that of
an oligarchy and democracy.
• However, this requires a large middle-class, something that
rarely appears in states; hence most states end up
becoming oligarchies or democracies
• Lifecycle of states
o A state begins when it is founded by an outstanding individual, capable of
conferring benefits on others, who becomes the monarch.
o As more people of good character emerge in the state, they begin to
agitate for more political power, and an aristocracy emerges.
o But corruption then sets in as the aristocracy leverages their political
power over the commons for economic gain.
o Oligarchy sets in, followed by tyranny, and then democracy, such that
"one might say that it is hard to avoid having a democratic constitution.
 Saint Augustine of Hippo (A.D. 354-430)

• Born Aurelius Augustinus on November 13, A.D. 354 to middle-class parents in

Tagaste (Souk Ahras) on the Algerian coast.
• Embraced Manicheism but returned to Christianity in A.D. 387.
• Became the Bishop of Hippo in A.D. 396
• Lived at the time of the decline of the Western Roman Empire; in A.D. 410,
Rome was attacked by the Goths

City of God (written A.D. 413-426)

• The City of God acts as a defense for Christianity, which was blamed as the
cause of the fall of the Western Roman Empire; its audience was intended to be
both the Roman Christians and pagans
o Augustine argued that Roman paganism and Christianity teach the same
virtue
▪ Gave examples of the teachings of paganism and compared them
with the virtues of Christianity
▪ God as a jealous god; if it is true that gods and goddesses are
jealous gods, are they punishing Christians it pagans
o It was not Christianity that caused the fall, but decadent paganism;
▪ Rome's own internal moral decay
▪ Rome ceased to be a city—a force for the betterment of the whole
▪ “A band of robbers is just the same as a city without justice”
o Effects of the Fall of Man; when man was cast out of the Garden of Eden
▪ In paradise, you do not need the state; the creation of institutions
outside of paradise
▪ The stain in man’s human nature necessitated the need for the
establishment of the state
▪ We were created in the likeness of but we were supposed to be
good; our choices, however, made us commit the original sin

• Justice
o In the context of the state:
▪ No earthly state can claim to possess true justice, but only some
relative justice by which one state is more just than another
• Similar to the Platonian idea that perfect justice cannot be
found in this world.
 • Saint Augustine says that what we can only do is to
approximate the perfect justice of God in this world; it cannot
exist even in the Heavenly City
• This could be in relation to Plato’s allegory of the cave
o In the context of the individual:
▪ Justice—peace in the soul would be perfectly harmonized rational
self and irrational self; inspired by Plato
• Saint Augustine also abides by the classical idea of justice
as harmony; giving each one’s due
▪ Without justice, what are kingdoms but great robberies?
▪ A kingdom can be considered as a mere band of robbers that holds
places, takes possession of cities, and subdues people.
• On rulership
o Those who rule are servants of the ruled; they who care for the rest rule
o Domestic peace—the well-ordered concord of those in the family who rule
and those who obey
o Rulers of kingdoms (Christian rulers) who make their power the handmaid
of God and use it for the greatest possible extension of His worship are
the ones who are truly happy—those who fear, love, and worship God
• The Two Cities—The Earthly and the Heavenly City
o Every member of the human family must belong to only one of the two
cities.
o Earthly City
▪ The citizens of this city are aliens to God's love because they
refuse to love God as evidenced by their rebellious disposition
inherited from the Fall of Man
▪ The Earthly City seeks earthly peace, and the end it proposes, in
the well-ordered concord of civic obedience and rule, is the
combination of men’s wills to attain the things that are helpful to this
life
▪ "All men, so long as they are mortal, must of necessity be
miserable."
▪ Built upon earthly love—the love of self even to the contempt of god
▪ The Earthly City glories in itself
▪ The princes and the nations it subdues are ruled by the love of
ruling
▪ Its wise men sought to profit their own bodies and souls; they have
become vain in their wisdom
▪ Predestined to suffer eternal punishment with the devil
 ▪ The Earthly City, however, is not everlasting—it is full of wars and
quarrels since it desires Earthly peace by conquering and
subjugating; if no opposing parties remain, it enjoys an
impermanent peace.
• This can be compared with the rise of the Roman Empire.
• It can be assumed that the Earthy City neglects the better
things of the Heavenly City; eternal victory and eternal
peace; akin to Plato's Allegory of the Cave and its concept of
the Forms.
▪ Cain, the first-born is considered as the parent of those who live
according to man, which is compared to the Earthly City
• Cain was recorded to have built a city; considered the
founder of the Earthly City
• The Earthly City was built on fratricide—Cain killed Able out
of jealousy, comparable to the founder of Rome, Romulus,
who killed his brother, Remus
o City of God
▪ The citizens of this city are pilgrims and foreigners who find
themselves out of place in a world without an earthly institution
sufficiently similar to the City of God.
• This heavenly city, then, while it sojourns on earth, calls
citizens out of all nations and gathers together a society of
pilgrims of all languages.
▪ The City of god is connected to eternal peace
▪ Built upon heavenly love—the love of God even to the contempt of
self
▪ Glories in the Lord
▪ The princes and the subjects serve one another in love—the
subjects obey while the princes take thought for all, a notion similar
to Platonian and Aristotelian thought
▪ In this city, there is no human wisdom, only godliness which offers
worship to the Lord
▪ Predestined to reign eternally with God
▪ Abel, who was killed by Cain is considered the parent of those who
live according to God, which is compared to the Heavenly City
• However, Abel (who is dead), being a sojourner, built none—
the city of saints is above, until the day of resurrection in
which the Heavenly Kingdom, ruled by God will be shared by
all
 ▪ No political state, nor even the institutional church, can be equated
with the City of God
▪ The church or the City of God is something that does not belong to
Christians or to any particular religion
▪ The City of God is not a place but is made up of people.
▪ The Heavenly City is not the afterlife; some of its members are
already here on this Earth; it is somewhere in the cosmos
o Saint Augustine quotes one of the apostles who stated that "that what is
natural comes first before what is spiritual".
▪ This may be derived from the concept of original sin—man comes
from a condemned stock and is thus evil and carnal; through will,
we can become good and spiritual.
▪ God made vessels, one earthly (the first one), one heavenly, one
meant to dishonor and one meant to honor.
▪ No one will be good if he is not, at first wicked
o Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds
▪ If you plant wheat or weed, you would not know which is which until
they grow; you would know when they have started to bear fruit;
judgment day
• The peace of all things—Tranquilitas Ordinis
o The peace of all things; well-ordered concord—peace is the state a
person or thing achieves when it is in accordance with the larger created
order
o This is established by God; all things in the universe have their proper
place
o Saint Augustine denies the possibility of achieving Tranquilitas Ordinis on
Earth, but some aspects of it can be found still.
 Saint Thomas Aquinas (A.D. 1225-1274)

• Born in Roccasecca, Italy to a noble family

• Despite coming from a well-to-do upbringing, he joined the Dominicans in 1244,
a mendicant order
• During this time much of the works from the classical period were preserved in
Arabic and were just translated into Latin.
• Lived in the Medieval Age, as such, the Classical notion that politics (life within
the polis) encompasses all aspects of life is gone—a distinction between the
political and the social has been created
• Additionally, during his time people thought of the state as only the government,
as opposed to the modern definition of the state as its government, people, and
territory
• Canonized by Pope John XXII in 1323

Summa Theologica (written 1485)

• Treatise on Law
o The law is an ordinance of reason for the common good, made by
someone with the community in mind—such laws must be promulgated for
the law to obtain its force
▪ Laws pertain to reason because it must be based on reason and
not merely on the will of the legislator
▪ The end of the law must also be for the common good, as it was
made by someone who has care for the community
▪ This is the definition of a human law.
o Different kinds of laws
▪ Eternal law
• God's providence and divine plan for the world, that is not
fully knowable to humans; law that rules the world.
• God's reason evidently governs the entire community in the
universe
▪ Natural law
• The light of reason was placed by nature (thus by God) in
every man to guide him in his acts.
• Participation in the eternal law by rational creatures; use of
reason for humans to live their lives.
• Natural law allows us to decide between good and evil
• Natural laws apply to all humans and are unchanging
 • The natural law is promulgated through each man's faculty of
reason
▪ Human law
• Ordinance of reason for the common good, made by
someone with the community in mind—such laws must be
promulgated for the law to obtain its force.
• People are not bound to obey human laws that are in conflict
with the natural law
▪ Divine law
• Divine law is derived from eternal law as it appears
historically to humans through revelations.
• Appears to human beings as divine commands
• The divine law also belongs to any law to be directed to the
common good at its end.

De Regimine Principum (written 1277-1280)

• On kingship
o Nature of Man
▪ In all things which are ordered toward an end, some directive
principle must be adopted so that the end may be reached through
some direct route.
▪ Man by nature is a social and political animal and was not intended
to live alone; as such he requires a guide to his end
▪ In man, reason acts as this directive principle; he uses reason to
survive and to sufficiently provide for himself, he lives in a society of
many, where he can benefit from specialization and the exchange
of knowledge
▪ Since man lives in a society, there must be also a means by which
society is governed; thus, to govern is to lead the governed in a
suitable way towards its proper end
o Similar to Platonic thought, Saint Thomas also contends that reason rules
the irrational parts of the soul and that in a larger context as the state,
there must also be some governing power over the ruled.
o Also similar to the Aristotelian idea of rule for the common good of the
multitude and the idea that a perverted and unjust rulership is one that is
only geared toward the good of the ruler.
▪ The idea of just and unjust constitutions is carried over
▪ Saint Thomas also subscribes to Aristotle's idea of the self-
sufficient city
o Rule of one or rule of many?
▪ On rulership, Saint Thomas contends that the rule of one is better
than the rule of many
▪ The rule of many can cause discord if the rulers do not agree; a
union is necessary if they are to rule all.
▪ Additionally based on the tenet that "whatever is in accord with
nature is best", Saint Thomas argues that in nature, we find the rule
of one over all more prevalent.
▪ This is similar with Aristotle who Aristotle favors monarchy, since as
he surveys nature, certain groups are ruled by one; St. Thomas
believes that monarchy is the best because the universe is ruled y
one.
o The best kind of constitution would be for St. Thomas, monarchy,
aristocracy, democracy—representation from the rich and the poor; the
worst is still tyranny
o Against tyrants
▪ Since the rule of one man is best, the king and the kingdom must
be constituted so that the emergence of tyrants is discouraged
▪ Can you commit tyrannicide?—Story of an old lady who does not
agree with tyrannicide, since tyrants are replaced by even worse
tyrants.
▪ Should brave men try to kill their tyrant, several conditions are
satisfied:
▪ the tyrant should be the worst of all; the ruler broke the
covenant with his subjects
▪ the representative of the people must remove the tyrant
▪ the removal of the tyrant must be successful
▪ the conditions will be better after the tyrant’s removal
▪ However, this is still in contrast to the Apostolic teaching that one
must bear injustices for conscience's sake as this is grace
▪ Should no human aid against a tyrant come, divine intervention
shall come in times of tribulation; however, people must desist from
sin to receive this help from God
▪ Similar to Saint Augustine, Saint Thomas also believes that wicked
men receive power and become tyrants as a punishment for the
sins of the people.
o The end of a multitude is to live virtuously
▪ This is in contrast with Aristotle’s idea that the goal of human
associations is the good life
 ▪ However, Saint Thomas adds that the ultimate end is of divine
nature—a life of virtue for the possession of God; hence the earthly
kings (who take care of the intermediate ends) must be subject to a
divine king, the successor of Saint Peter, the Pope who directs us
to our ultimate end.

o Comparison with other philosophers

▪ Agrees with Saint Augustine that the state is also natural; however,
St. Thomas contends that there was a state in paradise
▪ Both Saints Augustine and Thomas believed that the state is
important for us that we get to heaven; Saint Augustine believes
that the state has “negative” functions, and is more punitive; is not
influenced by the Aristotelian idea of the state whose goal is the
good life for its people
▪ Saint Thomas believed that the state also promulgates laws and
provides for its people like internal peace and external defense; the
state also has a responsibility to secure material needs for its
people;
▪ The moral well-being of the people should be ensured; legislation
must be created—through a Christian-based morality
 Niccolo Machiavelli (A.D. 1469-1527)

• Statesman and writer from Florence born on May 3, 1469 under the rule of
Lorenzo “the Magnificent” de Medici to a relatively poor family
• Lived in the Renaissance, a period marked by the revival of humanism—not only
human relationship with God but man's relationship with himself
• A period in which of the feudal city-states in Italy thrived, in the context of the
growth of centralized monarchies elsewhere in Europe
• In 1494, his successor, Piero was expelled and the Florentine Republic was
formed
• Machiavelli became part of the republican government under Soderini in which
he helped establish a standing army for Florence
• In 1512, the Medicis returned to power and Machiavelli was tortured and exiled,
leaving politics and busying himself with writing and farming

The Prince (written 1513)

• The work was dedicated to Giuliani de Medici and then to Lorenzo de Medici
• The Prince was about ruling a principality, not a republic
• Those who wish to be viewed with favor by a ruler usually approach him with
things from among their possessions that are very dear to them, or with things
that they expect will please him.
• If you acquire a dominion, difficulties arise from new rules and regulations one
must put in place to be secure in power
o The reformer has enemies in those who benefit from the old order but only
lukewarm defenders in those who would benefit from the new order
o Machiavelli contends that this may be because of the fear of the reformers
against those who benefit from the old order and the fact that the
defenders themselves may not actually believe in the reforms—people
who do not truly believe in anything until they have had actual experience
from it
o Machiavelli suggests wiping out their ruling families and political
institutions and not changing laws or imposing taxes
• Machiavelli classifies principalities into three
o The old principality - a principality obtained through dynastic or familial
inheritance
o The mixed principality - in which there is a prince of an old principality and
he wants to expand
o The new principality - a principality in which the ruler is the one who
established the state
• For Machiavelli, it is better to rule an old principality because you know the
people.
• Machiavelli also states that a ruler must live in his dominion; there should be no
middleman, and by doing so you can keep the power in that state
• Establish colonies, remove the people in the old institutions, and bring in your
own people; give them land so that you may be able to gain their trust
• Virtu vs. fortuna
o Virtu - the political skills/prowess of a leader
o Fortuna - things that are not in your control; luck, good fortune; in order to
have this you have to be young and you have to control lady luck to your
side
o It is better to have both, but if you were to choose you should choose virtu
because it is something you have control over
o An example of this is Cesare Borgia; he had power as long as his power
had power, who was Pope; virtu enables you to be able to work for
yourself, fortuna makes one complacent
• ..man who wishes to make a profession of goodness in everything must
necessarily come to grief among so many who are not good."
o You will be successful in governance if you assume that the people you
govern are not good.
o "Men are undependable, naive, deceitful, liars, self-centered, ungrateful"
o If you assume that you people are good, you will behave that way instead.
• Auxiliaries, mercenaries, citizen-army
o If you have access to all then luck is on your side.
o Auxiliaries
▪ Armies of your allies; the ones you choose to protect you
o Mercenaries
▪ Paid soldiers
o Citizen army
▪ Because of their loyalty and you have control over them
▪ If Machiavelli were to choose only one, he would choose the citizen
army
o If you want to become a leader and you want to keep your power, get an
army.
• "..never permit troubles to develop in order to avoid having to fight a war;
because it is never in fact avoided but only postponed to your detriment."
o If you are just postponing a conflict, you are just giving your enemies time
to prepare
o So when ready, go to war!
• On taking sides
 o Machiavelli says that we have to take sides when there is war.
o If you don't take a side, the winner will get you next. If you lose, you can
rise together with the losing party to defeat the winner.
• As cunning as a fox and as strong and fierce as a lion.
• As a leader, is it better to be loved or feared?
o For Machiavelli, it is better to be feared than loved; because you have
control over how people fear you, but their love towards you is according
to them.
o If you want to do good things for your people, you have to do them little by
little so that they would be able to savor it more. If you want to do bad
things, it is better to do them all at once so that they forget it quickly.
o You must be able to control people but you must avoid being hated.
• "It should be observed here that men should either be caressed or crushed;
because they can avenge slight injuries but not those that are very severe.
Hence, any injury done to a man must be such that there is no need to fear his
revenge.
• On properties and fortresses
o One way to be hated is to try and take the properties of the people,
impose high taxes, and take their wives because they will hate you for that
o If your people hate you, your fortresses may be able to protect you from
your enemies but they will not protect you from your people
• Whose support do you want better?
o People or the nobility?
o The nobility thinks of you as their equals
o If you are made to choose, choose the people, because they are easier to
fool, easier to get their favor
• Appearance of being good or being actually good?
o Appearing to be good is better than actually being good
o If you need to do something good, then you do something good, if you do
something bad, you still have to look good.
o This is in contrast to the beliefs of the previous thinkers but similar to
Adeimantus.
• Machiavelli as an amoral person, rather than immoral
o There are times when you have to be good, times when you have to be
bad
o A ruler who wishes to maintain his power must be prepared to act
immorally when this becomes necessary.
o THE GOAL: KEEP POWER
o Ethics and politics are separate, also distinct from the previous thinkers.
• Generous or stingy
 o Machiavelli states that it is better to be stingy
• On promises
o Keep only the promises that will be to your advantage; if it is not, then
don't do it.
• The end
o Since Machiavelli is amoral, he might not actually think that the end
justifies the means.
o Hence, the end would be the raison d'etat; it is justified if it is for the
welfare of the state"
o It might also be: "the end excuses the means"; bad things can be excused
but it will not make it right
• ...a ruler who wishes to maintain his power must be prepared to act immorally
when this becomes necessary."
• Power cannot be shared; bringing somebody else other than you to power will
bring demise to yourself