"Law; an ordinance of reason for the common good, made by him who has care of the community"
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Law, for Aquinas, isn’t a threat backed by clubs; it’s an argument backed by authority. By defining law as “an ordinance of reason,” he drags politics out of mere force and into the moral architecture of the medieval Christian universe, where order is supposed to mirror a rational creation. The line is doing a quiet but aggressive bit of boundary-drawing: a rule that can’t plausibly claim rationality isn’t fully law, no matter how loudly it’s enforced.
“For the common good” is the pressure point. Aquinas is not interested in law as a private contract among winners; he’s warning rulers that legitimacy is teleological. Power is justified by its aim, and its aim is public flourishing, not the prince’s convenience. That sounds high-minded until you notice the implicit indictment: laws that enrich factions, punish enemies, or satisfy vanity fail the definition on their face.
The final clause, “made by him who has care of the community,” is where medieval hierarchy slips in. Aquinas isn’t a democrat; he assumes law comes from a custodian, not a crowd. But “care” is a leash as much as a badge. Authority is parental, fiduciary, accountable to a moral standard outside itself. In 13th-century Europe, with canon law, monarchs, and emerging universities all tussling over jurisdiction, this formulation gives the Church and the scholastics a powerful evaluative tool: not just what is commanded, but whether it deserves obedience. It’s philosophy as a limit on sovereignty, smuggled in as a definition.
“For the common good” is the pressure point. Aquinas is not interested in law as a private contract among winners; he’s warning rulers that legitimacy is teleological. Power is justified by its aim, and its aim is public flourishing, not the prince’s convenience. That sounds high-minded until you notice the implicit indictment: laws that enrich factions, punish enemies, or satisfy vanity fail the definition on their face.
The final clause, “made by him who has care of the community,” is where medieval hierarchy slips in. Aquinas isn’t a democrat; he assumes law comes from a custodian, not a crowd. But “care” is a leash as much as a badge. Authority is parental, fiduciary, accountable to a moral standard outside itself. In 13th-century Europe, with canon law, monarchs, and emerging universities all tussling over jurisdiction, this formulation gives the Church and the scholastics a powerful evaluative tool: not just what is commanded, but whether it deserves obedience. It’s philosophy as a limit on sovereignty, smuggled in as a definition.
Quote Details
| Topic | Justice |
|---|---|
| Source | Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae (Prima Secundae, Q.90, Art.4) — definition: "Law is an ordinance of reason for the common good, made by him who has care of the community." (standard English translation) |
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