ANCIENT POLITICAL THOUGHT 49 THE GOVERNMENT IS BANDIED ABOUT LIKE A BALL CICERO (106–43 BCE) IN CONTEXT T he Roman Republic was from the tyrant, it is taken by the founded in around 510 BCE aristocracy or the people; and from IDEOLOGY along similar lines to the people it will be seized by Republicanism the city-states of Greece. With oligarchs or tyrants. Without the only minor changes, it ruled for checks and balances of a mixed FOCUS almost 500 years. This system of constitution, the government, Mixed constitution government combined elements he believed, would be “bandied of three different forms of regime about like a ball.” True to Cicero’s BEFORE —monarchy (replaced by the predictions, Rome came under the c.380 BCE Plato writes the Consuls), aristocracy (the Senate), control of an emperor, Augustus, Republic, outlining his ideas and democracy (the popular shortly after Caesar’s death, and for an ideal city-state. assembly)—each with distinct power was passed from him to a areas of power that balanced one succession of despotic rulers. ■ 2nd century BCE Greek another out. Known as a mixed historian Polybius’s The constitution, it was considered by Histories describes the rise most Romans to be an ideal form of the Roman Republic and of government that provided its constitution with a stability and prevented tyranny. separation of powers. Checks and balances The Roman standard carried the 48 BCE Julius Caesar is given Roman politician Cicero was a legend SPQR (the Senate and the unprecedented powers, and staunch defender of the system, People of Rome), celebrating the central his dictatorship marks the particularly when it was threatened institutions of the mixed constitution. end of the Roman Republic. by the granting of dictatorial powers to Julius Caesar. He warned AFTER that a break-up of the Republic 27 BCE Octavian is proclaimed would prompt a return to a Augustus, effectively the first destructive cycle of governments. emperor of Rome. He said that from a monarchy, power can be passed to a tyrant; 1734 Montesquieu writes Considerations on the Causes See also: Plato 34–39 ■ Aristotle 40–43 ■ Montesquieu 110–111 ■ Benjamin of the Greatness of the Romans Franklin 112–13 ■ Thomas Jefferson 140–41 ■ James Madison 150–53 and Their Decline.
MEDIEV POLITIC 30 CE–1515 CE
AL S
52 INTRODUCTION According to Catholic Emperor Theodosius I Muhammad writes Al-Kindi brings tradition, St. Peter is establishes Christianity the Constitution classical Greek made the first Bishop of as the official religion texts, including those Rome, and his successors of Medina, of Plato and Aristotle, become known as popes. of Rome. establishing the first to the House of Islamic government. Wisdom in Baghdad. C.30 CE 380 622 900 306 CE C.413 800 C.940–950 Constantine I becomes the Augustine of Hippo Charlemagne is In The Virtuous City, first Christian emperor of describes a crowned emperor Al-Farabi applies the of Rome, effectively ideas of Plato and the Roman empire. government without founding the Holy Aristotle to imagine justice as no better Roman empire. an ideal Islamic state. than a band of robbers. F rom its beginnings in the emerged. It spread from Arabia and Rome were largely neglected. 1st century BCE, the Roman into Asia and Africa, and also A major factor in this subordination empire grew in strength, influenced political thinking in of ideas was the rise to political extending its reign over Europe, Christian Europe. power of the Church and the Mediterranean Africa, and the papacy. Medieval Europe was Middle East. By the 2nd century CE, The impact of Christianity effectively ruled by the Church, a it was at the height of its power, Roman philosophers such as situation that was formalized in 800 and Roman imperial culture, with Plotinus returned to the ideas by the creation of the Holy Roman its emphasis on prosperity and of Plato, and the “neo-Platonist” empire under Charlemagne. stability, threatened to replace movement influenced early Christian the values of scholarship and thinkers. Augustine of Hippo Islamic influence philosophy associated with the interpreted Plato’s ideas in the Meanwhile, in Arabia, Muhammad republics of Athens and Rome. light of Christian faith to examine established Islam as a religion At the same time, a new religion questions such as the difference with an imperialist agenda, and it was taking root within the between divine and human law, rapidly established itself as a major empire: Christianity. and whether there could be such political as well as religious power. a thing as a just war. Unlike Christianity, Islam was open For the next millennium, to secular political thinking and political thinking was dominated The pagan Roman empire had encouraged wide scholarship and by the Church in Europe, and simply had little time for philosophy the study of non-Muslim thinkers. political theory during the Middle and theory, but in early Christian Libraries were set up in cities Ages was shaped by Christian Europe, political thinking was throughout the Islamic empire theology. In the 7th century, subordinated to religious dogma, to preserve classical texts, and another powerful religion, Islam, and the ideas of ancient Greece
Avicenna incorporates Christians launch the Thomas Aquinas MEDIEVAL POLITICS 53 rational philosophy First Crusade to defines the cardinal into Islamic theology, gain control of Ibn Khaldun states opening up space for Jerusalem and the and theological that the role of Holy Land from virtues, and makes a new political ideas. Islamic rule. distinction between government is to natural, human, and prevent injustice. divine law. C.980–1037 1095 1300 1377 1086 1100 1328 1513 King William I of England Henry I of England Marsilius of Padua Niccolò Machiavelli orders the compilation of issues the Charter of sides with Holy Roman writes The Prince, the Domesday Book in Liberties, making the Emperor Louis IV and effectively starting monarch subject to laws modern political one of the world’s first preventing the abuse secular rule in the government censuses. king’s power struggle science. of power. against Pope John XII. scholars integrated the ideas of rediscovery spread across the rulers came into conflict with the Plato and Aristotle into Islamic Christian world, and despite the papacy. The authority of the Church theology. Cities such as Baghdad suspicion of the Church authorities, in civil affairs was brought into became centers of learning, and there was a rush to find and question, and philosophers such scholars such as Al-Kindi, Al-Farabi, translate not only the texts, but as Giles of Rome and Marsilius of Ibn Sina (Avicenna), Ibn Rushd also their Islamic commentaries. Padua had to come down on one (Averroes), and Ibn Khaldun side or the other. emerged as political theorists. Difficult questions A new generation of Christian As the Middle Ages drew to an Meanwhile, in Europe, philosophers became acquainted end, new nations challenged the scholarship had become the with classical thinking. Thomas authority of the Church, but people preserve of the clergy, and the Aquinas tried to integrate the ideas were also beginning to question structure of society was prescribed of Aristotle into Christian theology. the power of their monarchs. In by the Church, leaving little room This posed questions that had England, King John was forced by for dissent. It would take Islamic previously been avoided, on his barons to concede some of his influence to bring fresh ideas to subjects such as the divine right of powers. In Italy, dynastic tyrants medieval Europe, when scholars kings, and revived debate about were replaced by republics such as rediscovered the classical texts. secular versus divine law. The Florence, where the Renaissance In the 12th century, the texts that introduction of secular thinking began. It was in Florence that Islamic scholars had preserved into intellectual life had a profound Niccolò Machiavelli, a potent and translated began to come to effect within the Holy Roman symbol of Renaissance thought, the notice of Christian scholars, empire. Separate nation-states were shocked the world by producing particularly in Spain, where the asserting their independence and a political philosophy that was two faiths coexisted. News of the entirely pragmatic in its morality. ■
54 IF JUSTICE BE TAKEN AWAY, WHAT ARE GOVERNMENTS BUT GREAT BANDS OF ROBBERS? AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO (354–430 CE) IN CONTEXT I n 380 CE, Christianity was a convert to Christianity. In his effectively adopted as the attempt to integrate classical IDEOLOGY official religion of the Roman philosophy into the religion, he was Christianity empire, and as the Church’s power greatly influenced by his study of and influence grew, its relationship Plato, which also formed the basis FOCUS with the state became a disputed for his political thinking. Just government issue. One of the first political philosophers to address this As a Roman citizen, Augustine BEFORE question was Augustine of Hippo, believed in the tradition of a state 4th century BCE In the a scholar and teacher who became bound by the rule of law, but as a Republic and Laws, Plato scholar, he agreed with Aristotle stresses the importance of justice in an ideal state. States have Robbers band together a ruler or government, under a leader and have 1st century BCE Cicero rules for discipline and opposes the overthrow of and laws governing dividing their booty. the Roman Republic and its conduct and the economy. replacement with an emperor. States led by unjust rulers Each band has its own 306 CE Constantine I becomes wage war on their neighbors territory and steals from the first Christian emperor of the Roman empire. to seize territory neighboring territories. and resources. AFTER 13th century Thomas If justice be taken away, what are governments Aquinas uses Augustine’s but great bands of robbers? arguments to define a just war. 14th century Ibn Khaldun says that government’s role is to prevent injustice. c. 1600 Francisco Suárez and the School of Salamanca create a philosophy of natural law.
MEDIEVAL POLITICS 55 See also: Plato 34–39 ■ Cicero 49 ■ Thomas Aquinas 62–69 ■ Francisco Suárez 90–91 ■ Thomas Hobbes 96–103 Without justice an predominates. Augustine sees the restore peace, did exist, though it association of men influence of the Church on the state should be embarked upon with in the bond of law as the only means to ensure that regret and only as a last resort. cannot possibly continue. the laws of the land are made with reference to divine laws, allowing This conflict between secular Augustine people to live in the civitas Dei. and divine law, and the attempt to The presence of such just laws reconcile the two, began the power and Plato that the goal of the state distinguishes a state from a band struggle between Church and state was to enable its people to lead of robbers. Robbers and pirates that ran through the Middle Ages. ■ the good and virtuous life. For a join together under a leader to Christian, this meant living by steal from their neighbors. The the divine laws prescribed by the robbers may have rules, but they Church. However, Augustine are not just rules. However, believed that, in practice, few men Augustine further points out that lived according to divine laws, and even in a sinful civitas terrea, the the vast majority lived in a state of authority of the state can ensure sin. He distinguished between two order through the rule of law, and kingdoms: the civitas Dei (city of that order is something we all God) and the civitas terrea (city of have a reason to want. Earth). In the latter kingdom, sin Just war Augustine’s vision of a state living Augustine’s emphasis on justice, according to Christian principles was with its roots in Christian doctrine, outlined in his work City of God, in which also applied to the business of war. he described the relationship between While he believed all war to be evil, the Roman empire and God’s law. and that to attack and plunder other states was unjust, he conceded that a “just war” fought for a just cause, such as defending the state against aggression, or to Augustine of Hippo Aurelius Augustine was born in and was ordained a priest in Thagaste (now Souk-Ahras, Thagaste in 391. He finally Algeria) in Roman North Africa, settled in Hippo (now Bone, to a pagan father and a Christian Algeria), establishing a religious mother. He studied Latin literature community and becoming its in Madaurus and rhetoric in bishop in 396. As well as his Carthage, where he came across autobiographical Confessions, the Persian Manichean religion, he wrote a number of works on and became interested in theology and philosophy. He philosophy through the works died during a siege of Hippo of Cicero. He taught in Thagaste by the Vandals in 430. and Carthage until 373, when he moved to Rome and Milan, and Key works there was inspired by theologian Bishop Ambrose to explore Plato’s 387–395 On Free Will philosophy, and later to become a 397–401 Confessions Christian. He was baptized in 387, 413–425 City of God
56 FIGHTING HAS BEEN ENJOINED UPON YOU WHILE IT IS HATEFUL TO YOU MUHAMMAD (570–632 CE) IN CONTEXT Islam is a peaceful R evered by Muslims as the religion and all Muslims prophet of the Islamic faith, IDEOLOGY Muhammad also laid the Islam wish to live in peace. foundations for an Islamic empire; he was its political and military FOCUS But even believers in Islam leader as much as its spiritual Just war need to defend themselves guide. Exiled from Mecca because of his faith, in 622 he traveled to BEFORE against invasion… Yathrib (on a journey that became 6th century BCE In The Art known as the Hijra), where he of War, Sun Tzu argues that …and attack the gained huge numbers of followers, the military is essential unbelievers who threaten and ultimately organized the city to the state. into a unified Islamic city-state. their peace and religion. The city was renamed Medina c.413 Augustine describes (“city of the Prophet”), and it a government without justice Fighting has been became the world’s first Islamic as no better than a band enjoined upon you state. Muhammad created a of robbers. while it is hateful constitution for the state—the Constitution of Medina—which AFTER to you. formed the basis of an Islamic 13th century Thomas political tradition. Aquinas defines the conditions for a just war. The constitution addressed the rights and duties of every group 1095 Christians launch the within the community, the rule First Crusade to wrest control of law, and the issue of war. It of Jerusalem and the Holy recognized the Jewish community Land from the Muslims. of Medina as separate, and agreed reciprocal obligations with them. 1932 In Towards Among its edicts, it obliged the Understanding Islam, Abul whole community—members of all Ala Maududi insists that the religions in Medina—to fight as Islam embraces all aspects of one if the community came under human life, including politics. threat. The key aims were peace within the Islamic state of Medina
MEDIEVAL POLITICS 57 See also: Augustine of Hippo 54–55 ■ Al-Farabi 58–59 ■ Thomas Aquinas 62–69 ■ Ibn Khaldun 72–73 ■ Abul Ala Maududi 278–79 ■ Ali Shariati 323 Muslim pilgrims pray near the Prophet Muhammad Mosque in the holy city of Medina, Saudi Arabia, where Muhammad established the first Islamic state. and the construction of a mean taking preemptive action. As these were conquered one political structure that would Although violence should be by one, fighting became a way help Muhammad gather followers abhorrent to a believer in Islam, of spreading the faith and, in and soldiers for his conquest of it can be a necessary evil to political terms, expanding the the Arabian peninsula. protect and advance the religion, Islamic empire. and Muhammad states that it is The authority of the constitution the moral obligation of all Muslims While the Quran describes jihad was both spiritual and secular, to defend the faith. as a religious duty, and fighting as stating, “Whenever you differ about hateful but necessary, it also states a matter, it must be referred to God This duty is encapsulated in that there are strict rules governing and Muhammad.” Since God spoke the Islamic idea of jihad (literally the conduct of war. The conditions through Muhammad, his word “struggle” or “striving”), which for a “just war” (just cause, right carried unquestionable authority. was originally directed against intention, proper authority, and last neighboring cities that attacked resort) are very similar to those that Peaceful but not pacifist Muhammad’s Islamic state. evolved in Christian Europe. ■ The constitution confirms much of the Islamic holy book known as the Quran, which it predates. However, the Quran is more detailed on religious duties than political practicalities. In the Quran, Islam is described as a peace- loving religion, but not a pacifist religion. Muhammad repeatedly stresses that Islam should be defended from unbelievers, and implies that this may in some cases Muhammad gained a following, but was Fight in the name of Allah eventually driven from Mecca and in the way of Allah. Muhammad was born in Mecca with his disciples. Their escape in 570, shortly after the death of to Medina in 622 is celebrated Fight against those his father. His mother died when as the beginning of the Muslim who disbelieve in Allah. he was six, and he was left in the calendar. By the time of his death care of his grandparents and in 632, nearly all of Arabia was Sunni Hadith an uncle, who employed him under his rule. managing caravans trading with Syria. In his late 30s, he made Key works regular visits to a cave on Mount Hira to pray, and in 610 he is c.622 Constitution of Medina said to have received his first c.632 The Quran revelation from the angel Gabriel. 8th and 9th centuries He began preaching and slowly The Hadith
58 THE PEOPLE REFUSE THE RULE OF VIRTUOUS MEN AL-FARABI (C.870–950) IN CONTEXT A model state, which To achieve this, does not yet exist, it would need IDEOLOGY virtuous rulers. Islam would ensure that its people lived virtuously. FOCUS Political virtue Instead they prefer But people do not to seek wealth and understand that true BEFORE pleasure, and live in happiness comes from c.380–360 BCE Plato proposes ignorant, perverted, living a virtuous life. rule by “philosopher kings” or mistaken societies. in the Republic. The people refuse 3rd century CE Philosophers the rule of virtuous men. such as Plotinus reinterpret Plato’s works, introducing W ith the spread of the of the great Greek and Roman theological and mystical ideas. Islamic empire in the thinkers were kept and translated. 7th and 8th centuries Baghdad, in particular, became a 9th century The Arab came a flourishing of culture and renowned center of learning, and it philosopher Al-Kindi brings learning often referred to as the was there that Al-Farabi built his Classical Greek texts to the Islamic Golden Age. Libraries were reputation as a philosopher and House of Wisdom, Baghdad. established in many of the major commentator on the works of the cities of the empire, where texts Greek philosopher Aristotle. AFTER c.980–1037 The Persian writer Avicenna incorporates rational philosophy into Islamic theology. 13th century Thomas Aquinas defines the cardinal and theological virtues, and differentiates between natural, human, and divine law.
MEDIEVAL POLITICS 59 See also: Plato 34–39 ■ Aristotle 40–43 ■ Augustine of Hippo 54–55 ■ Thomas Aquinas 62–69 The goal of the model state wisdom. Rather than a philosopher Al-Farabi developed his ideas is not only to procure king, Al-Farabi advocated rule by in Baghdad, Iraq, which was a center the material prosperity a “philosopher prophet” or, as he of learning in the Islamic Golden Age, of its citizens, but also describes it, a just Imam. and still boasts some of the oldest their future destiny. universities in the world. Al-Farabi However, Al-Farabi makes it clear that his Virtuous City is a sorrow. Only the souls of men Like Aristotle, Al-Farabi believed political Utopia. He also describes from a Virtuous City could enjoy that man by nature needs to live the various forms of government eternal happiness. However, as in a social structure such as a city- that exist in the real world, pointing long as the ignorant, mistaken, state in order to lead a good and out their failings. He identifies and perverted citizens and their happy life. He also believed that the three major reasons why they fall leaders pursue their earthly city was only the minimum size in short of his ideal: they are ignorant, pleasures, they will reject the rule which this was possible, and felt mistaken, or perverted. In an of a virtuous leader—he will not the same principles could be ignorant state, the people have give them what they believe they applied to nation-states, empires, no knowledge of how true want—and so the model Virtuous and even a world-state. However, it happiness comes from leading a City has yet to be achieved. ■ was Aristotle’s teacher, Plato, who virtuous life; in a mistaken state, most influenced Al-Farabi’s political the people misunderstand the musician and noted linguist. thinking, in particular with his nature of virtue; in a perverted Although he spent most of vision of the ideal state and how state, they know what constitutes his life in Baghdad as a qadi it would be ruled. Just as Plato a virtuous life, but choose not to (judge) and teacher, Al-Farabi advocated the rule of “philosopher pursue it. In all three types of also traveled widely, visiting kings” who alone understand the imperfect state, the people pursue Egypt, Damascus, Harran, and true nature of virtues such as wealth and pleasure instead of Aleppo. It is believed that he justice, Al-Farabi, in The Virtuous the good life. Al-Farabi believed wrote most of his works in his City, describes a model city ruled the souls of the ignorant and time in Aleppo, working for by a virtuous leader who guides mistaken would simply disappear the court of Sayf al-Dawla, and instructs his people to live after death, while those of the ruler of Syria. virtuous lives that will bring perverted would suffer eternal them true happiness. Key works Al-Farabi Divine wisdom c. 940–950 Where Al-Farabi differs from Plato Referred to as the “Second The Virtuous City is in his conception of the nature Teacher” (after Aristotle) Epistle on the Intellect and origin of the ideal ruler’s virtue, among Islamic philosophers, Book of Letters which for Al-Farabi was divine little is known for certain of the life of Abu Nasr al-Farabi. He was probably born in Farab (modern-day Otrar, Kazakhstan) in around 870, and went to school there and in Bukhara, now in Uzbekistan, before traveling to Baghdad to continue his studies in 901. In Baghdad, he studied alchemy and philosophy with both Christian and Islamic scholars. He also became a renowned
60 NO FREE MAN SHALL BE IMPRISONED, EXCEPT BY THE LAW OF THE LAND BARONS OF KING JOHN (EARLY 13TH CENTURY) IN CONTEXT K ing John of England Barons” included clauses relating became increasingly to their property, rights, and duties, IDEOLOGY unpopular during his reign but also made the king subject to Parliamentarism due to his mishandling of the wars the law of the land. with France and his high-handed FOCUS attitude toward his feudal barons, Freedom from tyranny Liberty who provided him with both Clause 39, in particular, had knights and tax revenue. By 1215, profound implications: “No free BEFORE he faced rebellion and was forced man shall be seized or imprisoned, c.509 BCE The monarchy in to negotiate with his barons when or stripped of his rights or Rome is overthrown and they arrived in London. They possessions, or outlawed or exiled, replaced by a republic. presented him with a document or deprived of his standing in any detailing their demands—modeled other way, nor will we proceed 1st century BCE Cicero argues on the Charter of Liberties of 100 with force against him, or send for a return to the Roman years earlier issued by King Henry I others to do so, except by the Republic after Julius Caesar —which effectively reduced John’s lawful judgment of his equals or takes power from the Senate. power and protected their own by the law of the land.” Implicit privileges. The “Articles of the in the barons’ demands was the AFTER concept of habeas corpus. This 1640s The English Civil War To no man will we sell, requires that a person under and subsequent overthrow of or deny, or delay, arrest be brought before a court, the monarchy establish that right or justice. and protects individuals from a monarch cannot govern Magna Carta, arbitrary abuse of power. For the without parliamentary consent. Clause 40 first time, the freedom of the individual from a tyrannical ruler 1776 The Declaration of was explicitly guaranteed. John Independence lists “Life, had no choice but to accept the Liberty, and the pursuit of terms and attach his seal to what Happiness” as inherent rights. later became known as the Magna Carta (Latin for “Great Charter”). 1948 The United Nations General Assembly adopts Unfortunately, John’s assent the Universal Declaration was only a token, and much of of Human Rights in Paris. the document was later ignored or repealed. Nevertheless, the
MEDIEVAL POLITICS 61 See also: Cicero 49 ■ John Locke 104–09 ■ Montesquieu 110–11 ■ Jean-Jacques Rousseau 118–25 ■ Oliver Cromwell 333 Free men have a right A despotic monarch to liberty, protected can exploit his subjects and punish them arbitrarily. by law. A monarch’s power should be limited by the law of the land. Feudal Barons of England No free man shall be imprisoned, except by the law of the land. First created by William the Conqueror (1028–87), the key clauses remained, and the elected representatives, knights, barony was a form of feudal spirit of Magna Carta was and burgesses (borough officials) land tenure granted by the highly influential in the political as well as barons for the first time. king, with certain duties and development of Britain. The privileges allocated to the restriction of the power of the Toward a parliament holder. The barons paid monarch in favor of the rights In the 17th century, the idea of taxes to the king in return of the “free man”—which at the making the English monarch bound for their holding of the land, time meant only the feudal by the law of the land came to a but also had an obligation, the landowners, and not the serfs—laid head in the English Civil War, and servitium debitum (“service the foundations for an independent Magna Carta symbolized the cause owed”), to provide a quota parliament. The rebellious De of the Parliamentarians under of knights to fight for the Montfort’s Parliament in 1265 Oliver Cromwell. Although at the king when asked. In return, was the first such body, featuring time it applied only to a minority of the barons were granted already privileged citizens, Magna the privilege of participation Carta pioneered the idea of laws to in the king’s council or protect the liberty of the individual parliament—but only when from despotic authority. It also summoned to do so by the inspired the bills of rights enshrined king. They did not meet in many modern constitutions, regularly and, since the particularly those of the United king’s court often moved from States, as well as many place to place, they did not declarations of human rights. ■ have a regular venue. The Houses of Parliament in London, Although the barons at the England, has its origin in the insistence time of King John (pictured of the barons in 1215 that the monarch above) forced Magna Carta could not levy additional taxes without on their king, the power of the consent of his royal council. the feudal barony weakened during the 13th century, and was rendered all but obsolete during the English Civil War. Key works 1100 Charter of Liberties 1215 Magna Carta
FOR WAR TO BE JUST THERE IS REQUIRED A JUST CAUSE THOMAS AQUINAS (1225–1274)
64 THOMAS AQUINAS T he Roman Catholic Church Peace is the work of justice held a monopoly over indirectly, in so far as justice IN CONTEXT learning for several centuries in medieval Europe. Ever removes the obstacles to IDEOLOGY since the adoption of Christianity peace; but it is the work of Natural law as the official religion of the Roman charity, according to its very empire by Constantine at the end notion, that causes peace. FOCUS of the 4th century CE, political Just war thinking had been dominated Thomas Aquinas by Christian teaching. The BEFORE relationship between state and scholar Thomas Aquinas, a 44 BCE In De Officiis, Cicero Church preoccupied philosophers member of the newly formed argues against war, except as and theologians, most notably Dominican religious order. An a last resort in order to defend Augustine of Hippo, who laid order that valued the tradition of the state and restore peace. the foundations for the debate by scholasticism, the Dominicans integrating the political analysis used reasoning and inference as a 5th century Augustine of of Plato’s Republic with Christian method of education, rather than Hippo argues that the state doctrine. However, as translations simply teaching Christian dogma. should promote virtue. of classical Greek texts became In this spirit, Aquinas set about available in Europe in the 12th reconciling Christian theology with 620s Muhammad calls on century through contact with the rational arguments put forward Muslims to fight in defense Islamic scholars, some European by philosophers such as Plato and of Islam. thinkers began to take an interest Aristotle. As a priest, his concerns in other philosophers —in AFTER particular, in Aristotle and 1625 Hugo Grotius puts the his Islamic interpreter, the theory of just war into the Andalusian polymath Averroes. context of international law in On the Law of War and Peace. A reasoned method By far the most significant of the 1945 The United Nations (UN) Christian thinkers to emerge in the Charter prohibits the use of late Middle Ages was the Italian force in international conflict unless authorized by the UN. The purpose of the …so a state can only For war to be state is to enable people deem war necessary just, there is when it promotes good required a to live a good life… just cause. and avoids evil. War can only be fought with the authority To have authority, a sovereign or government of the sovereign or must rule with justice. government.
MEDIEVAL POLITICS 65 See also: Aristotle 40–43 ■ Cicero 49 ■ Augustine of Hippo 54–55 ■ Muhammad 56–57 ■ Marsilius of Padua 71 ■ Francisco Suárez 90–91 ■ Michael Walzer 324–25 were primarily theological, but is as important in political thinking Thomas Aquinas since the Church was the dominant as it is in theological argument. As political power at the time, the a starting point, he took the works The son of the Count of distinction between theological of Augustine of Hippo, who had Aquino, Aquinas was born in and political was not as clear-cut successfully integrated into his Roccasecca, Italy, and was as it is today. In arguing for an Christian beliefs the classical schooled in Monte Cassino integration of the rational and the Greek notion that the purpose of and the University of Naples. dogmatic, of philosophy and the state is to promote a good and Although expected to become theology, Aquinas addressed the virtuous life. Augustine argued that a Benedictine monk, he joined question of secular power versus this was in harmony with divine the new Dominican order in divine authority, and the conflict law—which, if adhered to, will 1244 and moved to Paris a between Church and state that was prevent injustice. For Aquinas, year later. In about 1259, he growing in many countries. He steeped in the works of Plato and taught in Naples, Orvieto, also used this method to examine Aristotle, justice was the prime and the new school in Santa ethical questions, such as when political virtue that underpinned ❯❯ Sabina, and acted as a papal it might be justified to wage war. advisor in Rome. Justice, the prime virtue Warfare for the protection of Christian He was sent back to Paris In his moral philosophy, Aquinas values could be justified in Aquinas’s in 1269, probably due to a explicitly examines political thinking, including the First Crusade dispute over the compatibility issues, stressing that reasoning of 1096–99, in which Jerusalem was of Averroes’s and Aristotle’s captured and thousands massacred. philosophies with Christian doctrine. In 1272, he set up a new Dominican university in Naples. While there, he had a mystical experience that prompted him to say that all he had written seemed “like straw” to him. Aquinas was summoned as an advisor to the Council of Lyons in 1274, but fell ill and died after an accident on the way. Key works 1254–56 Commentary on the Sentences c.1258–60 Summa Contra Gentiles 1267–73 Summa Theologica
66 THOMAS AQUINAS The only excuse, pacifism for its adherents, it was The Geneva Convention consists of therefore, for going to war sometimes necessary to fight in four treaties signed between 1864 and order to preserve or restore peace 1949—broadly based on the concepts is that we may live in in the face of aggression. However, of just war—defining fair treatment of peace unharmed. such a war should be defensive, not soldiers and civilians in wartime. Cicero preemptive, and waged only when certain conditions could be met. He bound by laws that ensure the his entire political philosophy, called these conditions the jus ad justice of its actions, and this in and the notion of justice was the bellum or “right to war”—which turn needs to be based on a theory key element in governance. Just were distinct from the jus in bello, of legitimate governance, taking laws were the difference that the rules of just conduct in a war— into account the demands of both distinguished good government and believed that they would the Church and the state. from bad, bestowing upon it the ensure the justice of the war. legitimacy to rule. It was also Natural and human laws justice that determined the Aquinas identified three This recognition of the role of morality of the actions of the distinct basic requirements for just the state and its authority state, a principle that can most war: rightful intention, authority distinguished Aquinas’s political clearly be seen in Aquinas’s of the sovereign, and a just cause. philosophy from other thinkers of theory of a “just war.” These principles have remained the time. His emphasis on justice the basic criteria in just-war theory Defining a just war to the present day. The “rightful Using Augustine’s arguments as intention” for the Christian meant his starting point, Aquinas agreed one thing only—the restoration of that although Christianity preached peace—but it is in the other two conditions that we can see a more secular approach. The “authority of the sovereign” implies that war can only be waged by an authority such as the state or its ruler, while the “just cause” limits its power to fighting a war only for the benefit of the people, rather than for personal gain or glory. For these criteria to be met, there must be a properly instituted government or ruler The Right To War For Aquinas, the only rightful A just war can only be For a war to be fought for a intention of a just war is the waged under the authority just cause, it must benefit restoration of peace. of the sovereign. the people.
The laws that we create for ourselves and our MEDIEVAL POLITICS 67 societies must be based on natural law, which in itself is a reflection of the eternal law that guides Natural law is made clear to us the entire universe. through our God-given gift of reason. It guides our moral and ethical behavior. Eternal law is divine, and Human laws on crime and comes directly from God. The eternal punishment must be based on reason, law rules the entire universe. so that they relate to the values we deduce from natural law. as an essential virtue, influenced of God’s law, however, Aquinas However, natural law, which is by his study of Plato and Aristotle, explained this as our participation concerned with morality and virtue, led him to consider the place of in the eternal law. is not to be confused with the law in society, and this interest human laws that govern our day-to- in law formed the basis for his Reason, he argues, is a God- day affairs, which we have created political thinking. Unsurprisingly, given ability that enables us to to enable the smooth running of our given the increasing plurality of devise for ourselves the natural law, social communities. These man- society at the time, this involved which is—in effect—the way in made laws are, like their creators, an examination of the differences which the eternal law applies to by their very nature fallible, so they between divine and human laws, human beings in accordance can lead to injustice, and their and by implication the laws of the with our nature as a social animal. authority can only be judged by Church and those of the state. comparison with natural law. Reason in man is rather like As a Christian, Aquinas God in the world. The urge for community believed that the universe is While Aquinas attributes natural ruled by an eternal divine law, Thomas Aquinas law to our propensity for rational and that humans—as the only thought, the emergence of human rational creatures—have a unique laws is explained by another aspect relationship with it. Because of of human nature—our need to form our ability to reason, we are subject social communities. This idea is to what he calls a “natural law,” very much the same as proposed which we have arrived at by by Aristotle in Politics—which examining human nature and Aquinas had written a lengthy inferring a moral code of behavior. commentary on—that man is by ❯❯ Far from being a contradiction
68 THOMAS AQUINAS The Kellogg-Briand Pact, signed in 1928 by 15 countries, forbade its signatories from starting wars. This accorded with Aquinas’s principle that war should only be used to restore peace. nature a “political animal.” The an understanding of moral sense— and, crucially, whether their rule urge to form social communities in other words, the natural law. is just or unjust. Rule by a single is something that defines us as They would then be able to live individual is known as monarchy humans distinct from other well, in accordance with natural when it is just, but tyranny when animals. Like Aristotle, Aquinas law, and—as Christians—in unjust; similarly, just rule by a few recognizes that humans naturally accordance with divine law. is known as aristocracy, but when form family units, which in turn unjust, as an oligarchy; and just come together as villages, and Ruling justly rule by the people is called a ultimately form political societies, The question that followed was republic or polity, as opposed to such as city-states or nation-states, this: what form of government the unjust rule of a democracy. providing an ordered social is best suited to ensuring the framework. Although he agreed in aspirations of this political society? What determines whether principle with Aristotle that such a Again, Aquinas takes his lead from these forms of government are state was the perfect community, Aristotle, classifying various types just or unjust are the laws through his conception of it was not the of regime by the number of rulers which order is brought to the same as the ancient Greek state. Aquinas defined law as understanding, which was not A just war is in the “an ordinance of reason, for the compatible with the views of long run far better for common good, promulgated by the Church in the 13th century. a man’s soul than the one who has the care of the most prosperous peace. community.” This definition sums According to the Greek Theodore Roosevelt up his criteria for just rule. The philosophers, the aim of such a laws must be based on reason, society was to enable its citizens rather than divine law imposed to lead a “good life” in accordance on the state by the Church in with virtue and reason. Aquinas’s order that they satisfy our interpretation was subtly different, human need to deduce for bringing it in line with Christian ourselves the natural law. theology and his own ideas of natural law. For him, the role of Maintaining order political society was to enable its Aquinas goes on to explain citizens to develop their powers of that purely human laws are also reason, and through this, to acquire necessary for the maintenance of order in society. Natural law guides our decisions of right and wrong, and the moral code that determines what constitutes a crime or injustice, but it is human law that decides what would be a fitting punishment and how this should be enforced. These human laws are essential to ordered, civilized society, and provide deterrents and incentives to potential wrongdoers to act with respect for the common good—and eventually to “do willingly what hitherto they did
MEDIEVAL POLITICS 69 from fear, and become virtuous.” The United Nations was established are revealed as a radical change The justice of human laws is judged in 1945 after World War II with the in political thinking that challenged by how well they measure up to intention of maintaining international the conventional power of the natural law. If found to fall short, peace and promoting principles that Roman Catholic Church. Despite they should not be considered Aquinas would have called natural law. this, thanks to his scholarship laws at all. and devoutness, his ideas were Surprisingly, in view of his notion soon accepted by the established The second part of Aquinas’s of the state existing to promote life Church and have remained definition, however, is perhaps the according to Christian principles, the basis for a large part of deciding factor in judging the Aquinas does not dismiss the Catholic political philosophy justice of a system of government. possibility of a legitimate non- to the present day. The laws imposed should be in the Christian ruler. Although his rule interests of the people as a whole, would not be perfect, a pagan could In the criteria for a just war— and not those of the ruler or rulers. rule justly and in accordance with rightful intention, authority of the Only with such laws can the state human laws, allowing his citizens sovereign, and just cause—we provide a framework in which its to develop their powers of reason can see how these principles fit citizens can freely pursue their and eventually come to deduce a Aquinas’s more general ideas of intellectual and moral development. moral code. Living then according political justice based on natural However, the question still remains: to natural law, they would in time law, and the principle of reason who should rule? Aquinas, like become a Christian society. rather than divine authority. Aristotle, believed that the majority As well as influencing much did not have the reasoning power A radical thinker subsequent just-war theory, to fully appreciate the morality When viewed from our modern Aquinas’s notion of natural law necessary for ruling, which implies standpoint nearly 900 years later, was embraced by both theologians that government should not be in it might appear that Aquinas was and experts on law. Over the the hands of the people, but a just simply rediscovering and repeating centuries, the necessity of human individual, monarch, or aristocracy. Aristotle’s political theories. law would become a key issue in But Aquinas also recognized the However, when considered fully the increasing conflict between potential for these individuals to be in context against a background Church and secular powers in corrupted, and argued instead for of medieval Christianity, his views Europe, as emerging nation-states some form of mixed constitution. asserted their independence from the papacy. ■ Aquinas’s view of the requirements of a just war—rightful intention, authority, and just cause—still hold true today, and motivate many involved in anti-war movements.
70 TO LIVE POLITICALLY MEANS LIVING IN ACCORDANCE WITH GOOD LAWS GILES OF ROME (C.1243–1316) IN CONTEXT T he teachings of the Greek King Philip IV of France arranged a philosopher Aristotle, long public burning of the Unam Sanctam. IDEOLOGY ignored in Europe, became This document attempted to force the Constitutionalism accepted by the Church in the 13th king into submission to the papacy— century thanks largely to the work a principle that Giles agreed with. FOCUS of the Dominican priest Thomas The rule of law Aquinas and his protégé Giles of tyranny, since a tyrant excludes Rome. As well as writing important himself from civil society by BEFORE commentaries on Aristotle’s works, not adhering to the law. c.350 BCE In his Politics, Giles developed his ideas further, Aristotle says that Man is a in particular the notion of man as a Although Giles believed that a political animal by nature. “political animal”—“political” in the hereditary monarchy was the form Aristotelian sense of living in a of government best suited to rule a 13th century Thomas polis or civil community, rather political society, as an archbishop Aquinas incorporates Aristotle’s than referring to a political regime. his loyalties were divided between ideas into Christian philosophy the Church and secular power. and political thinking. For Giles, being part of a civil Eventually, he sided with the pope society is “living politically,” and by declaring that kings ought to be AFTER is essential to living a good life subordinate to the Church. ■ 1328 Marsilius of Padua sides according to virtue. This is because with King Louis IV and secular civil communities are regulated by rule in his power struggle laws that ensure and safeguard against Pope John XXII. the morality of their citizens. Giles suggests that good laws should c.1600 Francisco Suárez enforce virtues, such as justice. argues against the divine right Being a member of society—living of kings in Tractatus de legibus politically—requires adherence to ac deo legislatore. these laws; not abiding by them means living outside society. It 1651 Thomas Hobbes’s follows that it is the rule of law that Leviathan describes life in a distinguishes “political” life from state of nature as “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short,” and See also: Aristotle 40–43 ■ Thomas Aquinas 62–69 ■ Marsilius of Padua 71 ■ advocates a social contract to Francisco Suárez 90–91 ■ Thomas Hobbes 96–103 protect all citizens in society.
MEDIEVAL POLITICS 71 THE CHURCH SHOULD DEVOTE ITSELF TO IMITATING CHRIST AND GIVE UP ITS SECULAR POWER MARSILIUS OF PADUA (1275–1343) IN CONTEXT A s an academic rather than sanction. Christ himself, he points a member of the clergy, out, denied the clergy any coercive IDEOLOGY Marsilius of Padua was in power over people in this world, Secularism a better position than theologians stressing their role as teachers. The to state openly what many of them Church should therefore follow the FOCUS believed: that the Church, and the example of Jesus and his disciples Role of the Church papacy in particular, should not and return political power to the have any political power. state. This secular state can then BEFORE better manage the specialty areas c.350 BCE Aristotle’s Politics In his treatise Defensor Pacis of government, such as law and describes the role of the citizen (Defender of the Peace)—written in order, and economic and military in the administration and defense of the elected Holy Roman matters, under a ruler chosen by jurisdiction of the city-state. Emperor, Ludwig of Bavaria, in his a majority of the people. ■ power struggle with Pope John XXII c.30 CE According to Catholic —he argues convincingly that it is I say that laws… instituted by belief, St. Peter becomes the not the function of the Church to election must receive their first Bishop of Rome. Subsequent govern. He refutes the claim made necessary approval from the bishops are known as “popes.” by successive popes of a God-given same primary authority, “plenitude of power,” believing that and no other. 800 Charlemagne is crowned it was destructive to the state. Marsilius of Padua Emperor of Rome, initiating the Holy Roman Empire. Using arguments from Aristotle’s Politics, Marsilius AFTER describes effective government as 1328 Ludwig of Bavaria, newly originating with the people, who crowned Holy Roman Emperor, have rights that include choosing deposes Pope John XXII. a ruler and participating in the legislative process. Management of 1517 German theologian human affairs is best conducted by Martin Luther criticizes the legislation, administered by the doctrines and rituals of the people, not imposed by divine law, Catholic Church, prompting which even the Bible does not the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. See also: Aristotle 40–43 ■ Augustine of Hippo 54–55 ■ Giles of Rome 70 ■ Niccolò Machiavelli 74–81
72 GOVERNMENT PREVENTS INJUSTICE, OTHER THAN SUCH AS IT COMMITS ITSELF IBN KHALDUN (1332–1406) IN CONTEXT The unity of a political society comes from asabiyyah, or community spirit. IDEOLOGY Islam This is the basis for government, and prevents injustice. FOCUS As a society advances, social cohesion Corruption of power decreases and its government becomes lax… BEFORE …exploiting its citizens for its own 1027–256 BCE Historians advantage, causing injustice. in China during the Zhou dynasty describe the Eventually, another government emerges “Dynastic Cycle” of empires to take the place of the decadent regime. declining and being replaced. Government prevents injustice, other c.950 Al-Farabi draws on than such as it commits itself. Plato and Aristotle for The Virtuous City, his notion of an ideal Islamic state and the shortcomings of governments. AFTER 1776 In The Wealth of Nations, British economist Adam Smith explains the principles behind the division of labor. 1974 US economist Arthur Laffer uses Ibn Khaldun’s ideas on taxation to produce the Laffer curve, which demonstrated the relationship between rates of taxation and government revenue.
MEDIEVAL POLITICS 73 See also: Aristotle 40–43 ■ Muhammad 56–57 ■ Al-Farabi 58–59 ■ Niccolò Machiavelli 74–81 ■ Karl Marx 188–93 D escribed by British state, whose purpose is to protect When a nation anthropologist Ernest the interests of its citizens and has become the victim Gellner as the best defend them against attack. of a psychological defeat, definition of government in the history of political theory, Whatever form this government then that marks the Ibn Khaldun’s assertion that may take, it contains the seeds of end of a nation. “government prevents injustice, its own destruction. As it gains Ibn Khaldun other than such as it commits more power, it becomes less itself” could be taken for a cynical concerned with the well-being of civilized, the rulers impose higher modern comment on political its citizens, and begins to act more taxes to maintain their own, institutions, or for the realism of in its own self-interest, exploiting increasingly opulent, lifestyles. Machiavelli. In fact, this definition people and creating injustice and Not only is this an injustice that lies at the heart of an innovative disunity. What had started as an threatens the unity of the state, 14th-century analysis of the causes institution to prevent injustice is but it is also counterproductive— of political instability. now committing injustices itself. overtaxing discourages production, The asabiyyah of the community and leads in the long run to lower, Built on community declines, so conditions are ripe not higher, revenues. This idea was Unlike many other political thinkers for another government to emerge rediscovered in the 20th century by of his time, Ibn Khaldun took a and take the place of the decadent US economist Arthur Laffer. Ibn historical, sociological, and regime. Civilizations rise and fall in Khaldun’s theories on the division economic standpoint to examine this way, Ibn Khaldun argues, in a of labor and the labor theory of the rise and fall of political cycle of political dynasties. value also predate their “discovery” institutions. Like Aristotle, he by mainstream economists. recognized that humans form social Corruption leads to decline communities, which he ascribed to Ibn Khaldun also points out the Although he believed that the the Arabic concept of asabiyyah— economic consequences of the continuous cycle of political change which translates as “community existence of a powerful elite. At was inevitable, Ibn Khaldun saw spirit,” “group solidarity,” or simply the beginning of a political society, some forms of government as better “tribalism.” This social cohesion taxes are only used to provide than others. For him, asabiyyah is gives rise to the institution of the for necessities to maintain the best maintained under a single asabiyyah, but as it becomes more ruler, such as a caliph in an Islamic Ibn Khaldun state (which has the added benefit He later returned to serve in of religion to give social cohesion). Born in Tunis, Tunisia, in 1332, several North African courts, It is maintained least satisfactorily Ibn Khaldun was brought up in but fled to the protection of a under a tyrant. Government is a a politically active family and Berber tribe in the desert when necessary evil, but since it implies studied the Quran and Islamic his attempts at reform were an inherent injustice of control of law. He held official posts in the rejected. In 1384, he settled in men by other men, its power Maghreb region of North Africa, Cairo, where he completed his should be kept to a minimum. ■ where he saw firsthand the History. He made one final political instability of many journey in 1401, to Damascus to regimes. While working in Fez, negotiate peace between Egypt he was imprisoned after a and the Mongol Khan Timur. change of government, and after his release moved to Granada Key works in southern Spain, where he led peace negotiations with the 1377 Introduction to History Castilian king, Pedro the Cruel. 1377–1406 History of the World 1377–1406 Autobiography
A PRUDENT RULER CANNOT AND MUST NOT HONOR HIS WORD NICCOLÒ MACHIAVELLI (1469–1527)
76 NICCOLÒ MACHIAVELLI IN CONTEXT W ritten by probably the Through his firsthand experience best known (and most in public office for the Florentine IDEOLOGY often misunderstood) Republic as a diplomat, and Realism of all political theorists, Niccolò influenced by his study of Machiavelli’s work gave rise to classical Roman society and FOCUS the term “Machiavellian,” which politics, Machiavelli developed Statecraft epitomizes the manipulative, an unconventional approach to deceitful, and generally self-serving the study of political theory. BEFORE politician who believes that “the 4th century BCE Chanakya end justifies the means.” However, A realistic approach advises rulers to do whatever this term fails to encapsulate the Rather than seeing society in terms is necessary to achieve the much broader, and innovative, of how it ought to be, Machiavelli well-being of the state. political philosophy Machiavelli tried to “go directly to the effectual proposed in his treatise The Prince. truth of the thing rather than to the 3rd century BCE Han Fei Tzu imagination of it,” meaning that assumes it is human nature to Machiavelli lived in turbulent he sought to get to the heart of seek personal gain and avoid political times at the beginning of the matter and treat politics not punishment, and his Legalist the period that would come to be as a branch of moral philosophy government makes strict laws. known as the Renaissance. This or ethics, but rather in purely was a turning point in European practical and realistic terms. 51 BCE Roman politician Cicero history, when the medieval concept advocates republican rule in of a Christian world ruled with Unlike previous political De Republica. divine guidance was replaced by thinkers, he does not see the the idea that humans could control purpose of the state as nurturing AFTER their own destiny. As the power the morality of its citizens, but 1651 Thomas Hobbes’s of the Church was being eroded rather as ensuring their well-being Leviathan describes life in a by Renaissance humanism, and security. Consequently, he state of nature as “nasty, prosperous Italian city-states, such replaces the concepts of right brutish, and short.” as Machiavelli’s native Florence, and wrong with notions such had been established as republics, as usefulness, necessity, success, 1816–30 Carl von Clausewitz but were repeatedly threatened and danger, and harm. By placing discusses the political aspects taken over by rich and powerful utility above morality, his ideas of warfare in On War. families—such as the Medicis— for the desirable qualities of a seeking to extend their influence. successful leader are based on The well-being of the …and should be A prudent state is the responsibility achieved by any means ruler cannot, and must not, honor of the ruler… possible, including deception and intrigue. his word. The ruler’s own morality is less important than …and he will be judged the good of the state… on the results rather than the means he has used.
MEDIEVAL POLITICS 77 See also: Chanakya 44–47 ■ Han Fei Tzu 48 ■ Ibn Khaldun 72–73 ■ Thomas Hobbes 96–103 ■ Carl von Clausewitz 160 ■ Antonio Gramsci 259 Instinct for self- Lack of An effective preservation individuality leader can harness the weaker traits of Credulity humanity in his people to great Fickleness effect, in the same way that a sheepdog can manipulate a herd of sheep. effectiveness and prudence be useful in establishing a cooperatively. Further, traits such rather than any sort of ideology successful society, though this as fickleness and credulity allow or moral rectitude. requires the correct leadership. humans to be easily manipulated by a skillful leader to behave in At the center of his political Using human nature a benevolent way. Qualities such philosophy is the Renaissance Man’s innate self-centeredness, for as selfishness, manifested in the idea of viewing human society in example, is shown in his instinct human desire for personal gain human terms, completely separated for self-preservation. However, and ambition, can be a powerful from the religious ideals imposed when threatened by aggression or driving force if channeled correctly, by the Christian Church. To a hostile environment, he reacts and are especially useful personal achieve this, his starting point with acts of courage, hard work, qualities in a ruler. is an analysis of human nature and cooperation. Machiavelli draws based on his observations of a distinction between an original, The two key elements to human behavior throughout history, fundamental human nature that transforming the undesirable, which brings him to the conclusion has no virtues, and a socially original human nature into a that the majority of people are by acquired nature that acts in a benevolent social nature are social nature selfish, short-sighted, fickle, virtuous manner and is beneficial organization and what Machiavelli and easily deceived. His view is to society. Other negative human describes as “prudent” leadership, realistic, if somewhat cynical, and traits can also be turned to the by which he means leadership that very different from those of previous common good, such as the is useful to the success of the state. political thinkers. While they might tendency to imitate rather appear to be an obstacle to creating than think as individuals. This, Advice for new rulers an efficient, stable society, Machiavelli notes, leads people to Machiavelli’s famous (and now Machiavelli argues that some of follow a leader’s example and act infamous) treatise The Prince these human failings can in fact was written in the style of the ❯❯
78 NICCOLÒ MACHIAVELLI Sandro Botticelli’s Adoration of the Magi, painted in 1475, includes representations of the powerful Medici family, who ruled Florence at the time Machiavelli wrote The Prince. practical guides for leaders known ruling classes. Having explained however, that these motivations as “Mirrors of Princes,” which were man’s essentially self-centered are also a manifestation of human common in the Middle Ages and but malleable nature, he then nature’s inherent self-interest, and the Renaissance. It is addressed to turns his attention to the similarly can be harnessed for the a new ruler—and is dedicated to qualities that are necessary common good. a member of the powerful Medici for a ruler to govern prudently. family—with advice on how basic Machiavelli takes the analogy human nature can be engineered Leadership qualities between military and political and manipulated for the good of Confusingly, Machiavelli uses leaders further, pointing out other the state. Later interpretations, the word virtù to describe these aspects of virtù, such as boldness, however, hint that Machiavelli was leadership qualities, but this is discipline, and organization. He using the genre somewhat cleverly, very different from our modern also stresses the importance of by exposing to a wider audience idea of moral virtue, as well as analyzing a situation rationally the secrets already known to the the concept of virtue as understood before taking action, and basing by the Church. Machiavelli was that action not on how people A prince never lacks a Christian, and as such he should ideally behave but on how legitimate reasons to advocates Christian virtues in day- they will behave (meaning in their to-day life, but when dealing with own self-interest). In Machiavelli’s break his promise. the actions of a ruler, he believes opinion, social conflict is an Niccolò Machiavelli that morality must take second inevitable result of the selfishness place to utility and the security of of human nature (this is in contrast the state. In this respect, his ideas to the medieval Christian view hark back to the Roman quality of that selfishness was not a natural “virtue” embodied by the military condition). In order to deal with leader who is motivated by this selfishness, a leader needs ambition and the pursuit of glory, to employ the tactics of war. properties that are almost the exact opposite of the Christian virtue Although Machiavelli believes of modesty. Machiavelli notes, that to a large extent man is master of his own fate, he recognizes that there is also an element of chance at play, which he refers to as fortuna. The ruler must battle against this possibility, as well as against the fickleness of human nature, which also corresponds to fortuna. He sees that political life, in particular, can be seen as a continuous contest between the elements of virtù and fortuna, and in this regard is analogous to a state of war. Conspiracy is useful By analyzing politics using military theory, Machiavelli concludes that the essence of most political life
MEDIEVAL POLITICS 79 In judging policies then, compelled to deal with the excusable when done for the public we should consider inevitable conflicts that face him, good. It is also important that the the results that have been the ends do justify the means. methods of intrigue and deception achieved through them rather should be a means to an end and than the means by which The end is what counts not become an end in themselves, they have been executed. A prince’s success as a ruler is so these methods need to be Niccolò Machiavelli judged by the consequences of restricted to political and military his actions and their benefit to leaders, and strictly controlled. is conspiracy. Just as success in the state, not by his morality or war is dependent on espionage, ideology. As Machiavelli puts it in Another tactic Machiavelli intelligence, counterintelligence, The Prince: “In the actions of all borrows from the military is the use and deception, political success men, especially princes, where of force and violence, which again requires secrecy, intrigue, and there is no recourse to justice, the is morally indefensible in private deceit. The idea of conspiracy end is all that counts. A prince life, but excusable when employed had long been known to military should only be concerned with for the common good. Such a policy theorists, and was practiced by conquering or maintaining a state, creates fear, which is a means of many political leaders, but for the means will always be judged ensuring the security of the ruler. Machiavelli was the first in the to be honorable and praiseworthy Machiavelli tackles the question West to explicitly propose a theory by each and every person, of whether it is better for a leader of political conspiracy. Deceit was because the masses always follow to be feared or loved with considered contrary to the idea appearances and the outcomes of characteristic pragmatism. In an that a state should safeguard affairs, and the world is nothing ideal world, he should be both loved the morality of its citizens, and other than the masses.” He does, and feared, but in reality the two Machiavelli’s suggestions were however, stress that this is a seldom go together. Fear will keep a shocking departure from matter of expediency, and not a the leader in a much stronger conventional thinking. model for social behavior. It is only position, and is therefore better for the well-being of the state. Rulers ❯❯ According to Machiavelli, while intrigue and deceit are not morally The goal of the ruler …but to do this effectively, justifiable in private life, they are is to ensure the he must sometimes use deceit, prudent for successful leadership, and excusable when used for the well-being and security treachery, and secrecy. common good. More than that, of his citizens… Machiavelli asserts that in order to mold the undesirable aspects of Though Machiavelli did human nature, it is essential that not sanction the use of a ruler is deceitful and—out of questionable methods to get prudence—does not honor his things done in private life, he word, since to do so would argued that the ruler should jeopardize his rule, threatening the use all means necessary to stability of the state. For the leader, secure the future of the state.
80 NICCOLÒ MACHIAVELLI who have gained power through Since love and fear utility as the purpose of the state, exercising their virtù are in the can hardly exist together, and shifted the emphasis from most secure position, having if we must choose between the moral intention of a political defeated any opposition and earned them, it is far safer to be action to focus primarily on respect from the people, but to its consequences. maintain this support and hold on feared than loved. to power, they must continually Niccolò Machiavelli Enduring legacy assert their authority. The Prince was very influential Italian dictator Benito Mussolini in the centuries following An ideal republic was a forceful and ruthless leader, Machiavelli’s death, particularly While The Prince is addressed to more feared than loved. He claimed among leaders such as Henry VIII the would-be successful ruler, inspiration from The Prince. of England, Holy Roman Emperor Machiavelli was a statesman in Charles V, Oliver Cromwell, and the Republic of Florence, and in his would protect the liberty of Napoleon, and the book was less well-known work, Discourses the citizens, and minimize acknowledged as an inspiration on Livy, he strongly advocated any social conflict between the by such diverse figures as Marxist republicanism rather than any form common people and a ruling elite. theorist Antonio Gramsci and of monarchy or oligarchy. Despite However, to found such a republic, Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. remaining a lifelong Catholic, or reform an existing state, requires he was also opposed to any the leadership of an individual who Machiavelli’s critics, too, interference in political life by the possesses the appropriate virtù came from all sides of the political Church. The form of government and prudence. Though it may spectrum, with Catholics accusing he favored was modeled on the require a strong leader and him of supporting the Protestant Roman Republic, with a mixed some scurrilous means to begin cause, and vice versa. His constitution and participation by with, once a political society is importance to mainstream political its citizens, protected by a properly established, the ruler can then thinking was immense—he was constituted citizens’ army as introduce the necessary laws and clearly very much a product of the opposed to a militia of hired social organization to enable it Renaissance, with its emphasis on mercenaries. This, he argued, to continue as an ideal republic— humanism rather than religion, and this would be a pragmatic means empiricism rather than faith and to achieve a desirable end. dogma, and he was the first to take an objective, scientific approach to Machiavelli’s philosophy, political history. based on personal experience and an objective study of history, This objectivity also underlies challenged the dominance of the his perhaps cynical analysis of Church and conventional ideas human nature, which was a of political morality, and led to precursor to Thomas Hobbes’s his works being banned by the brutal description of life in a state Catholic authorities. By treating of nature. His concept of utility politics as a practical and not a became a mainstay of 19th-century philosophical or ethical subject liberalism. In a more general sense, of study, he replaced morality with by divorcing morality and ideology from politics, his work was the basis for a movement that later became known as political realism, with particular relevance in international relations. “Machiavellian” behavior The term “Machiavellian” is in common usage today, and is usually applied pejoratively to
Everyone sees what saying that those who have been MEDIEVAL POLITICS 81 you appear to be, successful rulers may have behaved but few really know in just as “Machiavellian” a way, Niccolò Machiavelli what you are. but their actions have not been as closely examined. How they Born in Florence, Niccolò Niccolò Machiavelli achieved their success has been Machiavelli was the son of a overlooked because the focus has lawyer, and is believed to have politicians who are perceived shifted to what they achieved. It studied at the University of (or discovered) to be acting seems that we tend to judge leaders Florence, but little is known manipulatively and deceitfully. on their results rather than the of his life until he became a President Richard Nixon, who means used to have achieved them. government official in 1498 attempted to cover up a break-in in the government of the and wiretapping of his opponent’s Expanding this argument Republic of Florence. He spent headquarters and was forced to further, we might consider how the next 14 years traveling resign over the scandal, is a often the losers of a war are found around Italy, France, and modern-day example of such to be morally questionable, while Spain on diplomatic business. underhanded behavior. It is also the victors are seen as above possible that Machiavelli may have reproach—the notion that history In 1512, Florence was been making a less obvious point is written by the victors. Criticizing attacked and returned to in The Prince: perhaps he was Machiavelli leads us to examine the rule of the Medici family. ourselves and the extent to which Machiavelli was imprisoned we are prepared to overlook the and tortured unjustly for dubious machinations of our conspiring against the Medici, governments if the outcome and when released retired to a works in our favor. ■ farm outside Florence. There, he devoted himself to writing, Richard Nixon resigned as president including The Prince and other in 1974. He authorized a break-in and political and philosophical wiretap at the Democratic National books. He tried to regain favor Committee headquarters: actions with the Medici, with little described as “Machiavellian.” success. After they were overthrown in 1527, he was denied a post with the new republican government because of his links with the Medici. He died later that year. Key works c.1513 (pub. 1532) The Prince c.1517 (pub. 1531) Discourses on Livy 1519–21 The Art of War
RATIONA ENLIGHT 1515–1770
LITY AND ENMENT
84 INTRODUCTION Martin Luther nails his Jean Bodin describes In Metaphysical The Pilgrim Fathers 95 Theses to a church the best form of Disputations, Francisco establish the colony door in Wittenberg, government in Six Suárez revisits the of Plymouth in questioning the authority Books of the Republic. political ideas of Massachusetts. Thomas Aquinas. of the Catholic Church. 1517 1576 1597 1620 1532 1590 1602 1625 Spanish explorer Following the seige of The Dutch East India Hugo Grotius lays Francisco Pizarro Odawara, Japan is Company is founded, the foundations conquers the Incas unified under Toyotomi becoming the first for international in South America. Hideyoshi, who imposes law in De jure belli a strict class system. multinational corporation. ac pacis. T he roots of most modern order. Two concepts became that the power to govern is granted Western political thought fundamental: the “divine right of by the people via an implicit or can be traced back to kings” to rule, granted by God; and explicit contract—and that rulers scholarship in the “Age of Reason,” “natural law,” which analyzed human can legitimately be removed which followed the Middle Ages behavior to arrive at valid moral from power if they break the in Europe. The invention of the principles. Both concepts were used contract—is still central to modern printing press, the rise of nation- to argue for an absolutist state. understandings of political systems. states, and the discovery of the Americas were some of the factors Absolute sovereignty Further key insights were that influenced the transition from In France, Jean Bodin argued in offered by Johannes Althusius, the Middle Ages to the Age of favor of a strong central power with who saw politics as the art of Reason. The questioning of religious absolute sovereignty, to avoid the uniting people in associations to orthodoxy—prompted in 1517 by factional strife that followed the ensure peace and prosperity, and Martin Luther’s 95 Theses—led to decline of papal authority in Europe. Montesquieu, who emphasized the Protestant Reformation, and later Thomas Hobbes wrote during a that government should be based the Catholic counter-reformation. time of bloody civil war in England. on a principle of the separation of He agreed with Bodin on the need legislative and executive powers. Overlapping spheres of authority for a strong sovereign, but not on the All such thinkers spoke against and governance in Europe led to divine right of kings, which Bodin’s a strong, centralized state. fierce battles between and within work was often used to legitimize. civil and religious groups. In the For Hobbes, the power to rule was Toward Enlightenment absence of religious doctrine, granted not by God but via a social Theologians such as Francisco people needed a new way to contract with the ruled. The idea de Vitoria and Francisco Suárez, organize and legitimize political both part of the School of
RATIONALITY AND ENLIGHTENMENT 85 Five-year-old Louis XIV, Thomas Hobbes In Two Treatises on Montesquieu argues later known as the Sun argues for absolutism Government, John Locke for the separation of King for his absolutist argues that government powers in The Spirit rule, begins his 72-year in Leviathan. can only rule with the of Laws. reign in France. consent of the people. 1643 1651 1689 1748 1758 1649 1689 1733 Charles I of England is A Bill of Rights is French author Voltaire Benjamin Franklin executed at the end of passed by the praises Britain’s paves the way for the English Civil War. capitalism in the English Parliament. political freedom in US in his essay “Letters concerning “The Way to Wealth.” the English nation”. Salamanca, began to interpret the natural law to argue for absolutism, in the social contract, but his more Bible using arguments based on Enlightenment writers used natural optimistic view of human nature rationality. This led de Vitoria to law as a cornerstone in liberal led him to the conclusion that criticize the colonial conquests theories and international law, government should be limited being made at the time in the name asserting that humans had rights and protective, not absolute. of the Church. Suárez distinguished that trumped man-made laws. between man-made laws, natural The American Enlightenment laws, and divine guidance. He Individual rights not only shaped the Declaration argued against the divine right of Hugo Grotius, considered the father of Independence, but was also kings as a misguided merging of of international law, placed liberty closely linked to the ideals of the those three sources of laws. and rights firmly in the possession French Revolution of 1789, which of individuals, as opposed to is often seen as the culmination Later scholars of the period would thinking of them as qualities of the European Enlightenment. base their analysis not on theology, bestowed by God. This idea Benjamin Franklin was a central but on pure reason. These are closer was key to the development of figure in this period, and his views to so-called “Enlightenment ideals.” liberalism, and to the conceptual on entrepreneurialism as a civic Immanuel Kant coined the term separation of rights and duties in virtue were highly influential for Enlightenment in 1784 to describe legal matters. John Locke further the development of capitalism. the capacity and freedom to use championed individual rights and one’s own intelligence without the freedom. He argued that the Human rights, freedom, checks guidance of others. purpose of government and law and balances, international law, was to preserve and enlarge human representative democracy, and While scholars such as Bodin freedom. Like Hobbes, he believed reason are all modern concepts and Hobbes had focused on political that were first truly explored stability and used the concept of by the thinkers of this age. ■
86 IN THE BEGINNING, EVERYTHING WAS COMMON TO ALL FRANCISCO DE VITORIA (c.1483–1546) IN CONTEXT F rancisco de Vitoria was intellectual force to criticize these central among the group actions. De Vitoria believed that the IDEOLOGY of theologians at the origin of law emanated from nature Just war University of Salamanca, Spain, itself. Given that all humans are who founded the School of born from and share the same FOCUS Salamanca in the early 16th nature, he argued that all had Colonialism century. They revolutionized equal rights to life and liberty. the concept of natural law by BEFORE emphasizing individual liberty, Illegitimate conquests 1267–72 Thomas Aquinas rights, and equality. De Vitoria’s principle of natural law writes Summa Theologica, and the universality of rights ran the most influential work With the discovery of the New counter to the dominant view of the of Christian theology World and the decline of papal Church and the European colonial in the West. authority, European states were powers. Flowing from Christian competing to colonize as much dogma, the dominant morality held 1492 Genoese explorer of the newly conquered land as that it was legitimate to conquer Christopher Columbus lands possible. The School of Salamanca and rule the indigenous Americans. in the New World, leading was the first and the most potent to a race for conquest in the Old World. All humans share the They therefore share same nature. the same rights. AFTER 1625 Drawing on de Vitoria’s …in the beginning, No people has dominion teachings, Hugo Grotius everything was over another because… publishes On the Law of common to all. War and Peace, a seminal work for the formulation of international law. 1899 The first Hague Conference takes place, resulting in the first formal convention on the laws of war and war crimes.
RATIONALITY AND ENLIGHTENMENT 87 See also: Thomas Aquinas 62–69 ■ Francisco Suárez 90–91 ■ Hugo Grotius 94–95 ■ De Vitoria regarded the conquest as Ownership and dominion Francisco de Vitoria illegitimate, based on the logic that are based either on “in the beginning, everything was Francisco was born in the common to all.” If unbelievers were natural law or human law; small Basque town of Vitoria. not necessarily evil, and Christians therefore they are not Prior to taking up his post at could conduct evil acts, it was not the university in Salamanca, logical to consider Christians to destroyed by want of faith. de Vitoria spent 18 formative have rights over unbelievers. Francisco de Vitoria years in Paris, where he studied at the Sorbonne This view also undermined University and lectured in the divine right of kings to rule. a Dominican college. It led to many disagreements between de Vitoria and Charles V, De Vitoria became a King of Spain and Holy Roman Dominican friar, a professor of Emperor, but the king nevertheless theology at the University of still went to de Vitoria for counsel. Salamanca, and was elected prima chair of theology—the Can war be just? and just conduct of war, the School most senior position in the De Vitoria’s principle of natural law of Salamanca further developed department—in 1526. He was and the rights of people also related this body of thought. De Vitoria did the founding member of the to his scholarship on the theory of not accept religious arguments as School of Salamanca—an just war. The moral and religious justifications for war. War was not influential group of scholars justifications for war were fiercely justified simply because people that included Domingo de debated at the time of the conquest were unbelievers, or because they Soto, Martin de Azpilcueta, of the New World. The central issue refused conversion. Belief could Tomas de Mercado, and was how the teachings of Christ not be forced—it was an act of Francisco Suárez—who strove could be reconciled with political free will bestowed by God. to redefine man’s relationship realities. Drawing from the with God within the Catholic works of Thomas Aquinas, who De Vitoria not only separated tradition. De Vitoria studied distinguished between just cause issues of justice and morality the teachings of fellow from religion, but also laid the Dominican and theologian foundation for future scholarship Thomas Aquinas, whose work on international law and human was a cornerstone of the rights. The doctrine that warring School of Salamanca. states have responsibilities, and that non-combatants have Key works rights—enshrined in the Hague and Geneva conventions—can 1532 Of Indians be traced back to his teachings. 1532 Of the Spanish War Today, de Vitoria’s doctrine is Against the Barbarians still quoted when discussing 1557 Theological Reflections the rights of indigenous people in international law. ■ De Vitoria deplored the conquest of the Americas, rejecting the assumed superiority of the Christian conquistadors over the non-believing indigenous population.
88 SOVEREIGNTY IS THE ABSOLUTE AND PERPETUAL POWER OF A COMMONWEALTH JEAN BODIN (1529–1596) IN CONTEXT Competing power structures T he idea that states should lead to civil war and chaos… be sovereign within their IDEOLOGY own territory owes much Absolutism …so there must be to the writing of French jurist Jean a single sovereign Bodin. After living through the FOCUS with absolute power, French Wars of Religion (1562–98), a Power of the sovereign answerable only to God. period of civil war fought primarily between Catholics and Huguenot BEFORE For a sovereign’s power to Protestants, Bodin saw the dangers 380 BCE In the Republic, be absolute, it must be of the complex, overlapping power Plato argues that the ideal structures of his time. The Church, state would be ruled by a perpetual and not granted the nobility, and the monarch all philosopher king. by others or limited in time. competed for the allegiance of their subjects, and this struggle often 1532 CE Niccolò Machiavelli’s Sovereignty is the resulted in civil war and disorder. The Prince is published, absolute and The German theologian Martin providing practical advice Luther—and later thinkers such as to sovereigns. perpetual power of English philosopher John Locke a commonwealth. and American Founding Father AFTER Thomas Jefferson—argued for a 1648 The Peace of Westphalia separation of Church and state to creates the modern system of avoid such conflict. To Bodin, European nation-states. however, a strong central sovereignty was the key to 1651 In Leviathan, Thomas ensuring peace and prosperity. Hobbes argues that rule by an absolute sovereign nonetheless In his treatise Six Books of involves a social contract with the Republic, Bodin argued that the people. sovereignty had to be absolute and perpetual to be effective. Absolute 1922 Carl Schmitt insists that sovereignty would create a stronger a sovereign ruler has the right central authority over its territory. to suspend law in exceptional To avoid conflict, the sovereign circumstances, such as war. should not be bound by laws, obligations, or conditions, either
RATIONALITY AND ENLIGHTENMENT 89 See also: Plato 34–39 ■ Thomas Aquinas 62–63 ■ Niccolò Machiavelli 74–81 ■ Jean Bodin Thomas Hobbes 96–103 ■ John Locke 104–09 ■ Carl Schmitt 254–57 The son of a wealthy tailor, The sovereign Prince is sovereign’s legitimacy arises from Jean Bodin was born near accountable only to God. a social contract between ruler and Angers in northwest France subjects, an idea later developed in 1529. He joined the Jean Bodin by Enlightenment thinkers such as Carmelite religious order when French philosopher Jean-Jacques still very young, and traveled from outside factions or from his Rousseau. Although Bodin disliked to Paris in 1545 to study under own subjects. Bodin’s insistence on democracy as a form of popular the philosopher Guillaume the need for absolute sovereignty government, he did not agree Prévost. He then studied law formed an intellectual pillar with the Machiavellian position in Toulouse, returning to Paris supporting the rise of absolute that a sovereign could act and in 1560, where he was made monarchy in Europe. He also rule unconditionally. Rulers needed a counsel to the king, and later argued that sovereignty needed to have absolute power, but they became the king’s prosecutor. to be perpetual. Power could in turn were accountable to God neither be granted to the sovereign and natural law. Bodin wrote on a wide by others nor be limited in time, as range of subjects, including this would contradict the principle The Peace of Westphalia, a history, economics, natural of absolutism. Bodin used the Latin series of treaties agreed between history, law, witchcraft, and term res publica (“république” in European powers in 1648, was religion. His works were French, or “commonwealth” in based on Bodin’s views on the influential in his lifetime and English) for matters of public law, primacy of sovereignty in each long after his death, but his and believed that any political territory, and moved Europe from religious views were far from society must have a sovereign who its medieval political system of a orthodox and much debated. is free to make and break the law local hierarchy to the modern state Although Bodin was a for the commonwealth to prosper. system. The Westphalian system Catholic, he questioned the has been the organizing framework authority of the pope and, in for international relations ever later years, attempted to start since, based on the principles of a constructive dialogue with sovereign territories’ political self- other faiths. determination, mutual recognition, and non-interference in the Key work domestic affairs of other states. ■ 1576 Six Books of the Republic The divine right of kings For Bodin, the source of legitimacy for the sovereign was rooted in natural law and the divine right of kings—society’s moral code and a monarch’s right to rule both came directly from God. In this, Bodin was opposed to the concept that a In the French Wars of Religion, Catholic forces saw the pope as the ultimate power, while Protestants backed the authority of the king.
90 THE NATURAL LAW IS THE FOUNDATION OF HUMAN LAW FRANCISCO SUÁREZ (1548–1617) IN CONTEXT I n 16th-century Europe, nature—including humans, as events such as the Protestant part of nature—while human law IDEOLOGY Reformation, the discovery (also called positive law) Philosophy of law of the Americas, and the rise of refers to the man-made laws humanism made the question of a particular society. FOCUS of whether laws were derived Natural and human law from nature, God, or fellow human Breaking human laws beings particularly topical. Thomas Spanish philosopher Francisco BEFORE Aquinas had linked natural law Suárez continued in Aquinas’s 1274 Thomas Aquinas with divine law, saying that human tradition, arguing that natural law distinguishes between laws should be judged by their is the foundation of human law. natural law and human law conformity to natural law, which in He described how human laws in his Summa Theologica. turn should be understood in the could be unjust, and placed a context of divine law. Natural law greater emphasis on individual 1517 The Protestant refers to universal rules of morality liberty and freedom. Man-made Reformation questions the that can be derived by analyzing laws could, in the view of Suárez, doctrines of the Catholic Church, and is used to justify There are three kinds Natural law is derived the divine right of kings. of law: natural, from nature and the teachings of God. AFTER divine, and human. 1613 King James I of England bans Suárez’s treatise against The natural law Everyone, including Anglicanism, since it criticizes is the foundation those who create our laws, the divine right of kings. of human law. is a part of nature. 1625 Hugo Grotius writes the first systematic treatise on international law. 1787 The Constitution of the United States refers to natural law as the basis for positive law.
RATIONALITY AND ENLIGHTENMENT 91 See also: Thomas Aquinas 62–69 ■ Francisco de Vitoria 86–87 ■ Hugo Grotius 94–95 ■ John Locke 104–09 was accountable only to God, and Francisco Suárez not to the Church or to his or her subjects. By distinguishing Suárez was born in the south between different sources of laws— of Spain and became a Jesuit natural, divine, and human— student in Salamanca at the Suárez rejected the mixing of age of 16. As a theologian and the secular and the sacred, and philosopher, he wrote in the separated the realms of power. same scholastic tradition as He also introduced the notion Thomas Aquinas, and had of the social contract, proposing considerable influence on the that the ruler governs by the development of international consent of the people, who law and the theory of just war. can also legitimately withdraw His most influential work their consent if the ruler does not was his 1597 Metaphysical respect the demands of natural law. Disputations, but he was a productive scholar who The University of Salamanca was International law wrote many other significant home to the School of Salamanca, a Suárez made a distinction between treatises on the relationship group of theologians that included international law and natural law, between natural law, the state Suárez, who sought to connect the ideas seeing the former as primarily based and Church, and theology. of Aquinas with a changing world. on custom and positive law rather Suárez was a dedicated Jesuit than universal rules. Today, the —hardworking, disciplined, be broken in certain cases. For distinction between natural humble, and pious. He was example, power and authority law and positive law remains, regarded by contemporaries can be conferred on a ruler by both in national jurisdictions and as one of the greatest living the people, but can also be taken international law. The Declaration of philosophers. Pope Paul V away from the ruler if their laws are Independence and the Constitution called him Doctor Eximius unjust. No man-made laws should refer to natural law, while English et Pius, an honorary title, override people’s natural rights common law has been greatly and Pope Gregory XIII is to life and liberty. And since the influenced by natural law theories. ■ said to have attended his origin of the state’s authority and first lecture in Rome. power is human, it should be There is no doubt that secondary to sacred authority. God is the sufficient cause Key works and, as it were, the teacher A divine right? of the natural law. But it does 1597 Metaphysical Suárez’s ideas were controversial, Disputations since monarchs across northern not follow from this that 1612 On Laws Europe claimed divine and absolute He is the lawgiver. 1613 Defense of the Catholic authority—the so-called “divine Francisco Suárez and Apostolic Faith against right” of kings. Suárez’s conclusions the Errors of Anglicanism challenged the notion that the ruler
92 POLITICS IS THE ART OF ASSOCIATING MEN JOHANNES ALTHUSIUS (1557–1638) IN CONTEXT Humans associate in groups at different levels: families, organizations, cities, provinces, and states. IDEOLOGY Federalism The purpose of the state Elected state is to protect members representatives must FOCUS of its associations and Consociation their communications. reflect the many views of these differing BEFORE c.350 BCE Aristotle argues associations. that humans are naturally sociable beings. Politics is the art of associating men. 1576 Jean Bodin advocates state sovereignty across P olitical thinkers have long Althusius redefined politics from an Europe, centralizing power pondered the balance of activity relating only to the state, to and authority in the monarch. power between government, one that permeates many aspects communities, and individuals. In of social life and unfolds in political AFTER the 16th and 17th centuries the associations well below the level of 1762 Jean-Jacques Rousseau prevailing idea was of a centralized the state. In the first chapter of his claims that the central idea state with power vested in a major work, Politica, he introduces of the social contract must sovereign. However, the radical the idea of “consociation,” which be that sovereignty belongs views of Calvinist political has formed the basis of federalist to the people. philosopher Johannes Althusius on thinking ever since. the role of the state, sovereignty, 1787 The last four articles of and politics paved the way for Althusius claimed that human the Constitution of the United the modern concept of federalism. communities—from private ones, States of America express the such as families and oaganizations, principles of its federalist system of government. 1789 The French Revolution overthrows the king and claims sovereignty for the people.
RATIONALITY AND ENLIGHTENMENT 93 See also: Aristotle 40–43 ■ Jean Bodin 88–89 ■ Thomas Hobbes 96–103 ■ Jean-Jacques Rousseau 118–25 ■ Thomas Jefferson 140–41 ■ Michel Foucault 310–11 The communal aspects of village a shared need, service, or set of of wills—of all the communities life, such as dances, are an example values, and is willing to contribute that exist within the one larger of Althusius’s idea of a consociation: to the welfare of a group. community of the nation. individuals forming a group based on shared needs, services, or values. Bottom-up, not top-down Althusius’s focus on symbiotic Absolute sovereignty, as advocated associations distinguishes his idea to public ones, such as cities—are by Bodin and Hobbes, was seen of federalism from the federal autonomous entities that came by Althusius as illogical and governments that we know today, into being through a form of social repressive. He believed power and such as that recognized in the US contract. Like Aristotle, Althusius authority should move upward Constitution. Modern federalism is believed that people are sociable, via consociations, not down from a based on individualism, not social and in order to live peaceably sovereign. While consociations are groups. However, both concepts see together, they are happy to share independently subordinate to the the state as a political association, goods and services and respect state, collectively, they are superior not a single entity independent of one another’s rights. Each to the state. The government its constituent units. ■ consociation of individuals sits at the top of a hierarchy of begins when someone recognizes consociations, and its task is to This mutual communication, administer the commonwealth or common enterprise, made up of the various interacting groups. It, too, is a part of the involves things, services, social contract, recognizing and and common rights. sharing the aims, values, goods, and services of its people and Johannes Althusius coordinating their communications. In Althusius’s theory, sovereignty belongs to the people, not the monarch. The elected representatives of the government do not represent individuals or a single common will, but a plurality Johannes Althusius Althusius was born in 1557 in until his death in 1638. Although Diedenshausen in Westphalia, Politica was widely popular in a Calvinist area of Germany. Althusius’s time, his work was Under the patronage of a overlooked for the next two local count he studied law, centuries since it contradicted philosophy, and theology in the prevailing principle of Cologne, starting in 1581. After a absolute sovereignty. In the 19th series of academic appointments, century, Otto von Gierke revived in 1602 he became president of interest in Althusius’s ideas, the College of Herborn. In 1604, and today he is considered the a year after the publication of forefather of federalism. Politica, his most important work, he was elected a municipal Key works trustee of the city of Emden. 1603 Politics: A Digest of its Althusius later became a council Methods (also known as Politica) member and city elder, acting as 1617 Dicaelogicae a diplomat and lawyer for the city
94 LIBERTY IS THE POWER THAT WE HAVE OVER OURSELVES HUGO GROTIUS (1583–1645) IN CONTEXT Life and property are natural rights of all individuals. IDEOLOGY People have the power to claim these rights. Natural law The state has no legitimate power FOCUS to take these liberties away. Individual rights Liberty is the power we have over ourselves. BEFORE 1517 The protection of liberty T he notions of individual a duty to carry out God’s plan. In is seen as the fundamental liberty and individual the 16th century, at the University political task of a republic rights came to the forefront of Salamanca, first Francisco de by Niccolò Machiavelli in relatively late in human history. Vitoria and later Francisco Suárez his Discourses. During the medieval era, rights were had begun to theorize on the collective and judged in relation to natural rights of individuals. 1532 Francisco de Vitoria natural or divine law. Individuals However, it was Hugo Grotius lectures on the rights of did not possess rights: rights flowed who decisively changed medieval people at the University from nature or God. Liberty was thinking by clearly asserting that of Salamanca. rarely discussed in relation to liberty and rights were in the individuals; rather, individuals had possession of individuals. AFTER 1789 The French Revolution— with its demands for liberty, equality, and fraternity— transforms France and the rest of Europe. 1958 Political theorist Isaiah Berlin lectures on the Two Concepts of Liberty: negative liberty (non-interference and the opportunity to be free) and positive liberty (the ability to be one’s own master).
RATIONALITY AND ENLIGHTENMENT 95 See also: Francisco de Vitoria 86–87 ■ Francisco Suárez 90–91 ■ John Locke 104–09 ■ John Stuart Mill 174–81 Grotius redefined natural law, without constraints. This focus on Hugo Grotius and laid out a new conception human agency marked a clear break of rights and liberty. The idea of from the thinking of earlier times. Hugo Grotius was born in divine influence on natural law 1583 in the city of Delft in the was discarded. Instead, the study Grotius regarded rights as south of Holland during the of human nature was seen as abilities or powers possessed by Dutch Revolt against Spain. sufficient to inform policy and individuals, and his philosophy also Considered by many to be a lawmakers. Put simply, human allowed for the commodification of child prodigy, Grotius entered behavior produces the natural law. rights. Rights could be “traded” the University of Leiden at the People have certain natural rights with, for example, a sovereign. In age of 11, and received his that are intrinsic to them, and this case, the power of the state doctorate when he was 16. which are not bestowed by God would come from the voluntary By the age of 24, he was or the sovereign. Rather, liberty transfer of rights by individuals. advocate general for Holland. is a natural right. Grotius distinguished between During a tumultuous period two classes of relations. Relations in Dutch history, Grotius Power over ourselves of unequals could be between was sentenced to life By viewing liberty as the power “Parents and Children, Masters imprisonment in Loevestein that people have over themselves, and Servants, King and Subject,” Castle for his views on Grotius distinguished between while relations between “Brothers, restraining the powers of a person’s ability to do something Citizens, Friends, and Allies” the Church in civil matters. and their freedom from constraints. were relations of equals. Since man has a right to life and Grotius escaped to Paris, property, Grotius argued, he is Grotius’s idea that people reportedly in a trunk, and also granted the powers to take are natural bearers of rights has there he wrote his most the necessary action to fulfill those become a cornerstone for the theory famous work De Jure Belli ac rights. The state does not have of liberalism. However, his belief Pacis. Grotius is widely held to legitimate superior authority in that some people have a right to be the father of international such circumstances. Thus, by superiority is surely not in line with and maritime law. His themes connecting rights with the more liberal, modern thinking. ■ of natural law and individual individual, the concept of individual liberty were later taken up freedom, or liberty, becomes more Freedom of the seas was considered by liberal philosophers such than just a question of free will. It by Grotius to be a natural right, and as John Locke. also includes the freedom to act he used this belief to justify the Dutch East India fleet breaking the Key works monopolies set up by other nations. 1605 De Jure Praedae Commentarius 1609 Mare Liberum (originally part of De Jure Praedae Commentarius) 1625 De Jure Belli ac Pacis
THE CONDITION OF MAN IS A CONDITION OF WAR THOMAS HOBBES (1588–1679)
98 THOMAS HOBBES T he Enlightenment period maximizing their own power, then that followed the Middle a strong, controlling authority was IN CONTEXT Ages in Europe introduced required in order to prevent chaos. new views on human nature English writer Thomas Hobbes IDEOLOGY that were not based on religious was one of the first Enlightenment Realism doctrine, but were instead philosophers to base his argument founded on rational thought. explicitly on an articulated view of FOCUS Disagreement between some the state of nature. Hobbes’s view Social contract Enlightenment thinkers often was that human beings needed derived from differences in opinion to be ruled by government, as BEFORE concerning the true nature of the the state of nature was a terrible, 1578 The concepts of human condition and human “dog-eat-dog” world. sovereignty and the divine behavior. To settle such abstract, right of kings emerge, fundamental differences, scholars The cruel state of nature influenced by The Six Books began to state their views on the In his most famous work, of the Republic by Jean Bodin. so-called “state of nature”—the Leviathan, Hobbes portrays theoretical condition of mankind humans as rational agents who 1642–51 The English Civil before the introduction of social seek to maximize power and act War temporarily establishes structures and norms. the precedent that the Without a common monarch cannot rule without Many thinkers believed that by power to keep them all in the consent of Parliament. analyzing the human “instincts” awe, they [men] are in that and behaviors of this state of AFTER nature, one could design a system condition called war. 1688 The Glorious Revolution of government that met the needs Thomas Hobbes in England leads to the 1689 of its citizens and would promote Bill of Rights, which limits the good behaviors and counteract bad powers of the monarch in law. ones. For example, if humans were able to see beyond narrow self- 1689 John Locke opposes interests and work for the public absolutist rule, arguing that good, then they could enjoy the government should represent benefits of democratic rights. the people and protect their However, if they mainly cared rights to life, health, liberty, about their own interests and and possessions. Born in 1588, Thomas Hobbes was writings, Hobbes believed that Thomas Hobbes educated at Oxford University in everything could be reduced to England and would later work as its primary components, even a tutor for William Cavendish, Earl human nature. He was inspired of Devonshire. Due to the English by the simplicity and elegance Civil War, he spent a decade in of geometry and physics, and exile in Paris where he wrote revolutionized political theory by Leviathan, which has had a applying such scientific method profound influence on the way we to its reasoning. He returned to perceive the role of government England in 1651, dying in 1679. and the social contract as a basis for legitimacy to govern. Hobbes’s Key works political philosophy was influenced by his interest in science, and his 1628 History of the correspondence with philosophers Peloponnesian War including René Descartes (1596– 1650 Treatise on Human Nature 1650). Drawing from scientific 1651 Leviathan
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