Aquinas, Aristotle, and the Promise of the Common Good

271 Pages·2006·1.41 MB·English

by  Mary M. Keys

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Aquinas,Aristotle,andthePromiseoftheCommonGood
Aquinas,Aristotle,andthePromiseoftheCommonGoodclaimsthatcon-
temporary theory and practice have much to gain from engaging
Aquinas’snormativeconceptofthecommongoodandhiswayofrec-
onciling religion, philosophy, and politics. Examining the relation-
shipbetweenpersonalandcommongoods,andtherelationofvirtue
and law to both, Mary M. Keys shows why Aquinas should be read
inadditiontoAristotleontheseperennialquestions.Shefocuseson
Aquinas’s Commentaries as mediating statements between Aristotle’s
NicomacheanEthicsandPoliticsandAquinas’sSummaTheologiae,show-
ing how this serves as the missing link for grasping Aquinas’s
understandingofAristotle’sthoughtinrelationtoAquinas’sowncon-
sideredviews.KeysarguesprovocativelythatAquinas’sChristianfaith
opensupnewpanoramasandpossibilitiesforphilosophicalinquiry
and insights into ethics and politics. Her book shows how religious
faithcanassistsoundphilosophicalinquiryintothefoundationsand
properpurposesofsocietyandpolitics.
MaryM.KeysisassociateprofessorofpoliticalscienceattheUniver-
sity of Notre Dame. She has received fellowships from the Erasmus
InstituteattheUniversityofNotreDame;theMartinMartyCenterfor
AdvancedStudyofReligionattheUniversityofChicago,theEarhart
Foundation,andtheGeorgeStrakeFoundation,amongothers.Most
recently,shehasbeenawardedafellowshipfromtheNationalEndow-
mentfortheHumanitiesforresearchon“HumilityandModernPol-
itics”in2006–7.HerarticleshaveappearedintheAmericanJournalof
PoliticalScienceandHistoryofPoliticalThought.
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Aquinas, Aristotle, and the Promise
of the Common Good
MARY M. KEYS
UniversityofNotreDame
iii
cambridge university press
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo
Cambridge University Press
TheEdinburghBuilding,Cambridgecb22ru,UK
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
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Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521864732
©MaryM.Keys2006
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexceptionandtotheprovisionof
relevantcollectivelicensingagreements,noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplace
withoutthewrittenpermissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublishedinprintformat 2006
isbn-13 978-0-511-25658-5eBook(EBL)
isbn-10 0-511-25658-2 eBook(EBL)
isbn-13 978-0-521-86473-2hardback
isbn-10 0-521-86473-9 hardback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyofurls
forexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication,anddoesnot
guaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate.
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To
MyTeachers,
EspeciallyMyParents
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Contents
Acknowledgments page xi
part i: virtue, law, and the problem
of the common good
1 WhyAquinas?ReconsideringandReconceivingthe
CommonGood 3
1.1 ThePromiseandProblemoftheCommonGood:Contemporary
ExperienceandClassicalArticulation 5
1.2 WhyAquinas?CentralityoftheConceptandFocusonFoundations 15
1.3 AnOverviewoftheArgumentbyPartsandChapters 21
2 ContemporaryResponsestotheProblemoftheCommon
Good:ThreeAnglo-AmericanTheories 29
2.1 LiberalDeontologism:ContractarianCommonGoodsinRawls’s
TheoryofJustice 32
2.2 CommunitarianismorCivicRepublicanism:Sandelagainst
Commonsense“Otherness” 41
2.3 AThirdWay?GalstonontheCommonGoodsofLiberalPluralism 48
part ii: aquinas’s social and civic foundations
3 UnearthingandAppropriatingAristotle’sFoundations:
FromThreeAnglo-AmericanTheoristsBacktoThomas
Aquinas 59
3.1 AristotelianismandPolitical-PhilosophicFoundations,OldandNew 59
3.2 Aristotle’sThreePolitical-PhilosophicFoundationsinThomas
Aquinas’sThought 63
3.3 TheFirstFoundationandAquinas’sCommentary:Human
Natureas“PoliticalandSocial”inPoliticsI 67
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viii Contents
4 ReinforcingtheFoundations:AquinasontheProblemof
PoliticalVirtueandRegime-CenteredPoliticalScience 87
4.1 TheSecondFoundationandAquinas’sCommentary:Human
BeingsandCitizensinPoliticsIII 89
4.2 FaultsintheFoundations:TheUncommentedPoliticsandthe
ProblemofRegimeParticularity 99
4.3 PoliticsPointingbeyondthePolisandthePoliteia:Aquinas’sNew
Foundations 102
5 FinishingtheFoundationsandBeginningtoBuild:
AquinasonHumanActionandExcellenceasSocial,
Civic,andReligious 116
5.1 Community,CommonGood,andGoodnessofWill 118
5.2 NaturalSociabilityandtheExtensionoftheHumanAct 124
5.3 CardinalVirtuesasSocialandCivicVirtues–withaDivine
Exemplar 130
part iii: moral virtues at the nexus of personal
and common goods
6 RemodelingtheMoralEdifice(I):Aquinasand
AristotelianMagnanimity 143
6.1 AristotleonMagnanimityasVirtue 144
6.2 Aquinas’sCommentaryontheMagnanimityofthe
NicomacheanEthics 147
6.3 TheSummaTheologiaeonMagnanimityandSome“Virtuesof
AcknowledgedDependence” 153
7 RemodelingtheMoralEdifice(II):Aquinasand
AristotelianLegalJustice 173
7.1 AristotleonLegalJustice 175
7.2 Aquinas’sCommentaryonLegalJusticeintheNicomachean
Ethics 179
7.3 LegalJusticeandNaturalLawintheSummaTheologiae 185
part iv: politics, human law,
and transpolitical virtue
8 Aquinas’sTwoPedagogies:HumanLawandtheGoodof
MoralVirtue 203
8.1 Aquinas’sNegativeNarrative,orHowLawCanCurbMoralVice 205
8.2 BeyondReformSchool:Law’sPositivePedagogyAccordingto
Aquinas 208
8.3 UniversalityandParticularity,LawandLiberty 216
8.4 ThomisticLegalPedagogyandLiberal-DemocraticPolities 223