Medieval Philosophy

by Peter S. Adamson

Political legislation is guided by the same principles that ground ethical deliberation, with human laws being simply a determination of the natural law as applied to the circumstances and needs of a given community.12 Good human laws aim to bring all members of the community along towards virtue by preventing them from sinning and, more positively, by offering them enforced training (disciplina) in virtuous behavior (Q95 a1 resp). The reason we outlaw murder isn’t simply to prevent people from getting killed, though that is surely part of the point. It’s also to ensure that our community is full of people who would not even consider committing murder. Law does accomplish its objectives especially through the threat of punishment, but if all goes well, those who are subject to the law will internalize its values and cheerfully act in accordance with those values. When you go through life without murdering people, it’s hopefully not because you’re afraid you’ll get caught, but because that’s just not how you were brought up. One might wonder how Aquinas can apply this analysis of human law to cases of unjust legislation. For once the answer is simple: he doesn’t. An unjust law is strictly speaking no law at all, but simply a form of coercion