Integralism A Manual of Political Philosophy

:	Thomas Crean, Alan Fimister
:	Integralism A Manual of Political Philosophy
:	Editiones Scholasticae
:	9783868385939
:	1
:	CHF 17.60
:

:	Allgemeines, Lexika
:	English

:	290
:	DRM
:	PC/MAC/eReader/Tablet
:	ePUB

Integral sm is the application to the temporal, political order of the full implications of the revelation of man's supernatural end in Christ and of the divinely established means by which it is to be attained. These implications are identified by means of the philosophia perennis exemplified in the fundamental principles of St Thomas Aquinas. Since the first principle in moral philosophy is the last end, and man's last end cannot be known except by revelation, it is only by accepting the role of handmaid of theology that political philosophy can be adequately constituted. Integralism: A Manual of Political Philosophy is a handbook for those who seek to understand the consequences of this integration of faith and reason for political, economic and individual civic life. It will also serve as a scholastic introduction to political philosophy for those new to the subject. Each chapter finishes with a list of the principal theses proposed.

Fr Thomas Crean is a friar of the English Province of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans). He has published with Ignatius Press and Gracewing, and is a Fellow of the Dialogos Institute. He has taught philosophy and theology in Austria, the United States and Northern Ireland. Alan Paul Fimister is Assistant Professor of Theology at Saint John Vianney Theological Seminary in Denver, Colorado, USA and a Fellow of the Dialogos institute. He is the author of Robert Schuman: Neo-Scholastic Humanism and the Reunification of Europe (2008)

Chapter 1 Societies and the perfect society

The English word ‘politics’ comes from the Greek word πόλις(polis), which means ‘city’. In ancient Greece, thepolis or city-state emerged in the middle of the 6th century before our era as the principal community, a position which it retained until Philip of Macedon’s victory at the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC. Since ‘politics’ refers in common speech to the activities of politicians, the phrase ‘political philosophy’ is often used to refer more precisely to the study of thepolis and its successors.1

Political philosophy is therefore a branch of moral philosophy. Moral philosophy in general is the study of man’s life, and of the good which strictly befits, or is proportioned to, man’s nature: its goal is to show us how to attain this good on earth. Political philosophy, or politics, is the study of man’s life insofar as he is united with his fellow men in a way that extends beyond the family. Since, as we shall see, the good that men may obtain by this union is greater than the good which they may obtain by their union in domestic society, which in turn is greater than the good which they may obtain as individual human beings, politics isthe study of the highest good, proportionate to human nature, which may be obtained on earth. It is therefore the highest branch of moral philosophy.

Under the survey of political philosophy come: the nature of societies in general, and of the perfect or complete society in particular; the idea of the common good and of authority in general; the relation of the domestic society to external authority; the origin and scope of temporal authority; the nature and purpose of law; the goal or end of the temporal commonwealth; its economic organisation; the relations which different temporal commonwealths have with each other; and the relation of the temporal power to the ultimate end of human life.

Politics, like all moral philosophy, must be instructed by divine revelation. This is because, in contrast to speculative reason, the first principle in moral or practical philosophy is the final end: before deciding what to do, we must first know what to aim at. Revelation is necessary not simply because God has freely chosen to call man to a supernatural end; it would have been necessary in every order of providence.2 Even if the end that God had assigned to man were merely proportionate to our nature, it would be impossible for us to know this fact by reason alone, and to exclude the possibility that we had been assigned a preternatural or supernatural end.3 Thus, even in a hypothetical state of pure nature, man would require divine revelation.4 Hence, to engage correctly in practical reasoning, man must learn by divine revelation where he is going and the way thereto.5 “No one can arrive at any wisdom except by faith.”6

The gospel teaches that our ultimate end is beatitude. This is available in heaven, and not on earth.7 But only our life on earth can bring us to that end.

A component, and in fact the most important component, of a good earthly life is therefore its being rightly directed to the life beyond. Therefore, since politics seeks to know the truth about the good earthly life, it must understand how man is directed toward beatitude, namely, by the teaching and the sacraments of the Catholic Church.8

Nature of society

Since politics studies human beings in society, the first question to consider is: ‘What is a society?’ At this stage we are not using the word as a synonym for what is normally called civil society, but in a more general sense. In this broader sense, the family is a society; so is a university, and a golf-club, and a trade union, and a multi-national corporation; so, on a higher plane, is the Catholic Church, and the religious institutes and other fraternities which she includes.