Western Political Thought I

In this class you will be studying political thought from the ancient Greeks through Machiavelli. One of your assignments will be picking a political philosophy from this range of time. Below you will find a handful of political thinkers from the medieval Christian period. However, there are many more political philosophies you can choose from; the ones below are a good starting point.

Thomas Aquinas is particulary well known for his works Summa contra Gentiles (Synopsis of Christian Doctrine against Unbelievers) and Summa Theologiae (Synopisis of Theology). He was greatly influenced by Aristotle, and was convinced that Christian thinkers should be able to debate on theological issues with people from all faiths. He was also a strong support of Scholasticism, a medieval school of philosophy, that aimed to expand and defend the truths of faith. Politically he argued for the case of natural law, where humans were guided from their inclinations to the perfection of God, the creator of the natural law and the universe. A focus on the common good and the basis of morality can also be found in his works. 

John of Paris was a defender of St. Thomas Aquinas, and wrote De Potestate Regia et Papali (On Royal and Papal Powers). He believed that the church and state should be considered independent of each other, even though they both were given power by God. He argued that the church should address spiritual issues while the state should address secular issues. 

Christine de Pizan was an influential writer during the medieval ages. After being widowed and having to support herself and her children, she took to writing to earn an income. The Book of the Body Politic discusses how princes, nobility, as well as the common people should behave and be educated in order to best serve society.  

Often seen as Thomas Aquinas' counterpart, William of Ockham challenged the synthesis of faith and reason, and was excommunicated from the Catholic Church. Ockham was a firm believer in nominalism, a view that many parts of our universe are nothing more than a concept of our minds. He also believed that God is a matter of faith and not knowledge, and rejected all alleged proofs of the existence of God. Politically, Ockham supported the separation of church and state and freedom of speech. 

Dante wrote political pieces in addition to his classical work of The Divine Comedy. Many of Dante's political works argued against the belief that the papacy had superiority over the political ruler. His work, De Monarchia, was an expansion of his arguments made in the Convivio. 

Marsilius of Padua wrote the controversial Defensor Pacis (Defender of the Peace), which was very critical of papal politics. He argued that there needed to be limitation to the power to the church hierarchy, and that the state's responsibility was the maintenance of law and order. When the treatise became known, Marsilius of Padua had to flee from Italy for his safety and was considered a heretic. 

John of Salisbury's Policraticus centered on the "public power" of a ruler. He believed that irresponsible power came from oppressing the people, while centralized authority could be a good thing as long as the ruler worked responsibility with the laws.