Thomistic and Machiavellian Political Philosophy

Thomistic Ethics and Politics

Thomistic Ethics

Like Aristotle, for Aquinas, the ultimate object of moral activity is to achieve the perfection of human nature itself, which is none other than the pursuit of happiness. However, this happiness cannot consist in the possession of anything created; only in God can one find true happiness. An act is good if it leads to this ultimate end, and bad if it departs from it. To differentiate, we must rely on their agreement or not with natural law, which is a moral norm.

For Aquinas, natural law is a law accessible to reason and is a participation of the eternal law of God. He is considered a foundational figure in natural law theory. Natural law is the precedent for what we today call human rights.

St. Thomas defines good, like Aristotle, following the concept of natural inclination as that to which all tend or crave.

Thomistic Politics

The ultimate end of the state is the common good. Positive law is the means used by the state to procure this common good, whose goals are peace, morality, and the goods necessary for living. The attainment of the common good is the only end that justifies the existence of civil authority.

Laws are unjust if they do not comply with these objectives. In such cases, the citizen is not obliged to comply, as they would be contrary to natural law.

Machiavelli's Political Thought

Biography and Works

Born in Florence in 1469, Niccolò Machiavelli became interested in politics at twenty-five, later joining the government of the Republic of Florence. He acted as a diplomat to Louis XII of France, Pope Julius II, and Emperor Maximilian I, among others. This allowed him to build upon experience acquired in his political work.

After the fall of the Republic, he was deprived of his positions, imprisoned, and tortured. Once released, he retired to a farm of his own to write his two most important political works: The Prince (1513) and The Discourses on Livy (1520).

The Prince, a work praising the Medici, allowed him to curry favor with the court and re-enter political life until his death. This treatise on the art of politics and what is exposed there remains in force today, for its contributions to the modern concept of the state. It discusses the strategies and qualities a ruler needs to retain power. It was read by prominent statesmen such as Napoleon Bonaparte.

Machiavellian Philosophy

Machiavelli was more concerned with the political virtues a ruler should possess than his moral virtues. The aim should be to achieve efficiency in power for the good of the Republic.

Hence the word Machiavellianism, used to designate that "the end justifies the means," and Machiavellian as a synonym for cunning or hypocritical. For Machiavelli, man is by nature evil and selfish, concerned with increasing power over others. Only a strong state, ruled by a cunning ruler without moral scruples, can ensure a just social order.