152 Political Theory: The Relationship of Man and the Stategovernment must insure some minimal level of subsistence for
its people. Finally, the state exists to make man good—the laws,
education, governmental edicts and programs should all be
directed toward making men good. Aquinas agreed with
Aristotle that the state is an institution in its own right with an end
of its own. However, the Church, with a supernatural end is
higher than the state. So, to make men good in this life is
wonderful, but insufficient—the next life is of supreme impor
tance.
The major difference between Aquinas, the Neo-Aristotelian,
and Augustine, the Neo-Platonist, is that Augustine saw the
eventual ideal as a unified world under the leadership of the
Church, while Aquinas saw the Church and state as separate
entities interrelating with one another. The operative concept
would be “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to
God the things that are God’s,” and in the hierarchy of things in
the universe there should be no question as to who is the more
important. Aquinas has no great yearning for a church-state; he
sees them as two separate entities.
Aquinas’ opinion about the forms of government agreed with
Aristotle’s, and he too, believed that a monarchy was the ideal
form. But given the nature of man and the state, a limited
monarchy (constitutional) would be his preference. In the truest
sense, though, all power comes from God, so the ruler of the state
has sovereignty which comes from God via the people. Thus he
must be limited, and in the final analysis the state’s sovereignty
rests in the commonweal.
What, then, is the role of the individual within the state, and
what rights does he have? Aquinas despised the idea of tyranny,
yet his thought was consistent with Greek and medieval thought,
and he subscribed to the notion that the whole is greater than any
of its parts. The state has the right to punish those who break the
law since the common good is superior to the individual when
the two conflict. So, to a very great extent the individual is
subject to the state. Even if the rule becomes tyrannical, rebellion
is considered a great evil, as is all violence, permissible only if
the better part of the whole of the people rise up to replace the
tyrant for the common good. The better method would be to have
a limited government, based on law, which would prevent the
absolute tyranny that would engender rebellion.