In the middle ages 241

dral, I observed that a crack had appeared in one

of the walls of the finished tower, and that it had

been necessary to erect a support, in order to pre-

vent the tower from collapsing. A friend ex-

plained to me that the architects of the thirteenth

century had erected the cathedral on a foundation

of strong oak piles, which had lasted for centuries

because they were driven into marshy ground, but

that the recent drainage works in the city had

brought about the unforeseen consequence of drying

out these ancient water-soaked timbers, and so un-

dermining the cathedral. Invisible and under-

ground, up to that time they had sustained the

fa9ade of this marvelous Gothic gem, without any-

one realizing how fundamental was their presence

and their function.

So it is with the metaphysical doctrine, which

may be called the invisible and underlying support

of the social philosophy of the thirteenth century.

Upon this foundation reposed morals, as upon mor-

als is based the guiding principle that the state is

made for the citizens, the group for its members.

If the metaphysics of the scholastics should settle

or fall, then in turn their ethics would be compro-

mised, and an ominous cleft would appear in their

social philosophy. This close interdependence of

doctrines furnishes a striking example of the co-

herence and unity of the scholastic system, which

we have above pointed out."

25 See ch. V, i.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The Theory of the State

i. Sovereignty from God. ii. It is a function; morality of

governors not different from that of the governed; what the

function implies, iii. Sovereignty resides in the people vrho

delegate it. iv. The best form of government according to

the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas, v. Making of laws the

essential attribute of sovereignty; natural law and human

law. vi. This form of government compared with the Euro-

pean states of the thirteenth century ; with the modern nation-

alities; with the theories of preceding centuries.

The state exists for the good of the individuals,

and not conversely. It is in the light of this prin-

ciple that all the problems, which the study of state

organization raises, are solved; and, as thinkers are

agreed on the principle, so they will be agreed also

upon the majority of solutions which issue from it,

by way of application or of corollary. These prob-

lems can all be arranged under some aspect of the

notion of sovereignty or power. No social life is

possible, — whether in the family, the village com-

munity, the state, the monastery, the parish, the

diocese, the universal Church — unless there exists

an authority to which the members owe obedience.

242

In the middle ages 243

What then is the source of sovereignty, in what

does it consist, to whom does it belong, what are its

attributes ? These are some of the specific problems

in the philosophical discussion of political life.

Whence comes sovereignty, this superiority of

one man, who rules over his fellow men? Like their

predecessors of the preceding centuries, the thir-

teenth century philosophers answer: All power

comes from God. And their reasoning is as fol-

lows. The entire universe is under a providential

plan; it is governed by an eternal law {lea^

aeterna), which is nothing but the order of things,

the sum of relations which result from the nature

of beings.^ To realize his end as a rational being,

and to attain to his happiness, is man's unique part

in cooperating with the universal cosmic finality,

ordained by God. Now, the rationale of governing

others, ratio guhernationis, is instituted to make

easy for each person the realization of his end. It

must therefore be, in the final analysis, a divine

delegation, a command according to which the rul-

ers carry out those necessary functions which will

enable the individual members to occupy their as-

signed places in the divine economy.^

Accordingly, rulers hold divine power by dele-

1 See below v of this chapter.

2 "Cum ergo lex aeterna sit ratio gubernationis in supremo guber-

nante, necesse est quod omnes rationes gubernationis quae sunt in

inferioribus gubernantibus a lege aeterna deriventur." Thomas

Aquinas, Summa TheoL, la2ae, q, XCIII, a. 3.

244 PHILOSOPHY AND CIVILIZATION

gation. This theory is independent of the further

question: In what way does this power, divine in

its essence, come to those who hold it, and to whom

is it given? Let the rulers hold this power from

God directly, as the legalists and the De Monarchia

teach, or let the delegation of temporal power pass

through the Papal channel, as the partisans of

mediate divine power maintain; let sovereignty be

in the hands of a monarch or a representative re-

public, — in any case, it always derives back to God

as its source. The demands of metaphysics link it

up with God.

II

The raison d'etre of sovereignty therefore fixes

its nature. And this brings us to our second ques-

tion: In what does sovereignty consist? Legal-

ists and canonists and philosophers all agree in the

reply. Sovereignty is a utility, a function, an of-

ficium; it is dedicated to the well-being of all. The

applications of the leading principle, already ex-

plained, are easy to understand. Since the state is

made for the individual, sovereignty in the state can

be only an advantage for its members. Princes of

the earth, according to Thomas Aquinas, are insti-

tuted by God, not for their own advantage, but in

order that they may serve the common good.^ The

kingdom, says Ptolemy of Lucques, is not made

3 De Regimine Principum, I, c. 1-3.