In the middle ages 115

shall realize the supernatural destiny which the re-

demption of Christ has assured him.

Just as the earth is the centre of the universe,

so man is the lord of the earth. He is the end of

creation, and the most perfect image, here below,

of God. Man is like a little world, a microcosmos.

In the words of Dante as spokesman for his age,

man resembles the horizon where two hemispheres

seem to meet.^^ Made to be happy — for, all beings

strive toward happiness — man has a twofold des-

tiny : a temporal end, which he must realize here on

earth, and a supernatural end, in which he obtains

a perfect vision and love of God, but the right of

approach to which he must gain in this life. Now,

he cannot attain this temporal end and prepare

himself for the supernatural end, unless he lives in

society. Without society, he cannot meet the re-

quirements of the material life, nor develop suffi-

ciently his personality. He is a social animal, "^ani-

mal politicumf'^^

The ideal, as Augustine says in the City of God,

would be to have society on earth an exact copy of

the divine city where all is peace and unity. In re-

spect to political groups that are larger than the

family, it would be best that there should be but

one in the whole world. But such unity is impos-

sible, because of discussions among men; masses of

18 "Rectr a philosophis assimilatur horizonti qui est medium du-

orum hemisphaeriorum," De Monorchia, L. III.

18 See below ch. X, iii.

116 PHILOSOPHY AND CIVILIZATION

men, like masses of water, are the more dangerous

the more abundant they are."В° If there were no

other reason, divergence in language alone would

be sufficient cause of dissension — hominem alienat

ah liomine — for a man has a better understanding

of his dog than of another man who does not under-

stand his language. So, different kingdoms are re-

quired, and the rivalries between these involve wars

and all their attendant evils.

The philosophers, theologians, canonists, jurists,

and publicists of the thirteenth century reproduce

all these doctrines of the City of God, which pos-

sessed such a fascination for the whole of the Mid-

dle Ages. But they wish to correct the defects

arising from the plurality of the states, by a unify-

ing theory, the universal community of men, hu-

mana universitas, as Dante says."^ They wish, at

any cost, to recover, in spite of the several king-

doms, a unity of direction, such as guides the revo-

lution of the spheres, the general government of the

universe."

No one at that time doubted that man had a

20 Post civitatem vel urbeni sequitur orbis terrae, in quo tertiura

gradum ponunt societatis hiimanae, incipientes a domo atque inde

ad urbem, deinde ad orbein progrediendo venientes: qui utique, sicut

aquarum congeries, quanto major est, tanto periculis plenior. De

Civitate Dei, XIX, ch. 7.

21 De Monarchia, Lib. I.

-- Iluinanum genus est filius coeli quod est perfectissimum . . .

Kt cum coclum totum unico motu, scilicet primi mobilis et unico

motore qui Dcus est, reguletur, etc. Ibid.