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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 January 2024
According to Thomas Aquinas, a sovereign government may legitimately execute sinners in pursuance of the common good. Aquinas outlines his defence of Capital Punishment (‘CP’) in the Summa Theologica (‘ST’) 2–2, q.64, a.2 and the Summa Contra Gentiles (‘SCG’), Book 3, Chapter 146. Aquinas's stance on this issue is well known and his argument in favour of CP has been extensively discussed. This article will focus instead on the objections Aquinas raises to the institution of CP in the ST and SCG, along with his responses to these objections. After providing a brief sketch of Aquinas's account of legal punishment, Aquinas's argument for the legitimacy of CP will then be outlined. The objections which Aquinas raises to CP will then be individually examined, along with his reply to each. After examining the underpinnings of Aquinas's objections and responses, the outline of a critique will be offered which draws upon the thought of Augustine and Karl Barth.
1 Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica (‘ST’), trans. Fathers of the English Dominican Province, ed. Kevin Knight (http://www.newadvent.org/summa/), 1–2, q.93
2 Ibid, 1–2, q.91, a.2
3 Ibid, 1–2, q.87, a.1; a.1; 1–2, q.46, a.1; 2–2, q.108, a.2
4 Ibid, 1–2, q.29, a.1
5 Ibid, 1–2, q.87, a.1
6 Ibid, 1–2, q.29, a.6
7 Ibid, 1–2, q.87, a.1
8 Ibid, 1–2, q.29, a.6
9 Ibid, 1–2, q.72, a.4
10 Ibid, 1, q.96 a.4
11 Ibid, 1–2, q.90, a.2
12 For further discussion on Aquinas's conception of the Common Good, see Goyette, John, ‘On the Transcendence of the Political Common Good: Aquinas versus the New Natural Law Theory’ The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 13.1 (2013):133–156CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Keys, Mary M., Aquinas, Aristotle, and the Promise of the Common Good (Cambridge University Press, 2006)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Finnis, John, Aquinas: Moral, Political and Legal Theory (Oxford University Press 1998), p. 279–84Google Scholar; Koritansky, Peter Karl, Thomas Aquinas and the Philosophy of Punishment (Catholic University of America Press, 2012), p.86–98CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13 Porter, Jean, Ministers of the Law: A Natural Law Theory of Legal Authority (William B. Eeerdmans Publishing, 2010), p.156Google Scholar.
14 See Porter, Jean, ‘The Common Good in Thomas Aquinas’, In Search of the Common Good, ed. Miller, Patrick and McCann, Dennis P. (Continuum International, 2005), p.94 – 121Google Scholar; Nemeth, Charles P., Aquinas in the Courtroom: Lawyers, Judges, and Judicial Conduct (Praeger, 2001), p.103–115Google Scholar
15 ST 1–2, q.95, a.4
16 Ibid, 1–2, q. 95, a.1
17 Ibid, 2–2, q.58, a.1
18 Ibid
19 Ibid, 2–2, q.108, a.4
20 Ibid, 1–2, q.90, a.1–2
21 Ibid, 2–2, q. 58, a. 6
22 Ibid, 2–2, q.104, a.4
23 Ibid, 1–2, q.100, a.8
24 Ibid, 1–2, q.19, a.10
25 Ibid
26 Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on the Second Book of the Sentences of Master Peter Lombard, Distinction 44, Article 2 (http://dhspriory.org/thomas/Sent2d44q2a2.htm).
27 Thomas Aquinas, Summa Contra Gentiles (‘SCG’), trans. Anton C. Pegis, James F. Anderson, Vernon J. Bourke, and Charles J. O'Neil (http://dhspriory.org/thomas/ContraGentiles.htm), Book 3, Chapter 146
28 Ibid; ST 2–2, q.64, a.2
29 ST 2–2, q.65, a.2, ad.2
30 SCG, Book 3, Chapter 146
31 ST 1–2, q.1, a.3, ad.3.
32 Ibid, 2–2, q.64, a.2; SCG, Book 3, Chapter 146
33 Aquinas, Commentary on 1 Corinthians (http://dhspriory.org/thomas/SS1Cor.htm#52)
34 ST 2–2, q.64, a.2; SCG, Book 3, Chapter 146
35 Kortansky, Thomas Aquinas and the Philosophy of Punishment, p.161
36 ST 2–2, q.43, a.1
37 Ibid
38 Ibid, 1–2, q.96, a.4
39 For a further and more extensive discussion of Aquinas's argument in favour of Capital Punishment and its relation to contemporary social Catholic teaching, see especially Koritansky, Thomas Aquinas and the philosophy of Punishment, p.170–191; Brugger, Christian, ‘Aquinas and Capital Punishment: The Plausibility of the Traditional Argument’, Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy, Volume 18 Issue 2 (2004): 357–372Google Scholar; Flannery, Kevin, ‘Capital Punishment and the Law’, Ave Maria Law Review 5 (2007): 399–428Google Scholar
40 SCG, Book 3, Chapter 146
41 Ibid
42 ST 1–2, q.1, a.3, ad.3
43 Ibid, 2–2, q.158, a.3, ad.2
44 Aquinas, Thomas, On Evil, trans. Regan, Richard, ed. Davies, Brian (Oxford University Press, 20013)Google Scholar, On Anger, p.371–377; see also Kortansky, Thomas Aquinas and the Philosophy of Punishment, p.113–122
45 ST 2–2, q.158, a.3
46 Aquinas, On Evil, p.377–380
47 Aquinas, On Evil, p.371–377
48 ST, 2–2, q.64, a.2, arg.1
49 Ibid, 2–2, q.64, a.2, ad.1
50 See ST 2–2, q.11, a.3
51 See Megivern, James J., The Death Penalty: An Historical and Theological Survey (Paulist Press, 1997), p.111–121Google Scholar. In his overview of Aquinas's position on Capital Punishment, Megivern highlights the religious and political problem of heresy as central to Aquinas's defence of the practice.
52 For further discussion on these points and their political-historical context, see Journet, Charles, Church of the Word Incarnate (Sheed and Ward, 1955)Google Scholar.
53 ST 2–2, q.10, a.8
54 Ibid, q.64, a.2, ad.1; see also ST 2–2, q.108, a.3, ad.1
55 SCG, Book, 3, Chapter 146
56 ST 2–2, q.33, a.1
57 SCG, Book 3, Chapter 146
58 ST 2–2. q.64, a.2, arg.2
59 Ibid
60 Ibid
61 Ibid, 2–2, q.23, a.6
62 Ibid, 2–2, q.64, arg.3
63 Ibid, 2–2, q.64, ad3
64 Ibid, 2–2, q.25, a.3
65 Ibid
66 Ibid, 2–2, q.64, a.3, ad.2
67 Ibid, 1–2, q.29, a.1
68 ST 2–2, q.108, a.1
69 Ibid, 2–2, q.25, a.6. Aquinas gives the same answer to the question of whether, given the natural inclination to hate that which is contrary to a thing's being, charity should be owed to one's enemies: see ST 2–2, q.25, a.8, ad.2
70 Ibid, 1–2, q.85, a.2
71 Ibid, 2–2, q.25, a.6, ad.2
72 For a critique of Aquinas's position with regard to the ontological state of executable sinners as ultimately incoherent, see for instance Brugger, ‘Aquinas and Capital Punishment: The Plausibility of the Traditional Argument’, 365–369
73 Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on the Gospel of Saint John (http://dhspriory.org/thomas/SSJohn.htm)
74 ST 2–2, q.64, a.3, ad.2
75 Ibid, 2–2, q.64, a.3
76 Augustine, , Political Writings, Edited by Atkins, E.M. and Dodaro, R.J. (Cambridge University Press, 2004), p.119–126Google Scholar
77 Ibid, p.122
78 Ibid, p.123 (emphasis added)
79 Ibid, p.124
80 Barth, Karl, Church Dogmatics: Volume 3, Part 4, ed. and trans. Bromiley, Geoffrey and Torrance, Thomas (Continuum International, 2004), p.441Google Scholar
81 Ibid`
82 Ibid, p.442
83 Ibid
84 Ibid, p.445
85 Much remains to be said concerning how Aquinas may have responded to this critique. A fuller exposition, however, lies outside the scope of this essay.