Human Rights Theory Rooted in the Writings of Thomas Aquinas

Article Sidebar

PDF Full text
Published: Dec 1, 2013
DOI: https://doi.org/10.13153/diam.38.2013.542
Keywords:
Thomas Aquinas, Francisco Suarez, John Finnis, Henry Veatch, Ralph McInerny, Martha Nussbaum, human nature, natural kind, natural law, objective human right, subjective human right, jus naturale, jus positivum, positive right, negative right

Main Article Content

Anthony J. Lisska
Denison University

Abstract

This essay is an analysis of the theory of human rights based on the writings of Thomas Aquinas, with special reference to the Summa Theologiae. The difference between a jus naturale found in Aquinas and the theory of human rights developed by the sixteenth century scholastic philosophers is articulated. The distinction between objective natural rights—“what is right”—and subjective natural rights—“a right”—is discussed noting that Aquinas held the former position and that later scholastic philosophers beginning with the Salamanca School of the Second Scholasticism developed the latter position. The subjective theory of rights evolved into the modern and contemporary account of individual human rights. The essay ends with an argument suggesting that Aquinas’s theory of objective human rights can serve as the ontological foundation for a robust theory of both positive and negative subjective natural rights.

Article Details

How to Cite
“Human Rights Theory Rooted in the Writings of Thomas Aquinas”. 2013. Diametros, no. 38 (December): 134-52. https://doi.org/10.13153/diam.38.2013.542.
Issue
No. 38 (2013)
Section
Special topic – THE MORAL PHILOSOPHY OF THOMAS AQUINAS AND CONTEMPORARY PRACTICAL ETHICS

By submitting his/her work to the Editorial Board, the author accepts, upon having his/her text recommended for publication, that Diametros applies the Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license to the works we publish. Under this license, authors agree to make articles legally available for reuse, without permission or fees. Anyone may read, download, copy, print, distribute or reuse these articles without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author, as long as the author and original source are properly cited. The author holds the copyright without any other restrictions. Full information about CC-BY: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.

Author Biography

Anthony J. Lisska, Denison University

Anthony J. Lisska
Maria Theresa Barney Professor of Philosophy
Philosophy, Denison University
100 West College St.
Granville, Ohio 43023
USA
e-mail: lisska@denison.edu

Anthony J. Lisska is Maria Theresa Barney Professor of Philosophy at Denison University in Granville, Ohio, USA. Lisska received his undergraduate degree from Providence College and his PhD from The Ohio State University. His Aquinas’s Theory of Natural Law: An Analytic Reconstruction was published by the Clarendon Press of Oxford University Press (1996, 2002). Recently Lisska has published several articles, book chapters and book reviews on both medieval and contemporary theories of natural law. At Denison University, he has served as Chairperson of the Philosophy Department on three occasions, Academic Dean of the College, and founding Director of the Denison Honors Program. Lisska was the 2006 national president of the American Catholic Philosophical Association and received the Carnegie Foundation United States Baccalaureate Colleges Professor of the Year award. Lisska regularly teaches courses in contemporary natural law theory and jurisprudence.

How to Cite

“Human Rights Theory Rooted in the Writings of Thomas Aquinas”. 2013. Diametros, no. 38 (December): 134-52. https://doi.org/10.13153/diam.38.2013.542.
Share |
Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC

References

Ayers Michael, “Locke versus Aristotle on Natural Kinds,” Journal of Philosophy (78/5) 1981.

Boland Vivian, O.P., “Kenny on Aquinas on Being,” New Blackfriars (84/991) 2003.

Brett Annabel, Liberty, Right, and Nature: Individual Rights in Later Scholastic Thought, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1997.

Burns Tony, Aristotle and Natural Law, Continuum International Publishing Group, New York 2011.

Dworkin Ronald, Liberalism, [in:] A Matter of Principle, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA 1984.

Elders Leo, “The Aristotelian Commentaries of St. Thomas Aquinas,” The Review of Metaphysics (63) 2009.

Finnis John, Aquinas: Moral, Political and Legal Theory, Oxford University Press, Oxford 1998.

Francisco Suarez, De Legibus, [in:] Selections from Three Works of Francisco Suárez, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1944.

Fuller Lon, The Morality of Law, Yale University Press, New Haven, CT 1964.

Gilby Thomas, Introduction, [in:] Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, New Blackfriars Edition, Vol. 37: “Justice”, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York 1975.

Hart H.L.A., The Concept of Law, Oxford University Press, Oxford 1961.

Jordan Mark, Theology and Philosophy, [in:] The Cambridge Companion to Aquinas, Norman Kretzmann and Eleonore Stump (eds), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1993.

Kaczor Christopher, “Thomas Aquinas’s Commentary on the Ethics: Merely an Interpretation of Aristotle?,” American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly (78/3) 2004.

Kerr Fergus, Varieties of Interpreting Aquinas, [in:] Contemplating Aquinas, F. Kerr (ed.), University of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame, IN 2007.

Kripke Saul, Identity and Necessity, [in:] Milton K. Muniz (ed.), Identity and Individuation, New York University Press, New York 1971.

Lisska Anthony J., Aquinas’s Theory of Natural Law: An Analytic Reconstruction, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1996.

Lisska Anthony J., “McInerny Ralph, ‘Praeambula Fidei: Thomism and the God of the Philosophers’,” Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews 19.08.2007.

Lowe E.J., Rami A. (eds), Truth and Truth-Making, Acumen, Stockfield 2009.

MacDonald Scott, Theory of Knowledge, [in:] The Cambridge Companion to Aquinas, Norman Kretzmann and Eleonore Stump (eds), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1993.

MacIntyre Alasdair, Three Rival Versions of Moral Enquiry, Duckworth, London 1990.

McInerny Ralph, Aquinas on Human Action, Catholic University of America Press, Washington, D.C. 1992.

McInerny Ralph, Praeambula Fidei: Thomism and the God of the Philosophers, Catholic University of America Press, Washington, D.C. 2006.

Miller Fred, Aristotle’s Philosophy of Law, Chapter Four, [in:] A History of Philosophy of Law: From the Ancient Greeks to the Scholastics, Fred D. Miller, Jr. (ed.), Volume 6 of A Treatise of Legal Philosophy and General Jurisprudence, Enrico Pattaro (ed.), Springer Publishing, Dordrecht 2007.

Nussbaum Martha Craven, Non-Relative Virtues, [in:] The Quality of Life, Martha Nussbaum and Amartya Sen (eds), Clarendon Press, Oxford 1993.

Nussbaum Martha Craven, “Constitutions and Capabilities: ‘Perception’ Against Lofty Formalism,” The Harvard Law Review (121/4) 2007.

O’Meara Thomas F., Thomas Aquinas: Theologian, University of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame, IN 1997.

Rawls John, A Theory of Justice, Oxford University Press, Oxford 1972.

Sumner L.W., Rights Denaturalized, [in:] Utility and Rights, R.G. Frey (ed.), Blackwell, Oxford 1986.

Syse Henrik, Natural Law, Religion, & Right, St. Augustine’s Press, South Bend, IN 2007.

Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae, available at http://www.corpusthomisticum.org/sth0000.html.

Tierney Brian, The Idea of Natural Right, The Scholars Press, Atlanta 1997.

Tomain Joseph, Creon's Ghost: Law, Justice, and the Humanities, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2009.

Tuck Richard, Natural Rights Theories: Their Origin and Development, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1979.

Tugwell Simon, Introduction, [in:] Albert and Thomas: Selected Writings, The Paulist Press, New York 1988.

Veatch Henry, Human Rights: Fact or Fancy?, Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge, LA 1985.