Aquinas on Crime

Aquinas on Crime

by Charles P. Nemeth
ISBN-10:
1587310317
ISBN-13:
9781587310317
Pub. Date:
04/15/2008
Publisher:
St. Augustine's Press
ISBN-10:
1587310317
ISBN-13:
9781587310317
Pub. Date:
04/15/2008
Publisher:
St. Augustine's Press
Aquinas on Crime

Aquinas on Crime

by Charles P. Nemeth
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Overview

Not much escapes the intellect and imagination of the Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas. Whether it be love, children, education, moral reasoning, happiness or the proper dispositions for human existence, St. Thomas seems an expert in all of it. Crime and criminal conduct are no exceptions to this general tendency with him. Not only does he have much to say about it, what he relates is perpetually fresh and surely the bedrock of what is now taken for granted. In this short treatise, the focus targets St. Thomas's criminal codification - his law of crimes.

Indeed the magnanimity of his crimes code is a subject matter not yet treated in any detail in the scholarly literature. While parts and pieces are covered in many quarters, the literature has yet to develop a systematic, codified examination of Thomistic criminal law. The essence of the endeavor is threefold: first, how does St. Thomas factor the nature of the human person into the concept of criminal culpability and personal responsibility; second, what types of criminal conduct does St. Thomas specifically delineate and define; and lastly, what is Thomas's view of mitigation and defense, as well as the corresponding punishment meted out for criminal conduct? This short commentary zeroes in on Thomistic Criminal Law - a project which will illuminate the root, the heritage and the foundation of modern criminal codification.

About the Author:
Charles P. Nemeth is Director of Graduate Legal Studies at California University of Pennsylvania and the university's Institute for Law and Public Policy


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781587310317
Publisher: St. Augustine's Press
Publication date: 04/15/2008
Edition description: 1
Pages: 158
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.50(d)

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments     x
Preface     xi
Aquinas and the Idea of Law     1
Introduction     1
The Thomistic Idea of Law     3
Law as the "Rule and Measure" of Reason     4
Law as an Instrument of the Common Good     6
Law as Good and End     6
The Various Kinds of Law     7
The Eternal Law     8
The Natural Law     10
The Divine Law     13
The Human Law     17
The Necessity of Human Law     18
Human Law is Derivative     19
Summary     22
Aquinas on Criminal Culpability     30
Introduction     30
Freedom and Criminal Culpability     30
Free Choice and Criminal Culpability     38
Good and Evil in Human Action     39
Improper Object     41
The Sum of Circumstances     42
The Proper End and the Concept of Evil     43
Summary     45
Crimes against the Person     50
Introduction     50
Criminal Homicide     50
Homicide by Accidental Means     51
Homicide in Self-Defense     54
Abortion and Infanticide     57
Mayhem     59
Assault     62
Corporal Punishment and Child Abuse     63
Summary     64
Aquinas on Sexual Offenses     67
Introduction     67
Rape     68
Sodomy     72
Incest     74
Bestiality     76
Adultery     77
Fornication     78
Illegitimacy     79
Marriage and the Impact of Fornication     81
Fornication and Objectification of the Human Person     82
Bigamy     83
Polygamy     84
Summary     86
Aquinas on Property Offenses     90
Introduction     90
The Right to Property     90
Theft and Stealing     93
The "Taking"     93
Theft and Secrecy     94
Theft and Gravity     97
Value of Property     97
Robbery     99
Fraud     100
Fraud in the Price     101
Fraud and Commercial Practice     101
Fraud in the Exchange     102
Defects in the Exchange      103
Summary     105
Offenses Involving Judicial Process     108
Introduction     108
Lawyers and Truth     110
The Lawyer as Advocate     111
Perjury     113
Malicious Prosecution     113
Judges and Truth     115
Defendants and Truth     117
Summary     119
Aquinas On Offenses Against Public Morality     122
Introduction     122
Public Drunkenness and Disorder     122
Drunkenness and Mitigation     125
Disorderly Conduct/Public Fighting     126
Hatred and Human Interaction     126
Discord     127
Contention     128
Strife     128
Sedition     129
Public Indecency     130
Obscenity     132
Summary     133
Law, Justice, Sentencing and Punishment     136
Introduction     136
Punishment as Reciprocity     136
Types of Punishment and Penalties in Thomistic Jurisprudence     140
Corporal Punishment     140
Imprisonment     142
The Death Penalty     143
Restitution      146
Punishment and Salvation     147
Summary     148
Index     152
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