Aquinas on Crime

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.

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Aquinas on Crime

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.

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Aquinas on Crime

Aquinas on Crime

by Charles P. Nemeth
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.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781587310492
Publisher: St. Augustine's Press
Publication date: 03/24/2023
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 168
File size: 563 KB

Table of Contents

Contents

Preface vii

Chapter 1 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

Chapter 2 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

Chapter 3 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

Chapter 4 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

Chapter 5 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

Chapter 6 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

Chapter 7 Aquinas On Offenses Against Public Morality 122

Introduction 12

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

Chapter 8 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

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