1. In 1954, Rosa Parks, a black woman, started the modern civil rights movement when she refused to obey the law that required her to give up her seat on a bus to a white man. Given what you know about Socrates and his arguments about the rule of law (in both the Crito and the Apology) and what you know St. Thomas Aquinas’ theory of law, compare and contrast how each would analyze whether what she did was just
St. Thomas Aquinas believed that we should “do good and avoid evil.” I think the first thing to address would be what is a law to St. Thomas Aquinas. A law is a dictate of reason from the ruler that is for the community of which he rules. A law is made according to what should be done as said so by the ruler. The ruler should …show more content…
He, in short said that no matter how poorly you were treated, you should still not act unrighteous in response. Another way to say this is “it’s never right to do an injustice, even if you suffered an injury first.” Rosa, being a black woman during this time did suffer through a lot. She was outcasted and treated very poorly by others. However, according to Socrates, even though she was treated poorly, she should have just dealt with it.
Socrates and St. Thomas Aquinas are similar in the fact that they both would think Rosa’s decision was unjust. They are unalike in the way that they came to the conclusion. St. Thomas Aquinas would say she was unjust because she created a disturbance in disobeying the law while Socrates would say she was unjust because she should not act unrighteous in response to something that happened.
2. It's a true fact that James Madison spent a few months before the Constitutional Convention reading classics of political theory to help him figure out what he would need to know to design a good system of government. How do you think Aristotle, Cicero and Augustine would have helped him in his task? Be as specific and as comprehensive as …show more content…
From Augustine’s point of view, the state should make laws, but they should not conflict with what God has to say. They state should just be around to have a plan to keep peace when things go wrong. Austine’s viewpoint of government was far different than that of Aristotle or Cicero. If Madison were to have asked Augustine about what he should do for laws, Augustine would most likely say that political rule is a “necessary evil.” In short, Augustine would have told Madison that “government and law exist as a punishment and corrective for sin.” I think the one main thing that Augustine would help Madison create would be the first amendment. The first amendment reads, “ Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” Although government did not turn out the way that Augustine would want it to, I do believe that his insights on church involvement in the state would have impacted Madison and the other founding fathers to become knowledgeable about that topic. Austine’s viewpoint of government was far different than that of Aristotle or
St. Thomas Aquinas believed that we should “do good and avoid evil.” I think the first thing to address would be what is a law to St. Thomas Aquinas. A law is a dictate of reason from the ruler that is for the community of which he rules. A law is made according to what should be done as said so by the ruler. The ruler should …show more content…
He, in short said that no matter how poorly you were treated, you should still not act unrighteous in response. Another way to say this is “it’s never right to do an injustice, even if you suffered an injury first.” Rosa, being a black woman during this time did suffer through a lot. She was outcasted and treated very poorly by others. However, according to Socrates, even though she was treated poorly, she should have just dealt with it.
Socrates and St. Thomas Aquinas are similar in the fact that they both would think Rosa’s decision was unjust. They are unalike in the way that they came to the conclusion. St. Thomas Aquinas would say she was unjust because she created a disturbance in disobeying the law while Socrates would say she was unjust because she should not act unrighteous in response to something that happened.
2. It's a true fact that James Madison spent a few months before the Constitutional Convention reading classics of political theory to help him figure out what he would need to know to design a good system of government. How do you think Aristotle, Cicero and Augustine would have helped him in his task? Be as specific and as comprehensive as …show more content…
From Augustine’s point of view, the state should make laws, but they should not conflict with what God has to say. They state should just be around to have a plan to keep peace when things go wrong. Austine’s viewpoint of government was far different than that of Aristotle or Cicero. If Madison were to have asked Augustine about what he should do for laws, Augustine would most likely say that political rule is a “necessary evil.” In short, Augustine would have told Madison that “government and law exist as a punishment and corrective for sin.” I think the one main thing that Augustine would help Madison create would be the first amendment. The first amendment reads, “ Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” Although government did not turn out the way that Augustine would want it to, I do believe that his insights on church involvement in the state would have impacted Madison and the other founding fathers to become knowledgeable about that topic. Austine’s viewpoint of government was far different than that of Aristotle or