Political philosophy concepts and theories

Political Philosophy

Plato and St. Thomas Aquinas both have some strong opinions on the nature of man and knowledge. Plato held that the soul and body were related, but Aquinas rejected that particular position for the human soul (Alican, 2012; Torrell, 2005). He viewed God and the Angels as intelligent but not rational beings, and addressed the fact that the animal (physical) part of the human experience was what led to rationality (Torrell, 2005). In other words, it is not reason that distinguishes humans from animals. Rather, it is reason that indicates that humans are animals. Additionally, Thomas discussed the idea that there is a Prime Mover (God), and that the Mover shows that the "moved" (human souls) existed before they were in human bodies and can exist afterward as well (Torrell, 2005). He believed that the soul survived death because it was in the body but not of the body. The two were bound during human life, but they were not tied to one another to the point that the end of one meant the end of the other.

This is a difference from what Plato talked about, because he believed that the body and the soul were tied to one another (Alican, 2012). His thinking was more along the lines that each person's body was given a soul, and that the two had to be linked together because they would not be able to survive on their own (Alican, 2012). The thought that the soul was the determiner for the body was very strong with Plato, which was something worth considering in light of the fact that Aquinas was more of the mindset that the body was the determiner for the soul (Alican, 2012; Torrell, 2005). The body made rational decisions, like when and what to eat, while the soul possessed the higher intelligence that the body was incapable of offering (Torrell, 2005). Because Plato and Aquinas were both highly philosophical in their viewpoints on all types of things, it can be difficult to truly interpret what they offer to the world from a modern day standpoint.

The analysis of the nature of man and knowledge changed for Aquinas through his studies (Torrell, 2005). The more he examined these issues, the more he formed a new interpretation of human law and the human soul. Originally he thought more like Plato, and even was considered to be one of the followers of Plato's thoughts and beliefs (Torrell, 2005). Over time, he developed his own philosophy of humanity and the soul. Being a man of God, Aquinas was always very focused on the soul, but he was also a man of intellect and was working out in his own head how to reconcile his belief in God with the belief that there is something highly valuable about the life spent in the human body (Torrell, 2005). Because he was so focused on understanding life and everything beyond it, he wrote many commentaries on the works of other philosophers and men of God. Additionally, he devoted much of his time to considering the works of others and examining why they thought the way they did.