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St. Thomas Aquinas Research Paper

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Religion vs. Politics, human law vs. divine law, and good government vs. bad government, are all things that hold strong influence over the people in society, and determine their behavior towards one another. Laws are created to maintain order amongst the people, and therefore, should be reflective of everyone as a whole. For those who cause trouble should be the only ones subjected to the law. And, despite the law holding so much power, many people still break it. In this paper, I will explore the religious, philosophical, and political views of St. Thomas Aquinas in relation to the law in society, through his following works: The Doctrine of Necessary Being, the Weakness of Will, and his views on the City, Province, and Empire in the Subsidiarity, Federalism, and Best Constitution. I will then explore his reasoning about why religion and state should co-exist independently, but overlap in the governing of the people. Thomas Aquinas is one of the most renowned Saints in the Dominican Order. He was born in Roccasecca, Italy in 1225. From the age of five to thirteen he attended a …show more content…
In the paradigm of the plant and soul, it is believed that the plants cannot subsist apart from matter, and moreover, even, though all the activities of the vegetative soul take place through a corporeal organ and by means of the power of corporeal qualities, its activities surpass those of corporeal nature. While in the human, the soul’s activity of the intellect is higher still because it does not take place through a corporeal organ. If it did take place through a corporeal organ, the determinate nature of that organ would prevent our having knowledge of all bodies (Hoffman 79). This paradigm is particularly related to the religious law in the state in that

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