St. Thomas Aquinas as a Political Philosopher
Once described as “the first Whig,” the great Christian philosopher of the thirteenth century, Thomas Aquinas, is here introduced by Maurice Cranston as an exponent of order, justice and government.
Lord Acton once spoke of St. Thomas Aquinas as “the first Whig.” It is a striking phrase, and one still often finds it quoted in textbooks and in candidates’ answers to questions about Aquinas in examinations in the history of political thought. But it is not a remark that stands up to much reflection. Aquinas believed, assuredly, in freedom and natural rights and government by consent; but there is no clear evidence that he thought men had a right to rebellion; he explicitly rejected the theory of the social contract; and as for the “natural right” that interested the Whig theorists most — the right to property — Aquinas denied that it was, strictly speaking, a natural right at all.
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