Angels, Demons, Us: Reconciling Raz and Aquinas on the Coordinative Function of Law
40 Pages Posted: 21 Nov 2020 Last revised: 20 Feb 2024
Date Written: October 3, 2020
Abstract
This paper draws a parallel between Joseph Raz’s ‘society of angels’ thought experiment in Practical Reason and Norms and St. Thomas Aquinas’s description of the divine government and the society under the state of innocence in Summa Theologica (Part I, Q108, A1 and Q95, A4). These discussions matter not only for determining whether law is necessarily coercive – a matter that has been quite extensively discussed, but also, less obviously, for better appreciating that the functions of law include not only coercion, but also coordination. Even though only Aquinas connects the nature of law properly so called to its orientation towards the common good, both him and Raz highlight the practical indispensability of law for coordinative reasons. This explains why not just Raz, but also Aquinas, would consider a converse ‘society of demons’, as having law, albeit, for Aquinas, in a secondary sense. Finally, Raz’s and Aquinas’s shared insight is important when it comes to examining the idea of legality in atypical settings, such as post-legal societies, wicked regimes, extraordinary measures, and international law. The paper ends with a call for further exploration of commonalities and not just differences between legal positivism and natural law.
Keywords: Jurisprudence, Raz, Aquinas, Angelology
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