What Does It Mean To Act Like The Soul Of The King

Justice is the way of a king according to Thomas Aquinas. God’s reason, that is within human beings, allows to determine right from wrong. “The king should recognize that he has a duty to act in his kingdom like the soul in the body and god in the world. If he recognized this he will be drive by a zeal for justice when he considers that he has been appointed to exercise judgment over the kingdom in God’s place, and he will acquire his as members of his own body” (Aquinas 26). What does it mean to act like the soul in the body? The soul holds the body together, it unifies, it governs by reason and without it the body wouldn’t stand together. Once the King realizes his purpose, which is to serve his community like God serves the universe or like the soul of the body. He will be able to embody god’s ways and show the correct judgment towards his community. The king should “establish the good life of the community (multitudine) under him; second, he should defend it once it is established; and third, once secured he should foster its improvement” (Aquinas 29). The ruling of a king is not momentary, it is

Thomas Aquinas has a more religious approach to the making of a virtuous society. The end goal of a king and his society would be in the after-life, to reach true happiness with God. As it states in St. Thomas Aquinas on Politics and Ethics, “the final end of organized society then is not to live the life of virtue but through a life of virtue to attain the enjoyment of God” (27). The responsibility of the king therefore, it to direct his society towards that end goal of happiness in the afterlife. If the king doesn’t have an end goal, then what is the point? What would he be reaching for? Thomas Aquinas belief in the after-life and God, which creates a purpose and a bright future for