Actus justitiae

: neo-escolástica salmantina e Francisco de Vitoria sobre o poder político

Abstract

Our research project represented a challenge of a high intellectual level, quite demanding in terms of effort and resources, as it was preceded by an obligatory journey through the rich history of Christian philosophical-theological knowledge, particularly in relation to political or civil power. The research endeavoured to respond to the challenge also taken up by Calafate et al., on the urgent need for academia to commit itself to “rescuing a relevant tradition of Renaissance University teaching at the Universities of Coimbra and Évora, in dialogue” with the roots of Salamanca. In that neo-scholastic tradition, we penetrate the thought of Francisco de Vitoria who, for example, contributed to the foundation of the theory of “Just War” and coformulated modern international law. These are lines that we can find in his portentous works (in fact, a set of lectures given at the three Universities on the Iberian Peninsula that he travelled to teach at), especially De Potestate Civili, 1528, whose value we have endeavoured to reflect on, above all, with regard to the origin and purpose of political power and its limits in praxis. When we came across these texts, we soon realised the need to research them methodically, delimiting the topic to the vision of the Salmantine school, specifically Vitoria's thought. We searched two types of writings, namely commentaries on pre-existing treatises, namely St. Thomas Aquinas' De regno and Summa Theologiae and Peter Lombardo's Sentences, which served as the basis for his teachings at the School of Salamanca and, on the other hand, a series of re-readings (Relectiones), resulting from original reflections on some major issues debated in his time, in this case: “the nature of civil power, the Pope's power over it, the legitimacy of European colonial expansion, just war”, among others, as emphasised by Rosas. We also briefly went through some of the obligatory references that form its backdrop, such as St. Augustine of Hippo and his “justice” (above all, in De Civitate Dei, 420-429 and the Epistolaries) and part of the brief analysis of the origin of the State and the Domestic Government in The Politics of Aristotle of Stagira, which Francisco de Vitoria never tired of subscribing to, both directly and indirectly.

Date of Award	25 Sept 2024
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	José Carlos de Miranda (Supervisor)