Principal and Polity; Aquinas and the Rise of State Theory in the West
London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1958. First edition. Octavo, original black cloth, original dust jacket. A near-fine copy. Item #740
"THE GLOW FROM THE HEAVENLY CITY, FAR FROM BLURRING THE EARTHLY CITY IN A HAZE, MAKES IT CLEAR AND REAL"
First edition by the noted English Thomist tracing the development of medieval political theory. The modern conception of the State began to coalesce in the thirteenth century as the thought of classical Greece was revived in the West in the hands of scholars like Thomas Aquinas. Gilby, in a valuable and lengthy Introduction, reminds the reader that Aquinas "finished no formal political treatise, and the four principles we have picked out were advanced in various parts of his philosophical and theological writings composed during the twenty years of his teaching (1254-74). As his Aristotelianism grew so the need for State action was more firmly emphasized."
The text consists of Part One. The Influences at Work (I. Theologians, II. Jurists, III. Landed Men and Wanderers, IV. Philosophers), Part Two. The Development in St Thomas (V. The Advance of the Theologians, VI. A Draft for the Jurists, VII. Citizenship and Eccentricity, VIII. The Reception of Aristotle), Conclusion. The Political Discourse. Gilby's brief Acknowledgments (dated "Blackfriars, Cambridge/29 June 1957") thanks David Knowles, Michael Oakeshott, Yves Simon, and fellow Dominicans Kenelm Foster, O.P. and John-Baptist Reeves, O.P. Approbations.
Price: $75.00