State Power over the Body in the Context of Thomistic Ethics — Capital Punishment, Police Killing and Waging War

Studia Philosophica Wratislaviensia 18 (3):87-98 (2024)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

When engaging in a philosophical analysis of body and corporeality in a political context, it is essential to ask to what extent, under what circumstances, and in accordance with what moral norms the state performs actions that have the bodies and lives of citizens as their object. This issue was already discussed in ancient philosophy, examples of which can be found in the writings of Plato and Aristotle, but also in ancient jurisprudence, especially in the law and the legal doctrine of ancient Rome. Aware of such a previous history of studies on this topic, this analysis will discuss the three main ways in which state power over the life and health of citizens is manifested. Namely: (i) capital punishment (ii) policing and (iii) warfare. In addition, it will be indicated, based on Thomistic philosophy, what moral norms govern these state actions. The fundamental differences between the three main state powers — judicial, police, and military — will also be shown in the context of lethal actions undertaken on their basis.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 93,867

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Security Institutions, Use of Force and the State: A Moral Framework.Shannon Ford - 2016 - Dissertation, Australian National University
Regulating Police Use of Deadly Force.Roger Wertheimer - 1982 - In N. Bowie & F. Elliston (eds.), Ethics, Public Policy and Criminal Justice. Oelgeschalger, Gunn & Hain. pp. 93--109.
Normativity of war and peace : thoughts from the Han Feizi.Eirik Lang Harris - 2024 - In Sumner B. Twiss, Bingxiang Luo & Benedict S. B. Chan (eds.), Warfare ethics in comparative perspective: China and the West. New York, NY: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. pp. 113-125.

Analytics

Added to PP
2024-05-14

Downloads
0

6 months
0

Historical graph of downloads

Sorry, there are not enough data points to plot this chart.
How can I increase my downloads?

Citations of this work

No citations found.

Add more citations

References found in this work

No references found.

Add more references