Man is Naturally a Part of the Body Politic: The Being of Politics

The human person is naturally and organically a part of the body politic. This implies a corporate form of politics that differs radically from the individualism of Enlightenment liberalism.

Man is political by nature. This is the first principle of classical political thought, and it is at odds with entire liberal tradition. Since the Enlightenment, John Locke and others have taught us to think about politics as if it is a matter of rational agreement. We are all part of a social contract, in which we, as individuals, have freely delegated powers of enforcement and adjudication to the government in order to protect our “individual rights.” In this perspective, politics is voluntary, contractual, individualistic, and limited to the intentions of the contractual parties. By contrast, ancient and medieval authors, like Aristotle, Cicero, and Thomas Aquinas placed political life within the natural order. We no more decide to be political than we decide to bipedal, it is just part of being human. Indeed, by nature, the human person is a part of the greater political whole. To put a fine point on it in Aristotelian terms, human beings are endowed with an internal inclination to build political community.

The evidence for man’s political nature is ubiquitous. Wherever the environment supplies sufficient material resources, we find men coming together to form political communities. We make laws, form armies, build up regulatory institutions, and develop markets. And all of this activity is brought together under some form of authorized, that is, “legitimate” governmental power.

The Matter and Form of Political Life

Contrary to the illusions of the liberal tradition, government is rarely invented by rational agreement. Historically, governments come in many different forms and from many different sources. Some governments are created by the gods or a god-inspired lawgiver. Sometimes authority is derived from the possession of a sacred site or a sacred bloodline, and so on. However, within this diversity we can find some defining elements. True political government is the result of a recognized process (or source) of legitimacy, it possesses real coercive power usually exercised in the promulgation and enforcement of law, and finally, this power is generally directed to the common good of the political whole (I will take up the controverted question of the common good in a subsequent essay). And note well: in this perspective democracy and democratic processes do not have a monopoly on legitimacy. This is because classical theory is rooted in the reality of political order not ideology. The classical authors look to what actually happens on the ground, and they see that “legitimacy” is part of political reality and that it is diverse.

However, it is important to remember that government power is not everything in classical political theory. As indicated, political reality includes many complex elements like markets for commerce, shared cultural institutions, and economic resources. We may think of these elements as the “matter” — the necessary conditions — for political community. Aristotle is helpful on this point: political community is the perfect society, that is, it is complete for human flourishing (integral human development). Obviously, Aristotle does not mean that political communities are morally pristine — he is not that naive. Rather he means that some communities reach a stage of development, such that are distinguished as possessing everything needed for human flourishing. Such communities (political communities) are superior to families and tribes because although the latter are certainly natural they are relatively incomplete. A family or even a group of families, living in isolation, is not sufficient for the good life. Of course, these communities are important aspects of human development and eventually become parts of the political community. When the material elements are combined with effective governance, the reality of political community emerges from the natural dynamism of the human person. And it is essential to recognize that this is a kind of reality. Once political matter (sufficient material resources) and political form (effective government) come together, political reality comes into being. This is a new and real being that transcends its constituent parts. However, as I explained in a previous essay, political being is real but accidental; it is a potential whole sufficient for civic happiness (more on this below). This form of being is natural in its origin, although its details will be a matter of art.

The Good of Politics

Political community is a reality with its own internal causes (formal and material) and it inevitably flows from human nature. But why is this so? Why is human nature ordered to political community? Human nature is order to political community because it is good and desirable for the human person. Now this claim may be surprising to modern sensibilities. Of course the dishonesty and double-dealing that often plagues politics is worthy of contempt. Nevertheless, political community has produced innumerable achievements; sometimes these achievements have been directly produced by the government or public action; other times, it is the parts of the community that do so. But even in this case, the parts achieve what they do because they are parts. This point is often forgotten, but it is true. Even the most seemingly independent entrepreneur depends upon the political community for stable currency, secure banking, transportation infrastructure, law enforcement, etc. Indeed, the many blessings of political community are evident upon reflection and chief among them is civic happiness.

The Forms of Happiness

Saint Thomas Aquinas and his best students, recognize four forms of happiness: perfect eternal beatitude, temporal beatitude, contemplative happiness, and finally civic happiness. What all of these forms of happiness have in common is that they represent the actualization of the intellectual soul in one way or another. The intellectual soul (the rational soul) is what distinguishes man from the other animals and empowers him to develop the arts, science, virtues, and so on.

Civic happiness or active happiness is the rational use of basic goods like life, food, shelter, family life, and the like. This is a real but incomplete form of happiness, and it is acquired through our natural powers. The second level of happiness is contemplative and consists in the actualization of the speculative intellect through acts of insight, definition, demonstration, and most of all contemplation. This too is a natural, acquired, and imperfect form of happiness. Soaring above the natural forms of happiness are the supernatural, infused forms of happiness. Highest of all is beatitude, which consists in contemplative union with God. This form of happiness fills the souls with complete truth, wisdom, and joy. Although the natural forms of happiness remotely participate in beatitude, it is beyond our natural powers. Finally, the second highest form of happiness is temporal beatitude; this is the life of faith and grace experienced here and now, by those pursuing eternal beatitude. It is a mixture of natural and supernatural powers, faith and reason, acquired and infused habits. At its best, it includes the better elements of civic and contemplative happiness. Now all of this is important because one form of happiness is exclusively available within political community, namely, active happiness. This connection is built into the essence of political community and connected to our natural aptitude for politics.

The Being of Politics and Conversion

In summary: we are naturally inclined to political community because it is good for us, and it is good for us because it is the proper context for achieving active happiness, that is, the rational use of basic goods. In this perspective, the existence and reality of politics is not up to us. It is a matter of natural order; it is given in reality. Of course the particular details and applications of specific regimes will be matters of human determination. Nevertheless, the deep connection between civic happiness and political community is itself not optional: without political community you cannot achieve active happiness. The pursuit of happiness is not an individual matter; indeed active happiness is not an individual good at all; rather it is the common good of political community. This conclusion is unlikely to be welcome by libertarians, classical liberals, and political individualists. But in truth, decent political order and active happiness go together and this indicated by the trajectory of human nature. Nature is the sign that we should willingly obey political authority in order to achieve flourishing for others and ourselves. Indeed, this is a matter of natural law.

To put a fine point on it: real politics is not based on a rational, self-interested choice. Rather political reality is based on the natural fact that human beings rise and fall together. Politics is part of nature; this is a non-negotiable. For this reason, nature inclines man to be a part of the greater political whole; in this way, the human person advances his own actualization within the potential whole of politics.

In fact, the toxicity of our own politics is rooted in our individualism and unwillingness to rise together. Indeed, we must convert to something like this perspective:

We see individuals as not simply left free to follow their own self-centered inclinations, but as bound together with the whole community by obligations and mutual concern for one another and assisting one another; while the community is seen as something that has great value on its own merits, which transcends the individuals not merely because of its power, but by virtue of its place in the moral order and purpose it accomplishes.[1]

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[1] Heinrich Pesch, Ethics and the National Economy (Published 1918; IHS Press, 2004), 59.