Abstract

In the second book of De Regno, Thomas Aquinas states that he will discuss the kind of person a king should be. However, De Regno does not contain a description of virtues and character that the king should have. In my dissertation, I examine Aquinas's extant writings to determine the virtues and character a ruler should have. ;Chapter one of this dissertation reviews the history of the text of De Regno and summarizes some of the controversies surrounding De Regno. Chapter two examines Aquinas's account of kingship in De Regno, then compares the accounts of virtue in De Regno and the Summa Theologiae in order to justify the virtues chosen as the basis for comparing these two texts. Chapter three compares Aquinas's discussion of the cardinal virtues in the Summa Theologiae with his references to those virtues in De Regno. The fourth and fifth chapters compare Aquinas's references to the theological virtues in De Regno with his account of these virtues in the Summa Theologiae. The sixth chapter examines Aquinas's portrayal of the king's relationship with God in order to understand the character of the king in the context of his relationship with God. ;In De Regno, Aquinas describes the king as provident, just, temperate in anger, magnanimous and charitable. As an image of God and as God's minister, the king should seek spiritual and temporal goods for his subjects. Limited by its genre, the audience for whom it was written, and its status as an incomplete text, De Regno cannot provide the basis for constructing a "Thomistic political philosophy."