Abstract

The parallel between the philosophy of the great contemporary Thomist, Yves R. Simon , and the political thought of Luis Munoz Marin , founding father of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is explored. Simon's philosophy is seen to found and articulate Munoz's politics, while Munoz's politics confirms the value of Simon's philosophy. Both view liberty not as mere undetermination, but as autonomy. ;The concept of "autonomy" is the keystone of Simon's theory of government: the main function of authority is to take charge of the concretization of the common good so that the various members of society may freely tend to their particular goods. No task which can be achieved by the initiative of the individual or that of small social units should be assumed by the larger units. The metaphysics underlying Simon's concept of autonomy is expounded and unpacked. Examined are Simon's thought on the absolute autonomy of God and the relative autonomy of nature and man as they participate in God's perfection, the nature and foundations of political society, the nature and functions of authority and its relation to liberty, democracy as a superior form of government , and the principle of political autonomy in relation to its theological, metaphysical, ethical, political, and pragmatic foundations. ;The thought of Munoz is then interpreted in the light of Simon's philosophy. Munoz thought that the Commonwealth, as a new form of political association with the United States based on equal dignity, one that enriches not only American constitutional thought but also the principles of federalism and democracy, should cultivate as much autonomy as is compatible with American citizenship. In Simon's metaphysics of freedom--where authority and autonomy do not clash but complement one another, and where society emerges as a whole composed of wholes--we find adequate categories to think through this nonabsorbing relationship. The concrete historical instance of Puerto Rico is thus used as a point of departure for a study and illustration of Simon's philosophical theory, and Simon's philosophical theory is used to clarify Munoz's interpretation of the constitutional relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States