State2006

The State: Moderate Realist Ideas.

Most of us do not think of Socrates as a religious man. Plato and history note him as a rational philosopher first.

Socrates was in fact extremely religious, revering the gods as important. It is especially noteworthy today that he revered the Athenian City-State in a transcendental way.

Socrates believed that he owed his life and upbringing to Athens. Later the Athenian Demos or leaders grew tired of him and all his questions. They finally wanted him dead, and he complied by drinking the hemlock poison. (Plato's Apology, Crito)

Much later something similar happened under Dutch Calvinism. Hugo De Groot (Grotius) was developing ideas about freedom and a modern theory of the state. Prince Maurice in the Netherlands wanted him dead. Instead of following Socrates and reflexively obeying an unjust command from his native state, Grotius took his family and fled to Paris, where he received protection from (RC) Cardinal Richelieu.

Too many Calvinists still call the RCC 'semi-Pelagian' for doing things like harboring Grotius. Although these theological issues are important, I want to focus on the philosophy of the state involved here.

Grotius insisted that it is a first principle of natural law that 'no man should be judge in his own case.' That is, for fairness, every dispute needs a third party as mediator or judge. (Deut. 17.6, 19.15; Matt. 18.16, 2 Cor. 13.1)

Grotius and others went on to locate a universal third party in the state. For him the state is not a divine being and should not be worshipped. This claim alienated kings and princes of his time, who believed Grotius' ideas undermined the 'Divine Right of Kings.' Aquinas had earlier suffered some grief from princes because he advocated natural law.

Perhaps the worst consequence of the claim that the State is Divine (Hobbes, Hegel) is that such a state becomes really hard to change, and often leads to totalitarianism. Everyone working in it will wonder if they have 'the Spirit' (Absolutes Geist, says Hegel). If they do not, they will look for a Caesar, Emperor, Tsar, Kaiser, or Der OberGesetzFuehrer (supreme law-lord, Hitler's self-described role in the Third Reich), a leader who appears to be supremely tuned in to the Spirit intuitively. Communists like Stalin and Mao tend to avoid imperial titles, but are no less totalitarian.

At another extreme, negating divinity of the state does not imply total libertarianism or anarchy. Moderate realism implies that institutions and leadership can be real but also malleable, powerful but also changeable.

A state that is also a universal third party is real and will often be attacked. Therefore it must have power to defend itself. Systematic application of this idea gives rise to police and military power.

Grotius and other well-meaning people do not want such power to be used for bullying, aggression or for starting wars. But the power is real, expensive (subsidized by taxes), and needs to be controlled.

Now think on a smaller level. Police should not be bullies, but they do need to defend themselves (Luke 3.14). Soldiers should not start wars, but sadly military assault missions are sometimes the best way to prevent worse violence.

The state is seen as the primary locus of force in society, but civilian control of police and military power is important. The phrase 'Law and Order' is often shorthand for a reasonable approach to third party justice.

Defensive attitude is paramount. The right to self-defense is a natural law for everyone, and it justifies the state's use of force too. Remember that police and soldiers usually don't like to fight either, and want to come home healthy at night!

In summary, the state is real but not divine, powerful but restrained. The Catholic Catechism (CCC) sums it up in paragraphs 2308 and 2313.

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