Culture in the Thought of St. Thomas Aquinas

Abstract

This study reconstructs and critically analyses the concept of culture that was articulated in the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas. The historical reconstruction served the primary purpose of showing (i) the limitations of Aquinas’ theory of culture, and (ii) the relevance of Aquinas’ theory (and its vitality in the context of other philosophical disciplines, among others—the philosophy of business). Although Aquinas did not directly reflect on the issue of culture in his writings, one can achieve a better understanding of his approach to culture by placing it within the broader context of Thomasian virtue ethics. Recognising at the outset that culture constitutes the soul of the community, it was shown that, precisely as the spiritual aspect of communitas, culture is, in a sense, the subject of the obligations arising from the virtue of justice. Then it was established that the virtue that best captures the issue of culture is pietas (in Polish translations referred to as patriotism or pietism), which has as its object the rights of the community and the obligations of an individual toward his or her motherland. The basic ways in which the virtue of pietas is realised—reverence and service—are discussed and it is indicated how they are carried out in the context of culture.