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Papers by Patrick N Cain
Democracy and The History Of Political Thought (Lexington), 2021
Investigates Aquinas's limited endorsement of democracy within the context of the Summa's argumen... more Investigates Aquinas's limited endorsement of democracy within the context of the Summa's argument for a mixed regime, showing how its analysis fits with the arguments of Aquinas's De Regno. Doing so, this essay highlights the place of democratically infused political rule in Aquinas's thought, including his view of the relationship between human freedom, prudence, and the natural law.
Pope Benedict XVI and the Politics of Modernity, 2017
The Artistic Foundations of Nations and Citizens, 2021
Perspectives on Political Science, 2012
... For a fuller discussion of Marx, see Spe Salvi, sec. 20–21. For another analysis of Benedict&... more ... For a fuller discussion of Marx, see Spe Salvi, sec. 20–21. For another analysis of Benedict's account of the history of modernity, see Thomas R. Rourke, The Social and Political Thought of Benedict XVI (Lexington Books, 2010), 36–38. ...
Interpretation, 2015
This essay provides a new interpretation of Aristotle’s analysis in Book VII of the Ethics of the... more This essay provides a new interpretation of Aristotle’s analysis in Book VII of the Ethics of the Socratic claim that no one “knowingly acts contrary to what is best.” The authors contend that Aristotle shows that Socrates’s thesis affirming the mastery of knowledge origi- nates in a quest, rooted in spiritedness, to divinize the soul and transcend the limitations of mere human virtue. Accordingly, the essay links Aristotle’s analysis of continence and incontinence to the problem of the relation between the human and the divine with which Aristotle introduces and concludes Book VII, as well as Aristotle’s largely ignored account of spiritedness (thumos) in Book VII.
Co-authored with Stephen A. Block.
Classical Rationalism and the Politics of Europe , 2018
Explores Aquinas’s attempt to show that kingship is both the best and safest form of government a... more Explores Aquinas’s attempt to show that kingship is both the best and safest form of government and the implications of his teachings for classical rationalism. Aquinas’s alternative to the Socratic tradition attempts to reorient the desire for honor that characterizes political life, away from the honors of politics, and toward the unlimited good of God. In doing so, Aquinas both attempts to remove the limits on the good allowed by a political life, and brings into question the claim that the life of philosophy is the best way of life.
Aquinas aims at overturning the ancient account that philosophers have the right to rule as kings, while at the same time exploring the ground for theologians to make this same claim. De Regno thus preserves kingship as the best form of government, even as it restricts the purist form of this regime to matters of theology. By having the reader compare his support for theological kingship with his prescription for a mixed regime in the political realm, Aquinas lays the ground for a fuller consideration of the relationship between classical rationalism, theology, and political life.
Perspectives on Political Science, 2012
Pope Benedict XVI connects the problem of technology to the question of how human beings have cho... more Pope Benedict XVI connects the problem of technology to the question of how human beings have chosen to employ their reason, both in their encounter with faith and in their pursuit of human freedom. His analysis involves a penetrating study of the history of modern thought, a history he distinguishes from the practice of classical political philosophy. Benedict's willingness to meet the challenge of philosophy, I argue, allows him both to uncover the danger to human freedom that accompanies the modern technological project, and to lay out his understanding of how to best protect and enrich human reason and the practice of virtue. For Benedict, the defense of human freedom against the dangers posed to it by technology depends on the proper relationship between faith and reason, and between philosophy and theology.
Book Reviews by Patrick N Cain
The Journal of Politics, 2011
Perspectives on Political Science, 2014
Perspectives on Political Science, 2011
Democracy and The History Of Political Thought (Lexington), 2021
Investigates Aquinas's limited endorsement of democracy within the context of the Summa's argumen... more Investigates Aquinas's limited endorsement of democracy within the context of the Summa's argument for a mixed regime, showing how its analysis fits with the arguments of Aquinas's De Regno. Doing so, this essay highlights the place of democratically infused political rule in Aquinas's thought, including his view of the relationship between human freedom, prudence, and the natural law.
Pope Benedict XVI and the Politics of Modernity, 2017
The Artistic Foundations of Nations and Citizens, 2021
Perspectives on Political Science, 2012
... For a fuller discussion of Marx, see Spe Salvi, sec. 20–21. For another analysis of Benedict&... more ... For a fuller discussion of Marx, see Spe Salvi, sec. 20–21. For another analysis of Benedict's account of the history of modernity, see Thomas R. Rourke, The Social and Political Thought of Benedict XVI (Lexington Books, 2010), 36–38. ...
Interpretation, 2015
This essay provides a new interpretation of Aristotle’s analysis in Book VII of the Ethics of the... more This essay provides a new interpretation of Aristotle’s analysis in Book VII of the Ethics of the Socratic claim that no one “knowingly acts contrary to what is best.” The authors contend that Aristotle shows that Socrates’s thesis affirming the mastery of knowledge origi- nates in a quest, rooted in spiritedness, to divinize the soul and transcend the limitations of mere human virtue. Accordingly, the essay links Aristotle’s analysis of continence and incontinence to the problem of the relation between the human and the divine with which Aristotle introduces and concludes Book VII, as well as Aristotle’s largely ignored account of spiritedness (thumos) in Book VII.
Co-authored with Stephen A. Block.
Classical Rationalism and the Politics of Europe , 2018
Explores Aquinas’s attempt to show that kingship is both the best and safest form of government a... more Explores Aquinas’s attempt to show that kingship is both the best and safest form of government and the implications of his teachings for classical rationalism. Aquinas’s alternative to the Socratic tradition attempts to reorient the desire for honor that characterizes political life, away from the honors of politics, and toward the unlimited good of God. In doing so, Aquinas both attempts to remove the limits on the good allowed by a political life, and brings into question the claim that the life of philosophy is the best way of life.
Aquinas aims at overturning the ancient account that philosophers have the right to rule as kings, while at the same time exploring the ground for theologians to make this same claim. De Regno thus preserves kingship as the best form of government, even as it restricts the purist form of this regime to matters of theology. By having the reader compare his support for theological kingship with his prescription for a mixed regime in the political realm, Aquinas lays the ground for a fuller consideration of the relationship between classical rationalism, theology, and political life.
Perspectives on Political Science, 2012
Pope Benedict XVI connects the problem of technology to the question of how human beings have cho... more Pope Benedict XVI connects the problem of technology to the question of how human beings have chosen to employ their reason, both in their encounter with faith and in their pursuit of human freedom. His analysis involves a penetrating study of the history of modern thought, a history he distinguishes from the practice of classical political philosophy. Benedict's willingness to meet the challenge of philosophy, I argue, allows him both to uncover the danger to human freedom that accompanies the modern technological project, and to lay out his understanding of how to best protect and enrich human reason and the practice of virtue. For Benedict, the defense of human freedom against the dangers posed to it by technology depends on the proper relationship between faith and reason, and between philosophy and theology.
The Journal of Politics, 2011
Perspectives on Political Science, 2014
Perspectives on Political Science, 2011