Liberty, Wisdom, and Grace: Thomism and Democratic Political Theory by John P. Hittinger (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 329 Liberty, Wisdom, and Grace: Thomism and Democratic Political Theory. By JOHN P. HITTINGER. Lanham, Md.: Lexington Books, 2002. Pp. 314 + .xxvi. $70.00 (cloth), $25.95 (paper). ISBN 0-7391-0411-X (cloth), 07391 -0412-8 (paper). Liberty, Wisdom, and Grace collects material from two decade's worth of John Hittinger's essays and reviews. The volume's subtitle may seem a bit misleading , for, while much of the content does concern Thomism and democratic political theory, substantial space is also given to issues of metaphysics, aesthetics, and education. This is, however, intelligible in light of the fact that the book's most consistent concerns are rooted in the thought of Jacques Maritain, a mentor and interlocutor Hittinger turns to throughout. Indeed the index contains more references to Maritain than to any other figure, including Aquinas. Thus, the title is not so misleading after all: when one thinks of Thomism and democratic theory one must think of Maritain as well as of Yves Simon, to whom Hittinger qlso devotes a great deal of attention. The central problematic of the book is the contemporary political and cultural situation in the developed West. Hittinger is a fierce critic of the quest for radical autonomy that pervades our politics and that is underwritten by the reductionism and relativism of the academy: both begin with the quest for mastery of nature in Cartesian philosophy and end in the infamous "mystery passage" that is the center of the Supreme Court's 1992 abortion decision, Planned Parenthood v. Casey (179, 197-99 with 182). He is also, however, mindful of the achievements of liberal democracy and particularly of American democracy, as interpreted especially by Tocqueville (11, 25, 52, 297). This latter thought gives Hittinger's critique a moderation and sobriety about politics that tracks his more radical questions about the metaphysical roots of the modern project. Of the book's sixteen chapters, three could be said to constitute anchors, whose themes resonate throughout the rest of the book. The first of these, "Jacques Maritain and Yves R. Simon's Use of Thomas Aquinas in their Defense of Liberal Democracy" (chap. 3), aims to establish warrant in the writings of Aquinas for Maritain and Simon's advocacy of democratic politics. Hittinger argues that the Thomistic grounds for universal suffrage can be found in texts where Aquinas distinguishes the rule of reason over the body from the rule of reason over the appetites, the latter said to be "royal or political rule" (STh I, q. 81, a. 3, ad 2), as well as in the famous text where Aquinas distinguishes servile dominion from political dominion in his discussion of whether or not there would have been dominion in the state of innocence (STh I, q. 96, a. 4). Grounds for consent-based theory of political authority can be found in Thomas's statement that authority to make law is vested in a whole people or in one vested with care of the whole people (STh 1-11, q. 90, a. 3). Hittinger locates a ground for Maritain and Simon's championing of liberty in general and subsidiarity in particular in Aquinas's discussions of the relationship of human freedom and divine power: in one text Aquinas holds that the wife of a t:;ondemned thief can 330 BOOK REVIEWS rightly wish that his life be spared while the judge rightly wills his punishment, a difference rooted in the distinction between the divine or common good materially and formally considered, a distinction of central importance in Simon's theory of political authority (STh 1-11, q. 19, a. 10). The second text affirms that everything is governed by the divine will, but some things are so governed immediately and others by means of some intermediate cause (STh I, q. 103, a. 6). Finally, Bittinger locates a Thomistic ground for the notions of equality and human rights in Aquinas's treatment of the universal character of essences considered as such, and thus of the human essence (De Ente et Essentia, 3.17-18). Hittinger admits that some of these grounds are tenuous. The second, for example, used as warrant for the "transmission theory of authority," is only...