Responsible Parenthood and Overpopulation

RESPONSIBLE PARENTHOOD AND OVERPOPULATION INTRODUCTION DUE to the highly publicized question of overpopulation, a theological problem has arisen in recent years, concerning the moral obligation of procreation and the advisability of the limitation of offspring. Although a solution to this complex problem is difficult to formulate, a natural starting-point would be an investigation of the relation between procreation and the human species, as taught in the sexual ethics of St. Thomas Aquinas. Throughout the history of mankind marriage has always been considered as providing for the preservation of the human race. St. Thomas was greatly influenced by the fundamental Aristotelian principle: nature seeks above all the promotion and conservation of the species, for the good of the species is superior to the good of the individual. The concept of "procreation for the good of the species " has been variously overemphasized or belittled. Man's service to the species has been de-emphasized in recent years through emphasis on "personal fulfillment" in conjugal companionship; on the other hand, marriage " in the service of the species " has been exaggerated to the degree of placing the procreative faculty at the disposal of the eugenic policy of a nation or race. Consequently, we seek the answers to two questions: 1) What is a proper understanding of the principle that " procreation is for the good of the species"? 9l) Can this principle be applied to the social contingencies of responsible parenthood and overpopulation? However, before we can address our attention to these important questions, their general context should be seen at least through a summary of Aquinas' overall view of sex and marriage. S69l RESPONSIBLE PARENTHOOD AND OVERPOPULATION 363 1. The Essence of Human Sexuality St. Thomas based his doctrine of human sexuality on a natural law consideration of man, which in turn stems from man's very essence-a procedure or methodology built on the tradition of Aristotle, Stoa (Cicero), and Roman law, and strongly influenced by Aquinas' own conviction of the essential goodness of sex and the sexuallife.1 It is significant to note that Thomas abandoned his master Albert and followed the thought of Bonaventure, contrary to all scholastic tradition, in holding the neo-Roman, or Ulpian's definition of the natural law: "quod natura omnia animalia docuit," consisting in the natural inclinations inherent in the nature of all animals. St. Thomas taught that marriage is founded on the generic element of human nature, and concluded that procreation must be posited as the governing form of the sexual act. This does not mean that Thomas classified sex as something exclusively " animal," neglecting its specifically human characteristics . Man fulfills his inclinations in a manner which is proper to himself and at the same time common to inferior animals. Thus, the specifically human aspect of procreation is to be found in the special needs required in the training and education of the human offspring. The rearing of young is an inclination common to the genus of animal, but in man reason recognizes the necessity of a permanent marital union as a 1 Josef Fuchs, Die Sexualethik des heiligen Thomas von Aquin (Cologne: Bachem, 1949), pp. 109 ff., ~76 ff.; W. Onclin, "Le droit nature! selon les romanistes des XIIe et XIIIe siecles," Miscellanea moralia in honorem E. D. Arthur Janssen (Louvain: Nauwelaerts, 1949), II, pp. 3~9-337; Odon Lottin, Le droit naturel chez Saint Thomas d'Aquin et ses predecesseurs (~d ed. rev.; Bruges: Beyaert, 1931); idem, "Pour un commentaire historique de Ia morale de Saint Thomas," Psychologie et morale aux Xlle et Xllle siecles (5 Vols.;: Gembloux: Duculot, 194~-49), III, pp. 579-601; Heinrich Rommen, The Natural Law: A Study in Legal and Social History and Philosophy, trans. Thomas Hanley (St. Louis: B. Herder, 1947); George Joyce, Christian Marriage: A Doctrinal and Historical Study (London: Sheed and Ward, 1933), pp. ~ ff.; Hans Meyer. The Philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas, trans. Frederic Eckhoff (St. Louis: B. Herder, 1955), pp. 464, 504-505; Johannes Messner, Social Ethics: Natural Law in the Modern World, trans. J. J. Doherty (St. Louis: B. Herder, 1949); Giorgio del Vecchio, Lezioni di Filosofia del Diritto (lOth ed.; Milan: Giuffre, 1958); Leopold Brandl, Die Sexualethik des heiligen Albertus...