Human Sacrifice: Religious Act or Vicious Desire? Testing the Limits of Tolerance with Vitoria and Las Casas

Abstract

Abstract Tolerance is often considered a modern social development. However, a robust, if distinctly unmodern, concept of tolerance can be found in the work of Thomas Aquinas. The object of tolerance is a perceived evil which is endured for the sake of averting a greater evil. The paper explores how the concept of tolerance which Bartolomé de las Casas and Francisco de Vitoria inherited from Thomas Aquinas was deployed and stretched in response to the Amerindian cult of human sacrifice. Both Spanish Dominicans concur in regarding human sacrifice as an evil act, but they base their judgment on different principles. Las Casas interprets human sacrifice as a question of religion. Vitoria considers it a question of temperance. The result is that Las Casas counsels toleration of the practice, whereas Vitoria justifies military intervention on behalf of the innocent.