Luis de Molina on Law and Power

Abstract

Luis de Molina's De iustitia et iure , conceived as early as 1582 and published in successive stages between 1593 and 1609, represents in many ways a revolutionary contribution to the moral-theological, political, and juridical meditation that began with the work of Francisco de Vitoria and which expanded, through his disciples, into the movement that we know as the School of Salamanca or the second scholastic. Molina's assignation of judgment to commutative justice was more radical than that of either Aquinas or Soto, because of his characterization of jurisdiction as a service that is paid for and liable to damages if badly performed. This means that the pronouncement of justice is itself the fulfillment of a contractual obligation, and thus an act of commutative justice in this sense as well. But Molina also emphasized that jurisdiction does not simply mean pronouncing sentence, but also governing with laws and commands. Keywords: Domingo de Soto; Francisco de Vitoria; justice; law; legislative power; Luis De Molina