Obedience, Conscience, and Propria Voluntas in St. Thomas

Abstract

Obedience, Conscience, and Propria Voluntas in St. Thomas Aaron Maddeford OBEDIENCE PLAYS an important role in human perfection, according to St. Thomas Aquinas, who says that it is, in a way, the greatest moral virtue. In an article on the obedience of Christ in St. Thomas, Michael Waldstein calls obedience "the often maligned virtue."1 It does seem that obedience in St. Thomas's thought, if not actively maligned, has at least been given less attention than its status as one of the greatest moral virtues would warrant.2 One possible reason for [End Page 417] this is that obedience at times seems to conflict with other human goods, in particular the inviolability of our conscience and free will. For instance, Jean Porter, in an article on obedience in St. Thomas and St. Bonaventure, focuses on the limitations of obedience that are, in her view, imposed by equality and by freedom.3 But there is a tension between the description of such a circumscribed and qualified obedience and that obedience which St. Thomas says is the most excellent moral virtue because it consists in the sacrifice of one's propria voluntas, "proper will," and whose paradigm is Christ, who was "obedient unto death, even death on a cross."4 In this article, I will look at the relationship between obedience and conscience and between obedience and free will. This will help not only to resolve their apparent tensions, but also better to understand the nature of obedience in St. Thomas's thought. In the first part, I will look at St. Thomas's study of obedience in his treatment of the virtues. Two questions arise. [End Page 418] First, St. Thomas argues that we must follow our conscience even against the order of our superior. How is this in accord with his teaching that obedience is the greatest moral virtue? Second, St. Thomas frequently uses St. Gregory's formulation, which describes obedience as the sacrifice of one's propria voluntas, one's "proper will." How is such a sacrifice possible, given that obedience, like every virtuous act, must be voluntary and so arise from our free will? In the second part, I will look at St. Thomas's teaching about obedience in his description of man's first sin and Christ's redemptive mission. In the third part, I will briefly review the use of the term propria voluntas in the Christian tradition and consider St. Thomas's way of appropriating this term. I will argue that the will immolated by obedience, referred to by St. Thomas as propria voluntas, is not the faculty of the will simply but the will insofar as it aims at some good that is opposed to a more common good. The immolation of propria voluntas through obedience does not restrict human freedom, but grants us the truest freedom, that of obtaining our ultimus finis. In the fourth part, I will argue that the injunction to follow our conscience over the commands of superiors does not lessen the importance of obedience, since to follow our conscience is an act of the virtue of obedience on St. Thomas's account. In the end, we will see that an examination of obedience in its relationship to conscience and free will, far from lowering its status, confirms the exalted place St. Thomas accords it among the moral virtues. I. Obedience and Its Limits A) The Virtue and Counsel of Obedience Obedience is a moral virtue that is part of justice. Justice is the "habit according to which someone by a firm and continuous will renders to everyone his due."5 Justice is a cardinal [End Page 419] virtue, and like the other cardinal virtues has certain virtues joined to it, which in some way fall under the definition of justice but in another way do not. Among these virtues is observantia, which is the virtue by which "reverence and honor are shown to persons established in authority [dignitate]."6 Like justice, it is ordered to another person, but unlike justice, what is given is not equal to what is owed, since we cannot give to those who rule well the honor they deserve.7 Observantia...