Augustine and the Tranquillitas Ordinis

My latest paper, “Augustine and the 'Tranquillitas Ordinis': Some Reflections on Politics and Liberal Democracy from De Civitate Dei Book XIX”, discusses some themes which might be relevant given the current political climate - both domestic and global.

Scruton correctly argues that, “a positive definition of peace is hard to produce” and, “the lack of belligerency is not sufficient for peace but only necessary.” Moreover, peace should not be limited to a condition which describes the relations between one state and another; instead, it should be extended to include relations within a specific society. It is thus that our attentions turn to Augustine, who argued that peace is not merely the absence of conflict but, rather, the presence of ‘tranquillity of order.’ For Augustine, life is inherently social; it is corruption which renders man anti-social. This paper seeks to outline the significance of the ‘tranquillitas ordinis’ and how it can contribute both to our understanding of politics and liberal democracy.

This paper is one of fifteen papers in the book “‘non laborat qui amat’ – A Festschrift in honour of Professor Salvino Caruana O.S.A. on his 70th birthday,” edited by the Rev. Dr. Jonathan Farrugia, the Rev. Prof. Hector Scerri and myself.