According to Thomas in his treatise de Regno ( Aquinas: Political Writings , 23-4), “dangerous evils arise from the desire for glory.”
It is dangerous because it causes rulers to over-extend: “For manyhave brought the liberty of their fatherland under the power of an enemywhen they have sought immoderate glory in the commerce of war andhave perished along with their army.”
It is dangerous because it leads to dissimulation: “it is difficult to pursue those true virtues to which alonehonour is due, and few manage to do so; but, desiring glory, many pretendto be virtuous . . . . They have one thing shut up in their bosom, but another readyon their tongue, and they have more appearance than prowess.” This it’s “perilous when thelove of glory has him in its grip and he therefore becomes presumptuousand deceitful.”
Still, love for glory is better than some things:
“itis at all events more tolerable for him to seek glory than to desire richesor pursue pleasure. For this vice is closer to virtue because, as Augustinesays, the glory which men desire is nothing more than the judgment ofmen when they think well of their fellows.”
Thomas goes so far as to say that “the desire for glory thereforehas some vestige of virtue about it,” since a person seeking fame wants “towin the approval of good men and to avoid displeasing them.” Virtue is rare; a vestige or counterfeit of virtue is often all we can hope for, and that’s what love of glory produces: “For one who desires glory either exerts himselfto follow the true path of virtuous action so as to secure the approval ofmen, or at any rate tries to secure it even if only by fraud and artifice.But one who wishes to dominate merely, if he lacks the desire for gloryand is not afraid to displease men of right judgment, will more often seekto obtain what he loves through open crimes, surpassing even the beastsin the vices of cruelty and luxury.”We’d like virtue, but at least we want our rulers to have the kinds of vices that prevent them from the worst of vices.
Thomist realism at its best.
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