John Rawls, Tomás de Aquino e a tolerância religiosa

Abstract

Religious freedom and tolerance are among the most discussed topics concerning political philosophy today. Contemporary author John Rawls regards them as essential to his democratic model of a just society. When analyzing previous positions, he accuses the medieval author Thomas Aquinas of defending an intolerant position regarding religion. The purpose of this article is to critically analyze whether such an accusation is really correct. The methodology will carry out the investigation from the works of the two authors, also making use of commentators. The hypothesis raised is that, although the authors disagree on central claims regarding religious tolerance, the criticisms presented by Rawls against Aquinas are not enough to refute the thought of the medieval author, especially when considering the historical context in which he lived. The conclusion is that the reading performed by Rawls on Aquinas is superficial, leaving aside significant elements of his thought through which his real position on religious tolerance is evidenced; which makes the accusation at least partially incorrect.