Authority, Absolutism and Infallibility in Joseph de Maistre I: Introduction

Last updated on: April 3, 2008 at 2:00 pm by Henry Karlson

Authority, Absolutism and Infallibility in Joseph de Maistre I: Introduction 2008-04-03T14:00:21-05:00 Henry Karlson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

But the people who urge these arguments are doing no more than setting themselves up as judges over the judges appointed by the Autarch, judges with less training in the law and without the authority to call witnesses. They demand that we disobey the real judges and listen to them, but they cannot show that they are deserving our obedience.

–Gene Wolfe [1]

For several of the centuries preceding Vatican Council I, political thinkers developed new notions about authority and sovereignty, and their ideas had a tremendous amount of influence over Europe. The Catholic Church often found itself in conflict with the proponents of the developing political tradition; she debated with them the implications and value of their teachings, especially because she understood the kind of impact these theories would have on the Church and her notions of authority.

Certainly an important example of this conflict took place in France. Many French politicians and ecclesial authorities declared their allegiance to France and France’s political sovereignty over and above their allegiance to the Pope in Rome. The dispute which was to follow was one between the supporters of French sovereignty, the Gallicans, and those who supported the authority of the papacy, the Ultramontanists. They were, in part, debating the application of the Enlightenment’s political theories within the Church. While the Gallicans acknowledged some form of papal authority, they also believed that it was limited, and papal decrees would have to be ratified and accepted by local ecclesial authorities to be binding.

Central to the debate were ideas of political theorists such as Jean Bodin, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Jean Bodin was one of the first modern systematic thinkers on sovereignty; his theories were foundational for what followed. He believed that a society needed to be unified for it to preserve social order, and that this order could only be preserved by a leader invested with supreme authority[2]. This leader could not be limited by any other human person, but would be (in theory) a subject of a higher divine authority. Although Hobbes was not French, he had a major influence on the developing debate over authority and sovereignty as it would take place in France; like Bodin, he believed that a state could be properly preserved only by the establishment of a unified central and supreme authority. But Hobbes had to deal with a different problem than Bodin. He believed that the world was a world at war, and everyone should be seen to be in conflict with everyone else. Living in such a world would be dangerous at best. Therefore, societies form around a sovereign who works to bring order and to put to an end to the conflict through his designated authority. Hobbes therefore developed a form of the social contract theory; he wanted it to be one where the people within a society established a covenant to accept a leader, a sovereign. But he wanted this sovereign to be invested with absolute authority, because he is seen to need it in order to do his duty, which is to protect society.[3] Although many would not agree with Hobbes when he made the sovereign absolute, they would find his covenant-foundation for sovereignty to be useful. It would influence the writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who would develop a more sophisticated social contract theory; Rousseau would move the context away from Hobbes’ absolutism into a more democratic one. To some extent, he was to say that it is the general will of the people, and not of one individual national sovereign, which is to govern an individual state. [4] Certainly he encountered many critics, with most of them pointing out the difficulty a large state would have if it were run by his teachings. Others philosophers, like John Locke, tried to suggest a middle way, where the state itself could be seen as supreme, run by the will of the majority, but one which must also keep and preserve the natural rights given to all, and not just those who are in the majority. [5]

Within this milieu, papal authority was put to the question, and it was asked, what authority does the pope possess? Why does he have this authority? What limits, if any, are there on his authority? Is he an absolute sovereign over the Church, or should he be seen as a representative of the people who leads by moral authority?

The declaration of papal infallibility at Vatican Council I can be seen as a response to these questions. However modern the question and response were, by the time papal infallibility was declared at the council, many people took its response as completely traditional and not anything new. In one sense this certainly was the case. It was a presentation of traditional papal authority. But it was put into a new context, one which was contingent upon modern political theories, and this means that it was not as purely traditional as many assumed it to be. Since it engaged a new way of explaining papal authority, it brought with it, new ideas and new connotations, ones which would demand responses and would find some at Vatican Council II.

The “tradition” from which it developed can be seen as starting in France, where Ultramontanists, responding to Gallican sentiments, adapted modern political thought to declare the absolute authority and sovereignty of the pope over the Church. [6] Papal infallibility was eventually seen as a corollary to his absolute authority. Count Joseph de Maistre was one of the first to connect the absolute sovereignty of the Pope with infallibility. When he wrote, his ideas were not readily accepted at the Vatican; indeed, they were often ignored. But when the debates on papal authority which continued in France moved abroad, his works would be read and have a significant influence on many within the Church. [7] They provided what seemed to be a reasonable response to the question of papal authority. While he helped influence the way the debates on papal authority were to take place, people are not familiar with him and his thought; they are more familiar with the results of those debates than the context in which they took place. To better understand Vatican I and the question of papal authority, it is important to understand the kinds of thought which were being discussed prior to the council. Because of his influence on those debates, and how he influenced Ultramontanists who were to have important roles at the council, Joseph de Maistre, an often neglected figure in the contemporary world, is an important figure for us to consider and reflect upon. [8] By doing so we can better appreciate the results of the council, some of the cultural aspects by which the council must be read from to get a proper interpretation of its teachings, and finally, the role that one’s political philosophy can have in ecclesial debates.

Footnotes

[1] Gene Wolfe, Sword and Citadel. The Second Half of the Book of the New Sun (New York: Orb Books, 1994), 21.
[2] Jacques Maritain, “The Concept of Sovereignty,” in The American Political Science Review vol. 44, no. 2 (1950): 344-6.
[3] G. A. J. Rogers, “Hobbes, Sovereignty and Consent,” in Rivista di storia della filosofia, vol. 59, no. 1 (2004):245.
[4] Alfred Cobban, “New Light on the Political Thought of Rousseau,” in Political Science Quarterly, vol. 66, no. 2 (1951): 275-6.
[5] John T. Scott, “The Sovereignless State and Locke’s Language of Obligation,” in American Political Science Review, vol. 94, no. 3 (2000): 550 – 52.
[6] Herman J. Pottmeyer, Towards a Papacy in Communion: Perspectives from Vatican Councils I & II (trans. Matthew J. O’Connell; New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1998), 53.
[7] Ibid., 54.
[8] Jerry von Arx in the introduction to his edited volume on Ultramontanism said that scholars, often critical of the Ultramontists, do not appreciate the background from which they came, and so not only do they not understand the movement, their distaste for it prevents them from doing so. “The sources of this blocked understanding are not hard to find, at least from our side of historical understanding. The results of the ultramontane victory are still very much with us in the Church of the twentieth century, and few who write or take the trouble to think about the history of religion, either within or without the Roman Catholic Church, are pleased with all of those results. And so almost inevitably, a distaste for ultramontanism in its present garb has colored our perception of the emergence of the fashion in the last century.” Joseph von Arx, S.J.ed., Introduction to Varieties of Ultramontanism(ed., Jeffrey Von Arx, S.J.; Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 1998), 2. It is important to recognize that my study is not meant to demonize or to glorify Joseph de Maistre and his views, but to provide a way for one to have a balanced understanding of his teachings so that it can serve as a historical point of contact to the time period in which the declaration of papal infallibility at Vatican Council I was made. Moreover, I believe that many of his views still find resonance within the Catholic Church, and so we should not study Joseph de Maistre for the sake of history, but also because it will help understand the foundation for much which is discussed and debated to this day. Finally, I would like to point out that I find much in de Maistre’s writings which I agree with, much which I find repulsive, but throughout all of them, I see the work of a genius struggling to deal with difficult issues which have not yet been sufficiently examined by society at large.

Previous Post

April 3, 2008

Um...

Next Post

April 3, 2008 Democrats, Republicans, and the Economy

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 2019 A Consistent Ethic of Life Aaron Weldon Abortion absurdity Abuse Scandal Academics Adoption Advent Africa agreement/disagreement with Church teaching Alexander Schmemann Alexham Alterity America Amnesty International Anarchism angels Anglicanism Animals Annual Statistics Anthony Anxietas Apocalyptic Apophatic Appalachia Aquinas Art Atheism Atonement Augustine Authority Baptism Beauty Bible biblical criticism biblical scholarship Bioethics Bishops Black Catholics Black Theology Blackadder Blogs Books Breastfeeding Brett Salkeld Buddhism Bush administration Byzantine Catholic Calvinism Canada Canon Law Capital Punishment Capitalism Caryll Houselander Catholic Blog Awards Catholic Blogging Catholic League Catholic Social Teaching Catholic Worker Movement Catholicity CFL Charity Children Chris West Christ and Culture Christian Democracy Christian Unity Christmas Christology Church Church Doctrine Church History Climate Change Cohabitation Colbert Collegiality Communion Communism Comparative Theology Competition Conferences conscience conscience rights Consequentialism Consistent Life Ethics Consumerism Contraception Contrition Conversion Converts Coptic COVID-19 Creation Critical Thinking Cross Cuba Culture Culture of Death Culture of Life Darfur David Cruz-Uribe David Wheeler-Reed Death Death Penalty Democracy Demons Desert Fathers Devil Dialogue dignity Disability Disarmament discernment Discipleship discrimination Dissent Distributism Division Doctrine Domestic Church Dorothy Day Double Effect Doubt Down syndrome Driving Early Church Easter Eastern Churches Ecclesiology Economics Economy Ecumenism Education El Salvador Election Election 2020 Ellul Embryonic Stem Cell Research Empire Energy Enlighenment Environmentalism Ephraim Radner Episcopal Church epistemology Equality Eschatology Ethics Eucharist Europe Euthanasia Evangelization Evil Evolution Excommunication F.X. Durrwell Facism Facts Fair Trade Faith Family Fashion Feddie Feminism Feminist theology Fertility Fetal Rights Fiction Film Finances First Things flags Folk Religion Food Foreign Affairs Forgiveness Frank Sheed Free Speech Freedom gay & lesbian persons Genocide George W. Bush George Weigel Gerald L. Campbell Girard/Mimetic Theory Global Warming Globalization Gnosticism Good Friday Grace Gratitude Greed Grey Cup 2009 Guadalupe Guest Post Guest Posts Gun Control Gustave Martelet Habitat for Humanity Hans Urs von Balthasar Harry Potter Hate Speech Health Health Care Healthcare Heather King Hebrew Bible Henri de Lubac Henry Karlson Herbert McCabe Heresy HHS Mandate Controversy History Holidays Holiness Holy Spirit Homiletics Homily Homosexuality Hope Hospitality How Far Can We Go? How Far Can We Go? Human Person Human Rights Humanae Vitae Humility Humor Hunger Hunting Identity Idolatry Ignacio Ellacuría Imagination Immigration In Memoriam Income Inequality Inculturation Indigenous People Individualism Inklings Intellect Interdependence Internet Interpretation Interviews Introduction Iraq War Islam Israel Jain James Alison James Martin Jazz Jesus Christ Jews Joe Biden Joe Hargrave Johann Baptist Metz John Allen John Henry Newman John Paul II John the Baptist John XXIII Jonathan Josef Pieper Joseph (the husband of Mary) Joseph Bernardin Joseph Ratzinger Josh Brumfield Journals Joy Judgment Just War Justice Kari Lundgren Karl Rahner Katerina Ivanovna Kenya Keynes Kingdom of God Kyle R. Cupp Labor Language Latin America Law Leanne Ogasawara Legion of Christ Leisure Lent Liberalism Liberation Theology Libertarianism Libya Lies Life life & dignity & responsibility of the human person Literature Little Way Liturgical music Liturgical Year Liturgy Living Simply Living Wage Local Church Lombard Lord of the Rings Louis Dupre Love M.Z. Magic Magisterium Mark DeFrancisis Mark Gordon Marriage Martin Luther Martin Luther King Jr. Martyrdom Marxism Mary Masculinity Matt Talbot Matthew Fish Matthew Levering McCain Media Memorial Day Mennonites Mental Illness mercy Michael Iafrate Middle East militarism Miroslav Volf Mitt Romney Modesty Moral Theology Morality Mormonism Morning's Minion Mother Teresa Music Muslims Natalie Nate Wildermuth Nationalism Native Americans Nature Nazis Neuhaus New Evangelization New York City News NFP nihilism Nonviolence Not Abortion Nova's Ordo Nuclear weapons Nuns Obama Occult Old Age Opus Dei Ordination ordination of women original sin Orthodoxy Oscar Romero Other Voices Pacifism Palestine Palin Papacy Papal Peace Messages Papal Social Encyclicals Particular Affections Partisanship Patriotism Paul Paul Ryan Paul VI Peace Pentimento persecution Personalism Phantastes Philosophy PKD Planned Parenthood Pluralism Poetry Policraticus Politcal Apathy Politics Poll Pope Benedict XVI Pope Francis Pope John Paul II Pope Leo XIV Population Postcolonialsim Poverty Power Prayer Preaching Predictions Predictions for 2012 President Barack Obama priestly formation & discernment Pro-Life Progress Prophetic Witness Proportionalism Public Diplomacy Public Policy Question Quotes Rachel Maddow Racism Radical Catholic Mom Radical Catholicism Raymund Schwager Real Catholic TV Real Presence Reconciliation Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange Religion religious freedom Responsibility Ressourcement Resurrection Rick Garnett Ridiculous Crap You Never Thought You'd See Robert Barron Roe v. Wade Roman Curia Rome Russia Sacraments Saints Salvation History Sam Harris Sam Rocha Same-sex Marriage Saskatchewan Roughriders Satire School of the Americas Science Scripture Seamless Garment Second Vatican Council Seeing Sex sexual violence Sexuality Sia Sin social justice Social Security Socialism Society of Jesus Sofia Loves Wisdom Solidarity Sophia soteriology Soutenus Spirituality Sports St. Dismas St. Joseph Stanley Hauerwas Statistics Stimulus Suffering Sunday Reflections Supernatural Supreme Court Symbolism Syria Taxing Technology Terrorism The State The Tea Party The Trump Administration Theological Anthropology Theology Theotokos Thomas Merton Throwaway Culture Tim Muldoon Tim Riley Tim Tebow Time Titian Tolkien Torture Toys Trade Traditionalism Transgender Transportation Transubstantiation Trinity Truth TV U.S. Affairs Uncategorized Unions unity among people who disagree US Catholicism USCCB Usury Utilitarianism Utopia Valentine's Day Vatican Vatican II Veterans Vicarious Suffering Video Violence Virgin Mary Vocations Voluntary Associations Voluntary Poverty Voting Vox Nova vox nova blog war War and Peace War Strategy Wealth Weirdness Welfare state Women Women Priests Work Woundedness Youth

Select a Month June 2026 May 2025 February 2025 January 2025 July 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 July 2023 March 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 November 2021 September 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

In the Lord's Prayer, what do Christians ask for daily?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Long life Riches Daily bread Fame