Quid in stvAiis alienum
The Boundaries of Nature and Duty
The author distinguishes between the universal claims of nature and the specific obligations of duty.
It's truly alien to a person when it isn't prompted by the logic of nature or duty, though sometimes we rightly call something alien when it would have been more accurate to say it belonged to no one at all. Whatever belongs to nature belongs equally to everyone; whatever belongs to duty belongs to the individual. One thing, therefore, comes from duty, another from nature—though the rights of nature are owed to us through duty. To attack the laws of nature is a form of parricide, and to undermine the laws of a parent is like sacrilege, as is failing to show the honor due to the mother of all.
Discernment in Action
Actions are evaluated based on their impact on duty and nature, with harmful pursuits categorized as errors or crimes.
Yet what reason permits for honest causes isn't simply alien. If some modest pleasure or utility happens to be involved, and no one is harmed, then this doesn't conflict with duty or nature; but if it attacks either one, it's immediately and simply alien, and is in no way permitted. Therefore, engaging in such things is always either an error or a crime.
Read the original Latin
Alienum profecto est, quod ratio naturae uel officii non inducit, si tamen interdum recte dicitur alienum, quod rectius fuerat semper fuisse nullius. Quae uero naturae sunt, peraeque sunt omnium; quae officii, singulorum. Aliud itaque ex officio, aliud ex natura; licet naturae ius ex officio debeatur. Parricidii siquidem species est impugnare iura naturae, et sacrilegii instar parentis leges euacuare, a et matri omnium honorem debitum non referre. Quod tamen ratio ex honestis causis admittit, non est simpliciter alienum. Si modesta forte iocunditas uel utilitas subest, et nemini noceatur, hoc etenim non aduersatur officio uel naturae; sin autem impugnat alterutrum, statim est et simpliciter alienum, et usquequaque non licet. Huius itaque contrectatio semper est aut erroris aut criminis.
Policraticus companion
Study the argument weekly; pray the tradition daily
Pair the outline with the Chosen Portion app, which serves short daily portions from the same royal devotional tradition — free on iOS.
John of Salisbury argued that rulers must keep the law of God before their eyes daily; Chosen Portion gives modern readers that same daily discipline in five minutes a morning.
- 8 weeks, one book per week, with the 3-4 key chapters flagged in each
- Discussion questions usable for a reading group from week one
- A daily 5-minute companion portion in the app alongside your weekly study