Saint Thomas and the Three Orders of the Medieval Imaginary. An exploration of inequality among men in his social and political philosophy

This paper examines inequality among men from a social and political perspective, in which the concept of 'trifunctionality' emerges as a key concept.The reflection presented here constitutes a continuation of a fundamental first part (published in issue 27 (2025), pp.38-64, of this same journal), which dealt with the anthropological-metaphysical and theological doctrine of inequality among men according to Saint Thomas.This reflection now focuses on the Thomistic formulation of trifunctionality from both a social and political perspective.Returning to the conclusion of the first part, it is reaffirmed here that inequalities among men are not primarily natural, but rather moral.Now, in addressing this issue, while the existence of social and political inequalities is revealed, in Thomas' view, these are fundamentally structural, not the result of individual moral merit.Furthermore, the free nature of the formation of society, based on consensus, highlights the possibility of an ever-increasing closeness among people, a consequence of that awareness of fundamental equality among