Volume 97, Issue 3, Summer 2023
Daniel Schwartz

Pages 387-414
https://doi.org/10.5840/acpq2023818274
Su¨¢rez¡¯s Republic of Demons
Could There Be an Obligation to Do Evil?
Su¨¢rez was probably the first theologian to propose a political understanding of the order of subordination among the demons. According to Aquinas, this subordination immediately reflects the natural differences in perfection between the demons. Su¨¢rez charged that a natural-based order of demonic subordination could not ground the capacity of the demons¡¯ ruler¡ªLucifer¡ªto use his power to impose civic obligations on fellow demons so as to pursue their joint evil goals. But can there be obligations ad malum? This paper explores a number of possible paths seemingly available to Su¨¢rez to defend his controversial view. I argue that the most promising interpretation of Su¨¢rez is one according to which the obligations created by Lucifer¡¯s commands are not obligations in conscience but rather what we may call ¡°non-moral obligations.¡±