Chapter       Paragraph
English : Book I ii 1 - ii 8

[ii][1] Firstly therefore we must see what is meant by ‘temporal monarchy’, in broad terms and as it is generally understood.

[2] Temporal monarchy, then, which men call ‘empire’, is a single sovereign authority set over all others in time, that is to say over all authorities which operate in those things and over those things which are measured by time.

[3] Now there are three main points of inquiry which have given rise to perplexity on this subject: first, is it is necessary to the well-being of the world? second, did the Roman people take on the office of the monarch by right? and third, does the monarch’s authority derive directly from God or from someone else (his minister or vicar)?

[4] Now since every truth which is not itself a first principle must be demonstrated with reference to the truth of some first principle, it is necessary in any inquiry to know the first principle to which we refer back in the course of strict deductive argument in order to ascertain the truth of all the propositions which are advanced later. And since this present treatise is a kind of inquiry, we must at the outset investigate the principle whose truth provides a firm foundation for later propositions.

[5] For it must be noted that there are certain things (such as mathematics, the sciences and divinity) which are outside human control, and about which we can only theorise, but which we cannot affect by our actions; and then there are certain things which are within our control, where we can not only theorise but also act, and in these action is not for the sake of theory, but theorising is for the sake of taking action, since in these the objective is to take action.

[6] Now since our present subject is political, indeed is the source and starting-point of just forms of government, and everything in the political sphere comes under human control, it is clear that the present subject is not directed primarily towards theoretical understanding but towards action.

[7] Again, since in actions it is the final objective which sets in motion and causes everything – for that is what first moves a person who acts – it follows that the whole basis of the means for attaining an end is derived from the end itself. For there will be one way of cutting wood to build a house, and another to build a ship.

[8] Therefore whatever constitutes the purpose of the whole of human society (if there is such a purpose) will be here the first principle, in terms of which all subsequent propositions to be proved will be demonstrated with sufficient rigour; for it would be foolish to suppose that there is one purpose for this society and another for that, and not a common purpose for all of them.

Apparatus for Book I, chapter ii, paragraph 2
Est Ed A B C D E F G H K L M N P Ph Q R S T U V Y Z
ergo Ed A B C E F G H K L M N P Ph Q R S T U V Y Z
igitur D
temporalis Ed A B C D E F G H K L M N Ph Q R S T U V Y Z
om.P
Monarchia Ed A B C D E F G H K L M N P Ph Q R S T U V Y Z
quam Ed B C D E F G H K L M N P Ph Q R S U V Y Z
quem A T
dicunt Ed A B C D E F G H K L M N P Ph Q R S T U V Y Z
Imperium Ed B C D E F G H K L M N P Ph R S T U V Y Z
ipsum A
impervi\u/m Q
unicus Ed B D E F H L M N P Ph Q R S Y Z
unicum A T
unius C G K U
unitus V
principatus Ed B C D E F G H K L M N P Ph Q R S T U V Y Z
principatum A
et Ed A B C D E F G H K L M N P Ph Q R S T U V Y Z
super Ed A B C D E F G H K L M N P Ph Q R S T U V Y Z
omnes Ed A B C D E F G H K L M N P Ph Q R S T U V Y Z
in Ed A B C D E F G H K L M N P Ph Q R S T U V Y Z
tempore Ed A B C D E F G H K L M N P Ph Q R S T U V Y Z
vel in hiis Ed A B C D E F G H K M N P Ph R S T U V Y Z
vel L
ut Q
et Ed A B C D E F G H K N P Ph R T U V Y Z
Phrase om.L Q [Omitted: in hiis et]
Phrase om.M S [Omitted: et super hiis]
super Ed A B C D E F G H K L N P Ph Q R T U V Y Z
hiis Ed A B C D E F G H K L N P Ph Q R T U V Y Z
que Ed A B C D E F G H K L M N P Ph Q S T U V Y Z
quem R
tempore Ed A B C D E F G H L M N P Ph Q R S T U V Y Z
temporaliter K
mensurantur Ed A B C D E F G H K L M N P Ph Q R S T U Y Z
mensurantur ẹṭ mensuratur V