lfare: since the council of Nicea [*P.
I, sect. 4, can. i] punished those who castrated themselves that they
might preserve chastity. Therefore it is not lawful for any other
reason to maim a person.

_On the contrary,_ It is written (Ex. 21:24): "Eye for eye, tooth for
tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot."

_I answer that,_ Since a member is part of the whole human body, it
is for the sake of the whole, as the imperfect for the perfect. Hence
a member of the human body is to be disposed of according as it is
expedient for the body. Now a member of the human body is of itself
useful to the good of the whole body, yet, accidentally it may happen
to be hurtful, as when a decayed member is a source of corruption to
the whole body. Accordingly so long as a member is healthy and
retains its natural disposition, it cannot be cut off without injury
to the whole body. But as the whole of man is directed as to his end
to the whole of the community of which he is a part, as stated above
(Q. 61, A. 1; Q. 64, AA. 2, 5), it may happen that although the
removal of a member may be detrimental to the whole body, it may
nevertheless be directed to the good of the community, in so far as
it is applied to a person as a punishment for the purpose of
restraining sin. Hence just as by public authority a person is
lawfully deprived of life altogether on account of certain more
heinous sins, so is he deprived of a member on account of certain
lesser sins. But this is not lawful for a private individual, even
with the consent of the owner of the member, because this would
involve an injury to the community, to whom the man and all his parts
belong. If, however, the member be decayed and therefore a source of
corruption to the whole body, then it is lawful with the consent of
the owner of the member, to cut away the member for the welfare of
the whole body, since each one is entrusted with the care of his own
welfare. The same applies if it be done with the consent of the
person whose business it is to care for the welfare of the person who
has a decayed member: otherwise it is altogether unlawful to maim
anyone.

Reply Obj. 1: Nothing prevents that which is contrary to a particular
nature from being in harmony with universal nature: thus death and
corruption, in the physical order, are contrary to the particular
nature of the thing corrupted, although they are in keeping with
universal nature. In like manner to maim anyone, though contrary