Article V. On the Subject (Subject-Person) of Law

Subjection to law is distinguished as twofold, namely, subjection in first act and subjection in second act, according as the one subject to the law is ignorant of the law or knows it. One who, while ignorant or inattentive, transgresses a law to which he is subject sins materially; one who violates a known and actually obliging law sins formally. Our discussion is about subjection in first act. And first we shall set forth some notions necessary to know; then we shall speak of the subjects of law generally, then of some subjects specifically; finally, we shall investigate how far it is licit to withdraw oneself from the dominion of law, or to place causes exempting from it.