On The Passions by Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas developed a detailed theology regarding the passions of the body, which he integrated into his broader theology. Some of what I talked about in Episode 43, "Faith and Fumbles" is based on this. Thomas Aquinas defined passions as feelings that can affect happiness in different ways, such as love, hatred, pleasure, pain, hope, and despair. He also described passions as potencies, or abilities or capacities that the soul can experience
Understanding Passions:
Definition: Thomas Aquinas defined passions as feelings that can affect happiness in different ways, such as love, hatred, pleasure, pain, hope, and despair. Passions are of the sensual ('of the senses') appetite, which is part of the soul that deals with sensory experiences. The senses are how we are able to perceive/discern physical reality.f
Origin in Appetite: He divides the soul's appetite into two: the intellectual appetite (spiritual) and the sensual appetite (passions, or a physical appetite). The passions arise from the latter, which is concerned with bodily good like pleasure.
Types of Passions:
Aquinas categorizes passions into two primary groups:
Concupiscible Passions:
These relate to the attraction or repulsion towards things based on their goodness or badness to us.
Love (Amor) - The first movement of the appetite towards something perceived as good.
Desire (Desiderium) - The movement towards acquiring a good not yet possessed.
Joy (Gaudium) - The passion when one has what one loves or desires.
Hatred (Odium) - The aversion to something perceived as bad.
Aversion (Aversio) - The movement away from evil.
Sorrow (Tristitia) - Pain or sadness when one is deprived of a good or faces an evil.
Irascible Passions:
These deal with overcoming obstacles or difficulties in obtaining or retaining goods.
Hope (Spes) - The expectation of attaining something with difficulty.
Despair (Desperatio) - The absence of hope, where one believes the good is unattainable.
Courage (Audacia) - The readiness to face difficulties in pursuit of good.
Fear (Timor) - The apprehension of future evil.
Anger (Ira) - The response to present evil or injury, aiming to remove or avenge it.
Theological Integration:
Moral Goodness: Aquinas does not view passions as inherently good or bad. What’s “good or bad” is what we do with them, as we pursue them according to our passions or desires. Their moral quality depends on how they are directed by reason and will. Passions are good when they are ordered towards a good end, in accordance with virtue.
A piece of cake is neither good or bad. Our pursuit of it may be good or bad, depending on why we’re pursuing it. The Good/Bad resides not in the object but in the motive (in the flesh, or in the will...both of which is "all you")
Role in Human Life: Passions are essential for human life. They provide the 'motivation' for actions. Aquinas believed that a life without passions would be less human, less alive, because passions move us towards what we perceive as good and away from what we perceive as bad, which is necessary for survival and flourishing.
Where things get dicey is when our intellects are incapable of recognizing something as good/bad.Today we often reverse good and bad, calling objectively wrong things ‘a right’ and objectively good things as wrong, oppressive, and so on.
Control by Reason: While passions are natural and necessary, for Aquinas, they must be governed by reason, which subjects the will (as opposed to the will pursing things in defiance of the intellect that knows right from wrong). This governance is part of what makes human beings distinct from animals; we can choose how to act on our passions while animals act on instinct alone.
Christological Context: In discussing Christ, Aquinas addresses how Christ, having assumed a human nature, also experienced human passions, but in a sinless way, showing the passions' potential for goodness when perfectly aligned with an ordered will and sound reason.
Virtue and Passions: Virtues like temperance and fortitude are crucial in managing passions. Temperance moderates the concupiscible passions, while fortitude helps in dealing with the irascible passions, especially in facing difficulties.
Conclusion:
Aquinas sees the passions as integral to human life, providing the impetus for actions toward a good, but insists they must be moderated by reason. The passions, when rightly ordered, contribute to human flourishing and the pursuit of ultimate happiness, which for Aquinas, is union with God. His theology on passions is nuanced, recognizing their power while emphasizing the importance of rational governance over them.
Was this too theological? I may do a newsletter-exclusive podcast to give it more connectivity.