Aquinas on the passions

Robert Miner0521897483, 9780521897488, 9780511517952

The Summa Theologiae is Thomas Aquinas’ undisputed masterwork, and it includes his thoughts on the elemental forces in human life. Feelings such as love, hatred, pleasure, pain, hope and despair were described by Aquinas as ‘passions’, representing the different ways in which happiness could be affected. But what causes the passions? What impact do they have on the person who suffers them? Can they be shaped and reshaped in order to better promote human flourishing? The aim of this book is to provide a better understanding of Aquinas’ account of the passions. It identifies the Aristotelian influences that lie at the heart of the Summa Theologiae, and it enters into a dialogue with contemporary thinking about the nature of emotion. The study argues that Aquinas’ work is still important today, and shows why for Aquinas both the understanding and attainment of happiness requires prolonged reflection on the passions.

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Table of contents :
Half-title……Page 3
Title……Page 5
Copyright……Page 6
Contents……Page 7
Figures……Page 9
Tables……Page 10
Acknowledgments……Page 11
A note on the texts……Page 13
Why read Thomas Aquinas on the passions?……Page 15
Part 1 The passions in general……Page 25
1.1 The appetitive power in general……Page 27
1.2 Sensitive vs. natural appetite……Page 33
1.3 Sensitive vs. rational appetite……Page 35
1.4 The priority of good to evil……Page 39
2.1 Defining “passion”……Page 43
2.2 Passions and pseudopassions……Page 49
2.3 Passions as motions……Page 52
2.4 The irascible/concupiscible distinction in the 1a ‘pars’……Page 60
2.5 The irascible/concupiscible distinction in the 1a2ae……Page 67
3.1 Formal objects of the passions……Page 72
3.2 Sensation and imagination……Page 79
3.3 The estimative and memorative powers……Page 83
3.4 The role of the particular reason……Page 90
3.5 Passions as causes of other passions……Page 96
4.1 Passions as contributors to the moral goodness of actions……Page 102
4.2 Passions and the motion ‘ad finem’……Page 107
4.3 Do the passions have cognitive value?……Page 110
4.4 Are we responsible for our passions?……Page 114
Part 2 Particular passions: the concupiscible passions……Page 123
5.1 Introduction to the particular passions……Page 125
5.2 Love as a passion……Page 129
5.3 ‘Amor amicitiae’ vs. ‘amor concupiscentiae’……Page 136
5.4 What causes love?……Page 140
5.5 The effects of love……Page 146
6.1 The non-essence of hatred……Page 154
6.2 What kinds of thing can be hated?……Page 159
6.3 Concupiscence as a passion……Page 164
6.4 “Non-natural” or “rational” concupiscence……Page 168
7.1 The nature of pleasure……Page 174
7.2 What causes pleasure?……Page 186
7.3 The effects of pleasure……Page 191
7.4 Good and evil pleasures……Page 196
8.1 The nature of pain and sorrow……Page 202
8.2 What causes sorrow?……Page 211
8.3 The value of moderate sorrow……Page 213
8.4 Remedies for pain and sorrow……Page 217
8.5 Sorrow in relation to good and evil……Page 221
Part 3 Particular passions: the irascible passions……Page 227
9.1 Hope and despair as passions……Page 229
9.2 What causes hope?……Page 235
9.3 False hope vs. good hope……Page 237
9.4 “Interior” and “exterior” effects of hope……Page 239
9.5 Hope as passion vs. hope as theological virtue……Page 241
10.1 Fear itself……Page 245
10.2 What is the object of fear?……Page 251
10.3 The cause of fear……Page 256
10.4 What fear does to a person……Page 260
11.1 Daring as the contrary of fear……Page 266
11.2 Hope as the principal cause of daring……Page 270
11.3 Daring and courage……Page 275
11.4 Two objections……Page 276
12.1 Defining anger as a passion……Page 282
12.2 An ‘apologia pro ira’?……Page 287
12.3 What causes anger?……Page 292
12.4 Anger’s effects……Page 296
Epilogue: The passions, the virtues, and happiness……Page 301
Bibliography……Page 314
Index……Page 322