54. Command of Reason Over Sensitive and Vegetative Powers

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

Sensitivity to Command: Degrees of Subjection #

• Not all human powers are equally subject to reason’s command
• Acts dependent on apprehension can be ordered by reason
• Bodily dispositions resist rational command
• The more immaterial an act, the more noble and more subject to reason

The Sensitive Appetite (Concupiscible and Irascible) #

• Partial subjection: The sensitive appetite can be commanded by reason insofar as it depends on apprehension (imagination and sensing)
• Bodily resistance: Bodily qualities (heat, cold) are not subject to reason’s command
• Sudden motions: Emotions can arise suddenly before reason can intervene, escaping command
• St. Paul’s witness: Romans 7 illustrates the struggle—willing not to lust but experiencing concupiscence anyway
• The apprehension problem: The imagination presents objects that move the sensitive appetite; reason can order the imagination but not immediately halt bodily responses
• Distinction: Acts of the sensitive desiring power can proceed from apprehension (commandable) or from bodily disposition (not commandable)

The Vegetative Soul (Nutritive and Generative Powers) #

• No command: Acts of the nutritive and generative powers are NOT subject to reason’s command
• Natural desire: These powers proceed from natural desire, not from apprehension or choice
• Why no command: Every agent desires its end, but natural desire does not follow upon any grasping or knowledge; only animal and intellectual desires do
• Examples: Digestion, growth, and reproduction follow natural instinct
• Virtue and vice application: These apply only to the use of vegetative powers (e.g., gluttony vs. temperance in eating), not to the powers themselves
• Gregory’s teaching: The nutritive and generative powers are called “natural” precisely because they are not subject to reason’s command

Bodily Members and Motion #

• Moved by soul’s powers: Members are organs (tools) of the soul’s powers
• Conditional obedience: Motions of members moved by sensitive powers are subject to reason’s command; motions from natural powers are not
• The heart’s resistance: The pulsing of the heart is vital and natural, not subject to will or reason—it follows from the soul-body union
• Genital members: These have special resistance to reason due to the consequences of original sin
• The Augustine distinction: The soul commands the hand to move, and there is facility in this command, yet the command is distinct from execution

Bodily Dispositions and Sudden Motions #

• Preceding vs. fouling: Bodily qualities have two relations to emotional acts:
  • Preceding (predisposing): Not subject to reason because it comes from nature or prior motions
  • Fouling/Following (resulting): Subject to reason because it follows the locomotion of the heart, which can be affected by diverse acts of sensitive appetite
• White fear and red fear:
  • Red fear (shame): Blood rushes outward to the face to drive away disgrace in others’ eyes
  • White fear (death-fear): Blood contracts inward to vital organs for protection
• Hector’s flight: In Homer, Hector suddenly flees from Achilles—an involuntary motion driven by fear

The Role of Music in Emotional Harmony #

• Baroque and Mozart: Represent emotions in a state harmonious with reason
• Rock and roll: Can incite disorder and riots (example of Navy base in Newport)
• Effect on apprehension: Good music harmonizes one’s emotional and imaginative state with reason; poor music disorders it
• The mechanism: By engaging the imagination with reasonable emotional content, good music helps bring the sensitive appetite into harmony with rational order

Key Arguments #

Whether Sensitive Appetite Can Be Commanded #

Objection: The sensitive appetite cannot be commanded because:

• Bodily matter obeys God alone regarding formal transmutation (change)
• Emotional acts have bodily components (heat when angry, cold when afraid)
• Therefore bodily emotion is not subject to human command

Response: Distinguish two aspects:

• The apprehension that moves the appetite is subject to reason’s ordering (reason can direct imagination)
• The bodily disposition that accompanies emotion is not subject to reason’s command
• Therefore emotion is partially subject to reason: commandable as to apprehension, resistant as to bodily quality

Whether Vegetative Powers Obey Reason #

Objection: If sensitive powers obey reason, surely the lower vegetative powers should too

Response: The more immaterial an act is, the more noble and the more subject to reason’s command. Vegetative acts proceed from natural desire (not apprehension) and are material and natural; therefore they are not subject to reason’s command, which proves their lower status.

Whether Bodily Members Obey Reason #

Objection: The heart’s motion is not subject to reason; therefore bodily motions generally are not

Response: Members are moved by the soul’s powers, some of which are closer to reason than vegetative powers. Motions caused by sensitive powers are subject to reason’s command; vital natural motions like the heart’s pulsing are not.

Important Definitions #

Sensitive Appetite (ἀπεθυμία/θυμός in Greek) #

• The concupiscible and irascible powers of sense desire
• Can be commanded by reason regarding the apprehension that moves it
• Cannot be commanded regarding bodily dispositions
• Includes emotions: anger, fear, love, sexual desire

Bodily Organ (ὄργανον in Greek) #

• Means “tool” in Greek
• Members of the body are organs of the soul’s powers
• A tool’s very nature indicates it is “for the sake of something” (purposiveness)

Formal Transmutation (transmutatio formalis) #

• The formal change or alteration in the body (heat, cold, etc.)
• Follows from emotional acts but is not subject to reason’s direct command
• Obeys God alone regarding this formal transformation

Natural Desire #

• Desire that does not follow upon any apprehension or knowledge
• Characteristic of vegetative powers
• Contrasts with animal desire (sense-based) and intellectual desire (reason-based)

Sudden Motion (motus subito) #

• An emotional response that occurs before reason can intervene
• Arises from immediate apprehension by sense or imagination
• Can be prevented by reason if foreseen, but cannot always be stopped once begun

Examples & Illustrations #

On Emotional Control and the Limits of Reason #

• The nervous speaker: A person afraid to speak publicly joins clubs to practice speaking, gradually bringing emotion under control—showing emotions can be influenced but not immediately commanded
• The angry driver in Maine: A philosopher driving slowly through potholes is hit by rocks from an angry driver behind him; even a philosopher recognizes he cannot simply command away anger
• The impatient server: A man patient with many customers suddenly loses his temper with one customer, showing how emotions can build and suddenly erupt without rational control

On St. Paul’s Witness #

• Romans 7: “Not the good that I wish do I do, but the bad that I wish not to do, I do”
• The struggle: Paul wills not to lust (concupiscere) but experiences lust nonetheless
• The cause: The disposition of the body is impeded from wholly following reason’s command
• Paul’s insight: “I see another law in my members, repugnant to the law of my mind. Who will free me from this body of death?”

On Bodily Phenomena and Fear #

• Hector fleeing Achilles: In Homer, Hector suddenly flees from the invincible Achilles—an involuntary motion driven by fear, showing how sudden emotional motion escapes rational control
• Red fear vs. white fear: When ashamed (red fear), blood rushes to the face to drive away the disgrace; when fearing death (white fear), blood contracts inward to protect vital organs
• Physiological proof: People become “jibbering” (trembling) when about to be slain by invincible warriors

On Music and Emotional Harmony #

• Mozart and Baroque music: Represent emotions in a state harmonious with reason; listening while tired from philosophy harmonizes one’s emotional state
• Rock and roll riots: During the Navy base in Newport, sailors rioted and threw collapsible chairs when rock and roll played—music that disorders rather than harmonizes emotion
• The mechanism: Good music, by presenting reasonable emotional content to the imagination, helps the sensitive appetite move in harmony with reason

Questions Addressed #

Can the acts of the sensitive appetite be commanded by reason? #

Answer: Partially. Reason can command the apprehension (imagination and sensing) that moves the appetite, thus indirectly commanding the emotional act. However, reason cannot directly command the bodily dispositions (heat, cold) that accompany emotion. Therefore, some emotional motions (especially sudden ones) can escape reason’s command, though reason can prevent them if they are foreseen.

Can the acts of the vegetative soul be commanded by reason? #

Answer: No. The nutritive and generative powers proceed from natural desire, which does not depend on apprehension. Since reason commands only through apprehension, and natural desire does not follow upon apprehension, the vegetative powers are not subject to reason’s command. This very fact proves these powers are lower in the order of soul-powers.

Do bodily members obey reason? #

Answer: Yes, insofar as they are moved by sensitive powers, which are subject to reason. But no regarding motions that follow from natural powers (like the heart’s pulsing) or vital functions. The heart’s motion is vital and natural, following from the soul-body union, and therefore is not subject to command—it obeys God alone.

Why is the heart not subject to reason’s command? #

Answer: The motion of the heart is vital and follows from the essential union of soul and body. It is not moved by sensitive appetite or will but by natural causation. Only God has total dominion over such formal transmutations in matter.

Notable Quotes #

“I see another law in my members, repugnant to the law of my mind. Who’s going to free me from this body [of death]?” — St. Paul, Romans 7 (cited by Berquist)

“The soul commands that the hand move? And so much is the facility that hardly what? From service is a discernment command.” — Augustine, Confessions Book 8 (cited by Berquist)

“The more some act is immaterial, the more noble it is and the more subject it is to the command of reason.” — Thomas Aquinas (cited by Berquist)

“Likeness is a slippery thing… cause of deception. Seeing the likeness of things, but not their difference.” — Plato (cited by Berquist on the danger of analogy)

“The pulsing thing is not persuadable by reason.” — Gregory (cited regarding the heart’s motion)