113. Experience, Youth, and Hope as Cause of Love

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

Experience as a Cause of Hope #

• Experience causes hope in two primary ways: (1) by increasing a person’s power through facility and habit, and (2) by making one estimate something as possible that was previously thought impossible
• Experience also causes the defect of hope in the elderly—through repeated failure, the old man comes to regard things as impossible rather than possible
• The key distinction: experience increases hope per se (by enabling the good to appear achievable), but causes the defect of hope per accidens (by changing one’s estimation of possibility)
• The object of hope requires four conditions: bonum (good), futurum (future), arduum (difficult), possibile adipici (possible to obtain)

Youth as a Cause of Hope #

According to Aristotle’s Rhetoric, youth causes hope through three conditions:

1. Abundance of future: The young have much time ahead (little memory of the past), so they naturally tend toward hopeful expectations
2. Heat of nature: The youthfulness of their nature causes spiritus (vital heat) to expand the heart, making them naturally inclined toward difficult things
3. Inexperience of impediments: Young people lack experience of failures and defects, so they easily regard difficult things as possible for them

Drunkenness and Stupidity as Causes of Hope #

• Drunkenness causes hope through the same conditions as youth: heat from wine, multiplication of spirits, and inconsideration of dangers
• Stupidity and inexperience cause hope by removing the knowledge that would truly estimate something as impossible
• These causes lack the truth of hope (hope based on actual power) but have hope according to one’s own estimate (subjective confidence)

Hope as a Cause of Love #

• Hope can be a cause of love when we regard the one through whom something becomes possible to us
• The object of hope has two aspects: (1) the good hoped for (e.g., knowledge), and (2) the one through whom this good becomes possible (e.g., the teacher)
• Insofar as hope regards the good hoped for, hope is caused by love (we must love what we hope for)
• Insofar as hope regards the one who makes it possible, love is caused by hope (we are moved toward that person as a good)
• This explains the progression from Augustine and the Church Fathers: “faith begot hope, and hope begot charity”

Key Arguments #

Against Experience Causing Hope (Objections 1-3) #

Objection: Experience pertains to the knowing power, not the desiring power (where hope resides); therefore experience cannot cause hope.

• Response: Experience causes not only knowledge but also habitus (facility) through custom, which increases the power of doing something easily. This increase in power causes hope.

Objection: The old man has experience but lacks hope; therefore experience causes the defect of hope, not hope itself.

• Response: Experience causes hope in one way (by increasing power) and the defect of hope in another way (by making things seem impossible). The effect of hope is more primary.

Objection: Stupidity and inexperience can cause hope (the young man’s rash confidence); therefore inexperience, not experience, is the cause of hope.

• Response: Stupidity causes hope by removing knowledge of true impossibility—it is a cause per accidens. This does not contradict that experience per se causes hope through increasing power and true estimation.

Against Youth Causing Hope (Objections 1-3) #

Objection: Hope requires firmness (like an anchor), but youth lacks firmness; therefore youth is not a cause of hope.

• Response: Youth lacks firmness in truth, but possesses firmness according to their own estimate. They regard themselves as firmly able to achieve what they hope for.

Objection: Youth and drunkenness involve weakness, not power; therefore they cannot cause hope.

• Response: Although they have infirmity in truth, according to their own estimate they have power because they do not know their defects.

Objection: Experience is the cause of hope, but the young lack experience; therefore youth does not cause hope.

• Response: Not only experience but also inexperience can be a cause of hope (by removing awareness of impediments). Both cause hope, but in different ways.

Against Hope Causing Love (Objections 1-2) #

Objection: Augustine says love is the first affection of the soul; therefore love precedes hope, not the reverse.

• Response: Hope can cause one kind of love (love of benefactors) while presupposing another kind of love (love of the good itself). Love of truth must precede hope of attaining truth through a teacher, but hope for the teacher’s aid causes love of the teacher.

Objection: Desire precedes hope, and love causes desire; therefore love precedes hope.

• Response: A different love (love of the good itself) precedes hope; but love of the particular benefactor or teacher follows from hope.

Important Definitions #

Bonum Arduum Possibile #

The object of hope consists of a good that is (1) future, (2) difficult to obtain, and (3) possible to obtain. This distinguishes hope from:

• Desire (cupiditas): regards any future good without requiring arduousness or explicit possibility
• Despair: regards an impossible good

Spiritus (Vital Heat) #

The heating principle in the body that expands the heart and naturally inclines one toward difficult things. This is why youth, through heat of nature, naturally tends toward hope.

Habitus (Facility/Habit) #

The disposition acquired through repeated action that makes an operation easy. Experience causes hope partly by creating habitus, which increases a person’s actual power to accomplish difficult things.

Hope’s Two Aspects #

Hope regards two things: (1) the good hoped for (e.g., knowledge), and (2) the one through whom it becomes possible (e.g., the teacher). These create two different causal relationships with love.

Examples & Illustrations #

Cooking and the Plumber #

• When one cooks the same meal repeatedly (e.g., biscuits every Friday), one goes to the kitchen with hope, because experience creates facility and the ability to succeed
• A plumber can easily estimate possibilities (running a pipe deep underground) that a homeowner would despair of—his experience has increased his power and his estimation of possibility

The Moon and Mars #

• In Aristotle’s time, going to the moon seemed impossible. Now, through experience of placing a man on the moon, we estimate going to Mars as merely difficult but possible

The Young Man’s Expectations #

• A young student hopes to escape high school for college, then hopes college will be better than it turns out, then hopes graduate school will be the solution, then hopes for teaching—always hoping the next stage will be superior
• This shows how youth’s abundance of future naturally generates perpetual hope

Bellock and Political Reform #

• When a politician initially approaches office, he hopes to reform government. Once in office and experiencing bureaucratic resistance, he despairs that real change is possible
• This demonstrates how experience can reverse hope into despair through changed estimation of possibility

The Teacher-Student Relationship #

• Berquist’s relationship with Kusurik: First, Berquist hoped to learn philosophy from Kusurik (seeing him as useful for obtaining philosophy). Through this hope and Kusurik’s actual help, Berquist came to love Kusurik for himself, eventually more than his natural father
• This exemplifies how hope for a benefactor’s aid transforms into love of the benefactor himself
• Initially, the professor is seen as a bonum utile (useful good), but through continued hope and receipt of goods, becomes loved for his own sake

St. Bernard’s Four Stages of Love #

• The progression from self-love to hope in God to love of God mirrors Bernard’s four stages: (1) loving oneself for one’s own sake, (2) loving God for one’s own happiness, (3) beginning to love God for his own sake, (4) loving oneself only for God’s sake

Questions Addressed #

Is experience a cause of hope? #

Yes, in two ways: (1) Experience increases one’s power through facility and habit, making difficult things achievable; (2) Experience makes one estimate something as possible that was previously thought impossible. However, experience can also cause the defect of hope by making things seem impossible (as in the elderly), making this a per accidens causation.

Does youth cause hope? #

Yes, through three conditions: (1) Abundance of future, (2) Heat of nature expanding the heart, (3) Inexperience of impediments. Youth causes hope through lack of awareness of difficulties, not through actual increased power.

Is drunkenness a cause of hope? #

Yes: Drunkenness causes hope through the same mechanisms as youth—heat, multiplication of spirits, and lack of consideration of dangers—but without the truth that youth’s natural constitution provides.

Can hope be a cause of love? #

Yes, but with an important distinction: Insofar as hope regards the good hoped for, love of that good must precede hope. Insofar as hope regards the person through whom the good becomes possible, love of that person follows from hope. We come to love teachers and benefactors because we first hope to obtain good through them.

How do faith, hope, and charity relate in order? #

According to Augustine’s teaching: “Faith begot hope, and hope begot charity.” We first believe in God’s existence and promises (faith), then hope in God’s help to achieve our happiness (hope), then come to love God for himself (charity). This reflects the same structure of how we come to love benefactors—through hope of obtaining good from them.