142. Habits, Accidents, and the Corruption of Virtues

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

• Accidents and Their Subjects: An accident’s definition includes the subject (the subject is the substrate). This is why we say “a curved nose” (snub) and “a man who knows God” (wise man), not the abstract form. In the concrete form, accidents can admit of more or less (a thing can be “more white” or “whiter”), but in the abstract form they cannot (“whiteness” is not “more or less”).

• Intensity and Remission in Accidents: Not all accidents admit of intensity and remission in the same way. Whiteness itself does not admit of degree, but things that are white can be more or less white. Similarly, wisdom (abstract) does not admit of degree, but the wise (concrete) can be more or less wise. This applies to habits and other qualities.

• The Question of Habit Corruption Through Cessation from Act: The central question is whether habits are diminished or corrupted merely by ceasing to exercise them, without any contrary agent actively destroying them.

Key Arguments #

Arguments Against Corruption Through Cessation from Act #

• Habits More Permanent Than Undergoing Qualities: Habits are more permanent than passive qualities (like whiteness). But passive qualities are not corrupted or diminished through cessation of act (whiteness is not diminished if it doesn’t change the sight; heat is not diminished if it doesn’t heat something). Therefore, neither should habits be diminished through cessation from act.

• Corruption Requires a Moving Cause: Corruption and diminution are changes. Nothing is changed without a cause moving it. Cessation from act implies no moving cause, so it cannot cause corruption or diminution of habit.

• Intellectual Habits Above Time: The habit of science and virtue exist in the understanding soul, which is above time. Things above time are not corrupted or diminished through length of time. Therefore, habits should not be corrupted through cessation from exercise.

Arguments For Corruption Through Cessation from Act #

• Aristotle’s Authority: Aristotle says in the Book on Length and Brevity of Life that the corruption of science is not only through deception but also through forgetfulness (oblivion). In the eighth book of the Ethics, he says many friendships are dissolved by not calling upon one another.

Thomas’s Resolution #

• Two Modes of Causation: Something can move as a cause in two ways: (1) as such—which moves things according to its own form (fire heats); (2) per accidens—by removing what prohibits (moving a pillar so a tree falls; the pillar is not the cause of the fall, but the removal of the impediment is).

• Cessation as Accidental Cause: Cessation from act causes corruption or diminution of habits per accidens, not per se. It acts by removing the acts that prevent contrary causes from corrupting the habit. Acts proceeding from a habit can prevent contrary causes from acting.

• Habits Corrupted by Contraries: Habits are per se corrupted or diminished by their contrary agents. When someone ceases to practice virtue, many contrary passions and operations arising from the sense appetite act on the person, contrary to the mode of virtue. These corrupt or diminish the virtue because virtue is not maintained to moderate them.

• Intellectual Habits and Extraneous Imaginations: When one ceases from intellectual exercise, extraneous imaginations arise and sometimes lead to contrary imaginings. These must be cut off or suppressed through frequent use of the intellectual habit. Without this use, one becomes less apt to judge correctly and may be disposed to the contrary.

• The Role of Time and Change: While the understanding soul is above time per se, the sensing part (and the grasping or imaginative parts) is subject to time. Through the course of time, there is change with respect to the passions and sensitive part. Aristotle says in the fourth book of the Physics that time is the cause of oblivion (forgetfulness). Time is more a cause of corruption than of generation.

Important Definitions #

• Abstract vs. Concrete Forms of Accidents: The abstract form (whiteness, wisdom) names the accident itself. The concrete form (white, wise) names the subject as modified by the accident. Only the concrete form admits of intensity and remission in accidental qualities.

• Causation per se vs. per accidens (κατὰ συμβεβηκός): Direct causation (per se) occurs when something moves by its own form. Accidental causation (per accidens) occurs when something removes an impediment that would prevent a contrary cause from acting.

• Habit: A disposition ordered to the nature or operation of something. In the context of this discussion, habits are qualities that inhere in powers and incline them to certain acts.

Examples & Illustrations #

• Language Proficiency: Berquist’s French is worse now than when he was in Quebec because he hasn’t used it. This exemplifies “use it or lose it.”

• Health, Strength, and Beauty: In the human body, there are different dispositions: health (disposition of the humors), strength (disposition of nerves and bones), and beauty (disposition of members). The example compares Berquist (more healthy) with his friend Jim, a former boxer (stronger but less healthy).

• Friendship: The example from Aristotle’s Ethics about friendships being dissolved when friends don’t call upon one another illustrates how cessation from act (not maintaining the relationship through action) leads to the dissolution of the friendship-habit.

• Money Depositing: Berquist worked in a package store where employees needed to deposit money at a nearby bank. To protect themselves, they would ask an ex-football player to accompany them. Though the ex-football player was stronger, Berquist was more healthy.

• Philosophy and Theology: The distinction between philosophy and theology as different ways of knowing the same truths (e.g., both can know that God exists) illustrates how the same object can be known through different habits if referred to different ends or using different middle terms.

• Desk Organization: If you don’t clean or organize your desk, time will make it messy. This illustrates how time causes corruption more than generation—the natural tendency is toward disorder without active maintenance.

• Memorization and Recollection: When one cannot sleep at night and tries to recall arguments (such as Thomas’s eight arguments about God’s goodness), the difficulty in recalling them demonstrates how intellectual habits weaken through disuse.

Notable Quotes #

“The wise are those who have wisdom. The haver [of wisdom] is before the wisdom.” — Berquist, discussing the priority of the subject in accident definition

“Use it or lose it.” — Common saying referenced by Berquist regarding languages and habits

“Those lazy monks, you know, you’ve got to watch them.” — Berquist, applying the principle to monastic life

“Time is more the cause of corruption than of generation.” — Aristotle, cited by Berquist from the fourth book of the Physics

Questions Addressed #

• Can habits be corrupted or diminished by mere cessation from act? Yes, but only per accidens. Cessation from act removes the acts that would prevent contrary causes from corrupting the habit. Per se, habits are corrupted by their contrary agents, not by the absence of their proper acts.

• Why is time said to be the cause of oblivion? Because the sensitive and imaginative parts of the soul are subject to time, and through time, extraneous imaginations and contrary impressions arise that weaken and can corrupt the intellectual habit.

• How does the understanding soul’s transcendence of time relate to habit corruption? The understanding soul per se is above time, but in its dependence on the sensitive and imaginative powers (which are subject to time), the intellectual habits it possesses can be weakened or corrupted through the passage of time.