214. Capital Vices: Their Nature, Division, and Correspondence to Goods

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

What Can Be Taught vs. What Cannot #

• Aristotle’s principle: Art and science teach only what is true always or for the most part (ut in pluribus), not what happens by chance or luck
• Application to vices: Personal dispositions (like being upset by salmon) cannot be systematized or taught because they are particular, not universal
• Example: In natural science, we can teach “man is a two-armed, two-legged animal” because this is true for the most part, even though some people are born without limbs
• Implication: The enumeration of capital vices works precisely because they correspond to what is true for the most part about human desire

The Threefold Good of Man and Capital Vices #

• Three classes of goods (from Greek philosophy): goods of the soul, goods of the body, exterior goods
• Corresponding vices:
  • Goods of the soul (honor/excellence): Vainglory (inanis gloria) pursues this disordered
  • Goods of the body:
    • Individual conservation (food/drink): Gluttony (gula) pursues this disordered
    • Species conservation (intercourse): Lust (luxuria) pursues this disordered
  • Exterior goods (wealth): Avarice pursues this disordered
• Fleeing contrary evils: Disgrace, poverty, etc.

Why Good Moves Desire: Properties of Happiness #

Good moves desire especially because it shares something of the property of happiness, which all naturally desire. Happiness has three essential properties:

1. Perfection and excellence (perfectio) - pursuits like pride seek this
2. Sufficiency (sufficentia) - the sense that it completely satisfies; wealth is sought under this aspect
3. Joy/pleasure (delectatio) - delight or gratification

These explain why certain goods (honor, wealth, bodily pleasure) have such powerful hold on the human appetite.

Two Ways Appetite Is Moved #

• Directly and per se: Good moves appetite to pursuing it; evil moves to fleeing it
• Indirectly and per accidens: Someone pursues a bad thing because of a good joined to it; or flees a good because of an evil joined to it

The second way explains how vices that flee evil are distinguished (sloth, envy, anger).

Capital Vices That Flee Goods/Evils #

• Acedia (sloth): Sadness about spiritual good on account of bodily labor joined to it; not mere laziness but refusal of spiritual pursuits due to difficulty
• Invidia (envy): Sadness about another’s good insofar as it impedes one’s own excellence; does not require insurrection (rebellion)
• Ira (anger): Fights against another’s good under the notion of something honorable or just; requires an insurrection/resistance

Why Not One-to-One Correspondence with Cardinal Virtues? #

Thomas’s Response: There is not the same reason of origin in virtues and vices:

• Virtues: Caused by ordering desire to reason and to unchangeable good (God)
• Vices: Arise from desire of changeable goods, which are multiplied
• Result: More capital vices than cardinal virtues because temporal goods are more multiplied than the single unchangeable good

Capital vs. Principal Passions #

• Principal passions (in concupiscible appetite): Love, hate, desire, aversion, joy, sadness
• Secondary passions (in irascible appetite): Hope, fear, anger, etc.
• All irascible passions ultimately order back to joy and sadness (concupiscible passions)
• Why pleasure and sadness are “principalissime” (most principal): All other passions of the irascible arise from concupiscible passions and ultimately terminate in them

The Problem of Anger’s Enumeration #

Objection: Anger is not a principal passion, so why is it enumerated among capital vices?

Response: Although anger is not a principal passion, it has a special reason for being distinguished because it pursues the good of another under the notion of something honorable or just—giving it a unique formal object among the vices.

Key Arguments #

Argument: Why Capital Vices Cannot Be One-to-One with Virtues #

1. Virtues all order to the unchangeable good (God)
2. Vices order to changeable goods
3. Changeable goods are multiplied; the unchangeable good is one
4. Therefore, capital vices must be multiplied beyond the number of cardinal virtues
5. This explains why seven capital vices exist rather than four

Argument: Why Joy/Sadness Are the Principal Passions #

1. Irascible passions (hope, fear, anger) arise from concupiscible passions (desire, aversion)
2. The irascible passions exist to help overcome obstacles to getting what we love or avoiding what we hate
3. They ultimately terminate in the concupiscible passions (joy when goal achieved, sadness when thwarted)
4. Therefore, joy and sadness are the “principalissime” (most principal) passions
5. Capital vices are most properly enumerated according to these principal passions

Argument: Anger’s Special Status Among Vices #

1. Although anger is not a principal passion, it is distinguished from other capital vices
2. This is because anger pursues the good of another under the notion of something honorable or just
3. This formal object (the honorable/just) is what makes anger formally different from other vices
4. Therefore, it merits enumeration as a distinct capital vice despite not being a principal passion

Important Definitions #

Inanis gloria (Vainglory) #

Disordered pursuit of honor, praise, and excellence, regarding only the notion of desirability that comes from reason’s apprehension, not from true good.

Gula (Gluttony) #

Disordered desire for food and drink pertaining to conservation of the individual.

Luxuria (Lust) #

Disordered desire for intercourse pertaining to conservation of the species; luxury in the sense of the superfluous and unnecessary.

Acedia (Sloth) #

Not mere idleness or laziness in physical work, but sadness about spiritual goods on account of bodily labor joined to them; negligence in acquiring or pursuing spiritual goods due to difficulty.

Invidia (Envy) #

Sadness about another’s good insofar as that good impedes one’s own excellence; does not necessarily involve insurrection but can be quiet sadness.

Ira (Anger) #

Striving against another’s good under the notion of something honorable or just; involves insurrection/resistance and has the formal object of defending one’s honor or justice.

Ut in pluribus #

For the most part; the principle that what can be taught must be true always or for the most part, not merely by chance.

Examples & Illustrations #

The Car Accident #

A couple met when one ran into the other’s car, and during the long court proceedings, they got to know each other and fell in love. They eventually married. Berquist notes this cannot be taught as a method to meet your future wife because it happens by chance, not always or for the most part.

Salmon and Personal Dispositions #

If someone gets upset when served salmon (a peculiar hang-up), this particular disposition cannot be taught because it is not true for the most part. Such personal reactions fall outside the scope of teachable science.

The Lottery Winners in Canada #

Studies showed that most people who won large money prizes ended up more miserable than before, with many experiencing divorce and deteriorated relationships. This illustrates that wealth (which people believe to be a sufficient good) does not actually provide complete satisfaction or happiness.

The Wealthy Businessman #

A man with significant wealth was in tears over not being able to complete another money-making deal. This illustrates how people can make money but not know what to do with it, and how the desire for wealth can be insatiable rather than truly satisfying.

The Dock Worker #

When asked what he would do if he won a prize, a dock worker said he would “get to hear him,” implying he would pursue women rather than intellectual pursuits like reading. His office had pictures of girls. When Berquist’s brother removed them, the worker noticed but didn’t press the issue.

Baseball Game Story #

Three parents at a baseball game boast about their sons’ college admissions: one got into Amherst, the second into Harvard, and the third says his son got a 375 (implying SAT score), to which the other two respond with resigned “hmms.” This illustrates envy and one-upmanship in competition.

Envy in Modern Philosophy #

One of Berquist’s professors at Laval made a joke about Descartes being called “the father of modern philosophy” in history books: he has no sons because nobody follows him (everyone does their own thing). This is because if they followed someone else, they would honor that person and thus be envious of their position.

“The Maples” Song #

A Canadian folk song by John Gennaro and Jim Garner describes maples envying other trees for more sunlight, forming a union demanding equal rights. The final verse: “Now there’s no more over-depression, for they pass the noble law, and all the trees are equal, by hatchet, axe, and saw.” The song critiques socialism and the envy at its foundation.

Church Attendance and Sleep #

Some people don’t go to church on Sunday morning because it’s more comfortable to sleep another couple hours. This exemplifies sloth—fleeing a spiritual good (divine worship) on account of bodily comfort joined to it.

Notable Quotes #

“You can’t teach what happens by luck or by chance. Because it doesn’t happen always. It doesn’t happen most of the time.” — Berquist, explaining Aristotle’s principle

“Good especially moves desire from this, that it partakes of something of the property of happiness, which naturally all desire.” — Thomas Aquinas, cited in lecture

“The good of man is threefold: goods of the soul, goods of the body, and exterior goods.” — Aristotle and Socrates (Greek philosophical tradition)

“Envy is a disease of democracy, because we’re all equal, and so why is this guy up there high above me? He doesn’t deserve to be there.” — Berquist’s sociological observation

“Every time I see somebody benefit, even if it has nothing whatsoever to do with me, I feel in some ways that I’ve lost something.” — A man’s confession of envy, cited as impressive for its honesty

“All things are for sale in Rome.” — Ancient saying cited regarding wealth and sufficiency

Questions Addressed #

Why cannot art or science teach particular dispositions? #

Resolution: Because art and science teach only what is true always or for the most part (ut in pluribus). Particular dispositions like individual preferences (being upset by salmon) are contingent and do not follow universal principles.

Why are there seven capital vices rather than four (matching cardinal virtues)? #

Resolution: Because virtues all order to the one unchangeable good (God), while vices order to changeable goods which are multiplied. Since temporal goods are more numerous than the single unchangeable good, capital vices must be more numerous than cardinal virtues.

Why are joy and sadness (not hope and fear) the principal passions? #

Resolution: Because all irascible passions arise from and ultimately terminate in concupiscible passions. We desire something we love (leading to hope or fear of obstacles), and ultimately achieve joy or experience sadness. Joy and sadness are therefore the “principalissime” (most principal) passions.

How can anger be a capital vice if it is not a principal passion? #

Resolution: Although anger is not a principal passion, it has a special formal object—pursuing the good of another under the notion of something honorable or just. This gives it a unique place among capital vices, distinguishing it from passions that merely pursue bodily goods or exterior goods.