Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Acknowledgments
- A note on the texts
- Introduction
- Part 1 THE PASSIONS IN GENERAL
- Part 2 PARTICULAR PASSIONS: THE CONCUPISCIBLE PASSIONS
- 5 Love
- 6 Hatred and concupiscence
- 7 Pleasure
- 8 Sorrow
- Part 3 PARTICULAR PASSIONS: THE IRASCIBLE PASSIONS
- Bibliography
- Index
5 - Love
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 July 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Acknowledgments
- A note on the texts
- Introduction
- Part 1 THE PASSIONS IN GENERAL
- Part 2 PARTICULAR PASSIONS: THE CONCUPISCIBLE PASSIONS
- 5 Love
- 6 Hatred and concupiscence
- 7 Pleasure
- 8 Sorrow
- Part 3 PARTICULAR PASSIONS: THE IRASCIBLE PASSIONS
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The treatment of the passions “in particular,” comprising twenty-three Questions, is both more intricate and more extensive than the four Questions on the passions “in general.” Why does Aquinas accord such weight to the particular passions (§5.1)? First among the particular passions is love. In its proper sense, the passion of love is “sensitive love.” Though rational love is more elevated than sensitive love, Aquinas does not hesitate to point out the superior potency of sensitive love in drawing a person nearer to the divine (§5.2). He proceeds to illuminate the nature of love by examining the distinction between “love of friendship” and “love of concupiscence” (§5.3). What causes love? Ultimately, the good, but in order for the good to cause love, it must be cognized in a way that involves some kind of likeness between subject and object (§5.4). What does love do to a person? What are its effects? Aquinas treats this large question by identifying the primary effect of love as “union,” and treating the remaining effects in terms of union (§5.5).
INTRODUCTION TO THE PARTICULAR PASSIONS
Those interested in Aquinas' thinking about moral and anthropological topics in the 1a2ae – the last end, acts of the will, virtues and vices, natural law – have frequently overlooked the Questions on the passions. Even those who notice the passions tend to focus on Questions 22–5 of the 1a2ae, with an occasional glance at QDV 25–6, or else concentrate on QDV 25–6 with the odd comparison to the 1a2ae.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Thomas Aquinas on the PassionsA Study of Summa Theologiae, 1a2ae 22–48, pp. 111 - 139Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009