104. Love as Will, Not Emotion: Divine and Human Love

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

Love as Emotion vs. Love as Act of Will #

• Emotional love: Rooted in bodily sensation and sensory pleasure; appears more real to us because it is more immediately known
• Volitional love: An act of choice; more intense and pure but less sensibly apparent
• God’s love is volitional only—it is not an emotion or feeling
• Human love can be both emotional and volitional, creating a mixture that divides us

Divine Love vs. Human Love #

• God’s love for us: Merciful love (Latin: amor misericordiae)
  • God owes us nothing; we exist only because He loves us
  • Love is the cause of our being
  • Not commanded to love us; freely chosen
• Human love of God: Just love (Latin: amor iustitiae)
  • We owe God love as a debt of justice
  • Can be commanded (“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God”)
  • Also applies to love of neighbor (debt of love)

Mercy, Hope, and Justice in Relation to God #

• Mercy is connected to hope; justice is connected to fear
• The Salve Regina (Hail Holy Queen) connects Mary’s role as Mother of Mercy with being the object of hope
• God’s mercy is the foundation for hope; His justice is a reason to fear

The Nature of Angelic Love #

• Angels love with pure act of will, not emotion
• Their love is far more intense than human love because it is undivided by bodily appetites
• The conflict between flesh and spirit weakens human love (“divide and conquer”)
• Angels are described (via C.S. Lewis) as having “ferocious” love—burning with intensity in a metaphorical sense
• The angel Gabriel’s response to Zechariah’s doubt was not mere anger but intense love disappointed

Intellectual Pleasures vs. Bodily Pleasures #

• Those who experience both intellectual and bodily pleasures universally attest that mental pleasures are greater
• Aristotle and J.S. Mill both affirm this
• Most people do not advance beyond bodily pleasures
• The educated person who sins through the flesh sins more grievously than the common person, because he knows better
• Without taste for higher pleasures, people pursue excess in lower pleasures
• An occupied mind (with higher pursuits) is better than an idle mind

The Distinction Between Senses/Emotions and Reason #

• We have multiple desiring powers:
  • One following upon sensation (emotional desire)
  • One following upon reason (rational choice/will)
• Both exist in humans simultaneously, creating complexity
• The will belongs to the immaterial, rational part of the soul, not to the body
• Reason can choose what sense rejects (e.g., love of the syllogism vs. emotional attachment)

Understanding, Potency, and Act #

• The first cause must be pure act (actus purus)
• The first cause must also be the best thing
• When these two are united, “everything fits together”—a sign of truth
• If the first cause is imperfect (mere potency/matter), we have schizophrenia: the first cause is not the best thing, contradicting our natural desire to know what is best

The Natural Desire to Know the First Cause #

• Our minds naturally seek causes and ask “why?”
• If a cause itself has a cause, we seek the cause of that cause
• This regress cannot continue infinitely (shown by Aristotle)
• The ultimate end of understanding is knowledge of the first cause
• Two criteria make knowledge better: knowing a better thing, or knowing it better
• Knowledge of the best thing must be the best knowledge
• Therefore, knowledge of the best (which is also the first cause) must be the end

Socratic Method and the Harmony of Truth #

• Philosophy is the highest kind of music (mousike) because it seeks harmony of truth
• Truth is harmonious: no true thought contradicts another
• Detecting contradictions in what someone admits reveals error
• Three things are needed to find contradiction: two admissions that lead to a contradiction of a third
• Example: If side = 2, then 2×2 = 4 (area), and 4×2 = 4 (doubled side), the area becomes 4×4 = 16. But 16 ≠ 2×4. The contradiction reveals the error in assuming doubling the side doubles the area.

Freedom and Obligation: The Ayn Rand Position Examined #

• Position: “A man is morally obligated only to what he freely agrees to do”
• Consequences of this view:
  • No obligation to parents (didn’t agree to be born)
  • No obligation to God (didn’t agree to be created)
  • Must accept that communists are obligated to overthrow government (they freely agreed)
  • Must accept that if one freely agrees to commit murder for hire, one is obligated to do so
• The position contradicts itself when applied universally
• Cannot criticize someone for doing what you say they are morally obligated to do

Key Arguments #

For Love as Chosen Will Rather Than Emotion #

1. God loves us—this is affirmed
2. But emotions/feelings are bodily and connected to senses
3. God is not corporeal and has no body
4. Therefore, God’s love cannot be an emotion
5. God’s love must be an act of will (a chosen love)

For the Distinction Between Divine and Human Love #

1. God’s existence and being are necessary and uncaused
2. We exist contingently; God chose to create us
3. God owes us nothing; creation is pure gift
4. Therefore, God’s love is merciful (undeserved)
5. We, however, exist and receive all from God
6. Justice demands we acknowledge our dependence and owe Him love
7. Therefore, our love is just (a debt)

For the Superiority of Intellectual Pleasures #

1. Universal testimony: those who experience both mental and bodily pleasures say mental is greater
2. Bodily pleasures exhaust and leave one empty (amusement park example)
3. Mental pleasures can sustain and fulfill indefinitely
4. Therefore, intellectual pleasure is superior

For the First Cause Being Pure Act #

1. If the first cause had potency (ability to be actualized), it would need something to actualize it
2. But then it would not be the first cause
3. Therefore, the first cause must be pure act
4. Potency/ability is for the sake of act; act is the end
5. Therefore, pure act is the best and most perfect

Against the Materialist Position #

1. Materialism claims: matter is the first cause, mind is the highest product of matter
2. This means: the first cause (matter) is not the best thing (mind is better)
3. But our natural desire to know is aimed at both: the first cause AND the best thing
4. If these are not the same, we have two ultimate ends—schizophrenia
5. Therefore, materialism fails to harmonize with our natural desires and reasoning

Important Definitions #

• Love (emotional/sensory): Amor understood as feeling, passion, bodily pleasure; rooted in sensory appetite
• Love (volitional/rational): Amor as chosen act of will; perfection of the rational appetite
• Merciful love: Amor misericordiae—love freely given, undeserved, under no obligation
• Just love: Amor iustitiae—love owed as a debt; acknowledgment of what is due
• Potency/Ability: Potentia—capacity to be actualized; imperfection until actualized
• Act/Actuality: Actus—realization, perfection; what potency aims at
• Pure Act: Actus purus—a being with no unrealized potential; God alone
• Music (in philosophical sense): Mousike—harmony; the philosopher seeks the harmony of truths fitting together

Examples & Illustrations #

Love of the Syllogism vs. Emotional Attachment #

• One can love candy emotionally (sensory pleasure)
• One can love the syllogism rationally (recognizing its necessity and logical perfection)
• Emotional attachment to a person is natural; emotional attachment to a logical form is not
• But rational love of syllogisms is real love—choosing the good recognized by reason

The Polish Professor and Emotions #

• Berquist’s Polish professor asked if he had an “emotional attachment to the syllogism”
• The response: emotional attachment is for persons; love of the syllogism is rational
• This illustrates the distinction between emotional and rational love

Amusement Park Exhaustion #

• A high school friend went to amusement parks and such entertainments with lower-class workers
• By day’s end, everyone was exhausted despite endless distraction
• Those without taste for higher pursuits pursue excess in lower ones and find only emptiness
• Contrast with someone occupied with intellectual pursuits, who finds sustenance

The Doubling the Square Problem #

• Socrates asks the slave boy: how do you double a square?
• The boy answers: double the side
• If original side = 2, area = 4. If doubled side = 4, area = 16
• The boy admits: 4 is double 2 (true), and 16 is not double 4 (true, it’s quadruple)
• But if doubling the side doubles the area, then 16 should be double 4
• Contradiction reveals the error in the premise

The First Cause as Pure Act and Best Thing #

• Aristotle shows (in Metaphysics Book 9, Physics Books 7-8, Nicomachean Ethics Book 1): infinite regress of causes is impossible
• Therefore, there must be a first cause
• The first cause must be pure act (no unrealized potential)
• Act is better than potency (the end toward which potency aims)
• Therefore, the first cause is the best
• This harmonizes with our desire to know both the first cause and the best—they are one

Questions Addressed #

Q1: Is God’s love an emotion or a feeling? #

Resolution: No. God has no body and no sensory faculties. His love is an act of will—a chosen love. We read in Scripture that “He chose us in Him” (St. Paul). God’s love is perfectly rational and volitional, not emotional.

Q2: What is the difference between God’s love for us and our love for God? #

Resolution:

• God’s love is merciful (undeserved, freely given); He owes us nothing and creates us freely
• Our love is just (a debt); we owe God love by justice and can be commanded to give it
• God is not obeying any command in loving us
• We obey a command in loving God

Q3: Why is mercy connected to hope and justice to fear? #

Resolution: God’s mercy is the ground of our hope (the only reason we have hope is divine mercy). God’s justice is a reason to fear (He will judge). The Salve Regina expresses this: Mary is “Mother of Mercy” and thus “our hope.”

Q4: Is angelic love less intense than human love? #

Resolution: No. Angelic love is more intense. Angels lack bodily emotions, but their rational love is undivided and pure. Humans are weakened by the conflict between flesh and spirit. Angels burn with ferocious love—far more intense than any human emotional love.

Q5: Are intellectual pleasures truly greater than bodily pleasures? #

Resolution: Yes. All who experience both testify that intellectual pleasures are superior. Aristotle and Mill affirm this. Most people fail to advance beyond bodily pleasures only because they lack cultivation of taste for higher goods.

Q6: If one sins knowingly (with education), is it more grievous? #

Resolution: Yes. Thomas Aquinas teaches that the educated person who sins through flesh sins more gravely than the common person. The educated person knows better and has power to redirect his mind to higher things; his sin is therefore more culpable.

Q7: How does contradiction reveal error (Socratic method)? #

Resolution: If two things admitted lead logically to a third that contradicts what is already known, then at least one of the three must be false. By identifying which is most certainly known, we can locate the error. This is the method Socrates uses to lead students to recognize their mistakes.

Q8: Can a materialist consistently hold their position? #

Resolution: No. Materialism claims matter is first (and least perfect) and mind is the highest product. But this means the first cause is not the best—creating two ultimate ends (first cause and best thing) that do not coincide. This is schizophrenic and contradicts the natural harmony of truth, where everything should fit together.

Q9: Can someone obligated only by free agreement be held to an absolute moral code? #

Resolution: No. The position “one is morally obligated only to what one freely agrees to” leads to absurdities (communists are obligated to overthrow government, murder for hire creates moral obligation, etc.). It also contradicts itself: one cannot both say another is obligated AND criticize them for fulfilling that obligation.

Notable Quotes #

“God’s love is not an emotion or feeling. It’s a chosen love, right? And St. Paul says he chose us in him.”

“God owes us nothing. In fact, we’re not even there to be loved before he loves us. Love is a cause of our being.”

“For us, it’s only just that we love him. God’s not obeying any command to love us. But we’re obeying a command to love God.”

“The philosopher and the sophist differ by their choice of life. The philosopher loves wisdom; the sophist loves the honor that comes from appearing wise.”

“No man can live without some kind of pleasure. So if you have no taste at all for these higher pleasures, you’re going to go to excess in the lower pleasures.”

“The seraphim—our name, because they’re burning. Metaphorically speaking, they’re burning, sending to God.”

“The angels’ love is ferocious. You’ve got no idea how intense that love can be.”

“Philosophy is the highest kind of music… the philosopher is aiming at the harmony of truth itself, where different thoughts of the man fit together.”

“With the truth, everything fits together, harmonizes. But if you think the first cause is this unformed matter, this imperfect, undeveloped thing, then you’ve got schizophrenia in the modern mind.”

“One truth doesn’t contradict another truth. If things you say don’t fit together, that’s a sign something is wrong.”

“The end of all our natural desire to understand is to know the first cause, which is God.”

“It’s better to know a better thing a little than to know a lesser thing a lot.”

“If the first cause is also the best thing, everything fits together.”

Connections to Other Themes #

Relation to the Soul’s Powers #

• The discussion of emotions vs. will relates to the distinction between sensory appetite and rational appetite
• Love as emotion belongs to the sensory powers; love as will belongs to rational powers
• The soul has multiple powers (vegetative, sensitive, intellectual); love operates differently at each level

Relation to Understanding and Potency/Act #

• The first part of the lecture (love) flows into broader metaphysical principles (potency and act)
• God’s being and understanding are identical (pure act); creatures’ being and understanding are distinct
• This principle governs all philosophy: act is superior to potency

Relation to Natural Desire and Theology #

• The natural desire to know the first cause is a fundamental principle for Thomistic theology
• It grounds the connection between reason and revelation
• It explains why the question of God’s existence is natural to the human mind