129. Reason's Rule Over the Emotions: Paternal vs. Despotic Rule

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

• Two Types of Rule: Despotic rule (absolute, unresisting obedience, as soul over body) versus political or paternal rule (allowing for resistance and consent, as reason over emotions)
• The Nature of Emotional Obedience: Why the irascible and concupiscible appetites can resist reason’s commands, unlike bodily members
• Natural Inclinations and Resistance: How emotions are moved not only by reason but also by imagination and sense experience
• Habituation and Training: How repeated experience and denial can gradually train the emotions to obey reason
• The Role of Early Formation: Why parental discipline when children are young is crucial; comparison to training a horse or correcting a child
• Music, Literature, and Imagination: How good music and fiction educate the emotions and imagination in a way compatible with reason’s paternal rule
• Heroic vs. Human Virtue: Brief discussion of Aristotle’s distinction between human virtues and heroic virtues (above human mode) and bestial vices (below human mode)

Key Arguments #

The Despotic Rule (Soul over Body) #

• The soul dominates the body by despotic rule because bodily members have no ability to resist
• When the soul desires motion, the hand, foot, and other members immediately obey
• This is the type of rule one cannot have over emotions

The Political/Paternal Rule (Reason over Emotions) #

• Reason should rule the irascible and concupiscible appetites by political or paternal rule
• The key difference from despotic rule:
  • Despotic: Master rules slave for the master’s good, not the slave’s
  • Paternal: Father rules son for the son’s good
  • Agency: Slave has nothing to say; son has a voice in his own affairs
• The appetites can resist reason because they are also moved by imagination and sensory experience
• We “experience the irascible and concupiscible as fighting against reason” when we sense or imagine something pleasant that reason forbids, or something painful that reason commands

Why Emotions Cannot Be Despotically Ruled #

• Example: Ordering “don’t be angry” or “don’t be afraid” does not work like commanding the hand to move
• A soldier may feel fear going into battle even though he has his anger under control
• The emotions have their own source of motivation (imagination, sense) independent of reason

Habituation and Training the Emotions #

• Aristotle emphasizes the importance of experience in controlling emotions
• Like training a horse: the first time a rider mounts, the horse tries to throw him off, but repeated mounting tames the horse
• Like a child: if parents don’t say “no” to a child when young, the child’s will becomes so strong that parents eventually cannot control it
• The concupiscible appetite is like a child to reason; it must be trained early
• Examples: someone with stage fright learns to control fear by taking a speech course; women who are afraid of the dark learn to control fear through exposure; people given to anger learn to control it over time

The Role of Good Formation #

• Children brought up with proper discipline are actually happier and less emotionally distressed
• The same applies to individuals: if emotions are not controlled, they make life miserable
• Good influences (music, literature, fiction) help educate emotions in a reasonable way

Important Definitions #

• Despotic Rule (ἀρχὴ δεσποτική): Rule over slaves or servants who have no ability to resist; obedience is absolute and immediate
• Political Rule (ἀρχὴ πολιτική) or Kingly Rule: Rule over free persons who, though subject, retain something of their own and can resist the ruler’s commands
• Irascible Appetite (vis irascibilis): The emotion of anger/spiritedness; appetite for difficult goods
• Concupiscible Appetite (vis concupiscibilis): Appetite for pleasant goods; sense desire
• Catharsis (κάθαρσις): Purification or purgation; in tragedy, purification of pity and fear; used medically for bodily purgation and morally for emotional/rational purification

Examples & Illustrations #

The Greek Household and St. Paul #

• In Greek households, the father was simultaneously father to his son and master to slaves
• St. Paul gives domestic instructions in his epistles concerning husband-wife, father-son, and master-slave relations
• Homer’s Odyssey exemplifies this: Odysseus returns home after 20 years to find his wife faithful, his son, and his faithful servant Eumaeus (the swineherd)

The Businessman’s Son and the Gasoline Station #

• A wealthy businessman sent his son to prestigious Amherst College with high hopes
• The son flunked out in the first year, proving unsuitable for college
• The father asked the son what he truly wanted; the son said he wanted to run a gasoline station
• The father, despite his hopes for something “higher,” bought his son a gasoline station
• Berquist praises this as an example of true paternal rule: consulting the son’s genuine inclinations and abilities rather than forcing him into the father’s own image

Baseball Game Example #

• Boston was down 5-2 in the ninth inning
• They loaded the bases with two outs and a 3-2 count
• A batter hit a three-run homer to tie it 5-5
• The game went to the tenth inning
• (Example illustrates contingency and how emotions respond to unexpected outcomes)

The Diversion from Study #

• Sometimes one is scheduled to study but emotionally not in the mood
• One should not force oneself if it will be unproductive
• May need diversion or relaxation instead
• Example: watching a baseball game can be better than forcing unproductive study

Fear Training Through Movies #

• A family watched an outdoor summer movie (about stealing a Russian airplane)
• Berquist’s daughter grabbed his arm throughout, afraid
• His sons enjoyed it without fear
• Over time, children gradually learn to control fear through exposure

Other Examples of Emotional Control #

• A Hollywood actor overcame alcoholism by learning to appreciate wine (taste, smell, discussion) rather than avoiding it entirely
• Berquist’s father-in-law quit smoking by chewing gum for a year, then no longer needed the gum
• A student with a toothpick in his mouth eventually became accustomed to studying without it

Music and Emotion Regulation #

• 18th-century music (Mozart) represents emotions as subject to reason, not by despotic but by political/paternal rule
• When Mozart represents sadness, he shows emotions being “calmed down,” demonstrating reason’s gentle governance
• Rock music, by contrast, is explicitly about sex and sensual stimulation, without reason’s governance
• Music is described as “the most persuasive thing there is”

Shakespeare on Emotional Equanimity #

• Hamlet to Horatio: “Give me that man that is not passion’s slave”
• A man of equanimity who “takes fortune’s buffets and rewards with equal thanks”
• Those “whose blood and judgment are well commixed”
• Opposite: when reason becomes the slave of emotions, there is complete disorder

Lottery Winners Study #

• A study of people in Canada who won large sums of money found them almost universally less happy afterward
• They went crazy with divorce, chaos, and life disruption
• Demonstrates that uncontrolled emotional responses to fortune lead to misery

Poetry on Mortality #

• Shakespeare: “Golden lads and girls, almost as chimney sweepers, come to dust”
• Beautiful poetic expression appeals to imagination while teaching about death and human equality
• Shows how good literature educates emotions toward truth

Metaphors in Scripture #

• Fire as metaphor for divine nature: simplicity of God (fire’s simplicity), divine mind (fire’s light), divine power (fire’s transformative ability)
• Fire as metaphor for Trinity: from fire proceed light and warmth; from Father proceed Son (light) and Holy Spirit (warmth)
• Sun as metaphor for faith and love: sun enlightens earth before warming it; God enlightens by faith before warming with love
• These appeal to imagination while lifting the mind to divine realities

Notable Quotes #

“Give me that man that is not passion’s slave” — Shakespeare, Hamlet

“Golden lads and girls, almost as chimney sweepers, come to dust” — Shakespeare

“Nothing so changes the soul of man as music” — Thomas Aquinas

“If you don’t control your emotions, they’re going to make life miserable for you” — Berquist

“The father rules the son for the good of the son” — Berquist, expressing the distinction between paternal and despotic rule

Questions Addressed #

Should Reason Rule Emotions as a Master Rules a Slave, or as a Father Rules a Son? #

Answer: Reason should rule emotions as a father rules a son. The differences:

• End/Purpose: Master rules for his own good; father rules for the son’s good
• Agency: Slave has nothing to say; son has a voice in what he will do
• Consultation: A father should listen to the son’s genuine inclinations and abilities; forcing an unsuitable profession is treating the son like a slave

Why Don’t Emotions Obey Reason Like Bodily Members Do? #

Answer: The exterior senses require exterior sensible objects, which are not in reason’s power (e.g., tasting wine requires wine). But interior powers (imagination, appetitive faculties) do not require exterior things and can therefore be subject to reason’s command. The appetites have their own sources of motion (imagination, sense experience) that can conflict with reason’s commands, allowing them to resist.

How Can Emotions Be Trained if They Resist Reason? #

Answer: Through habituation and repeated experience. Like training a horse through repeated mounting or correcting a child when young, the emotions can gradually be brought under reason’s governance. Early formation is crucial; if not trained when young and weak, they become impossible to control when strong. This is not despotic force but paternal guidance.

What Role Do Music and Literature Play in Emotional Education? #

Answer: Good music and fiction appeal to imagination and emotion while moving them in a reasonable way—this is paternal rule over emotions. Music can form or deform the soul; good 18th-century music shows emotions being calmed and governed by reason, while modern music explicitly appeals to sensual passion without reason. Good literature (Shakespeare) educates the imagination toward truth and proper emotional response to human realities.

Should One Ever Listen to One’s Emotional Inclinations Against Reason? #

Answer: Yes, to a limited degree and within reason. If one is emotionally not in the mood to study productively, forcing oneself may be counterproductive; a diversion might be better. One should consult one’s emotional capacities and inclinations, but always “within reason” and “for the good of reason.” This is paternal rule: the parent (reason) listens to the child (emotions) but retains ultimate authority for the child’s good.