66. Malum, Peccatum, and Culpa: The Hierarchy of Evil and Sin

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

The Hierarchy of Terms: Malum, Peccatum, Culpa #

• Malum (evil/bad) is the most general term: any privation of due form, order, or measure in any subject or act
• Peccatum (sin) is more particular: a disordered or unmeasured act that deviates from proper order
• Culpa (guilt) is the most particular: the imputation of a voluntary sin to an agent responsible for it
• Every culpa is a peccatum, but not every peccatum is culpa (e.g., natural defects, errors in art)
• This follows the same pattern as: malum > peccatum > culpa, paralleling other hierarchical distinctions like principium > causa > elemento and distinctio > divisio > definitio

Rectitude and Sin #

• Rectum (rightness): an act whose middle does not deviate from the extremes (from geometry—a straight line)
• The act is lined up from the active power as source to the end
• Sin (peccatum) occurs when an act becomes oblique (dekatum/skewed), deviating from this straightness
• Every voluntary act is bad when it recedes from the order of reason and eternal law
• Every good act agrees with reason and eternal law (concordia)

The Role of Reason and Eternal Law #

• In voluntary acts, the proximate rule is human reason itself
• The supreme rule is the eternal law
• When an act proceeds according to the order of reason and eternal law, it is right
• When it departs from this order, it incurs the notion of sin

Voluntary Acts and Culpability #

• Only voluntary acts can have the notion of praise or culpa (guilt/blame)
• An act is imputed to the agent when it is in his power—when he has dominion over it
• Through the will, man has dominion over his act
• Natural acts (those of non-rational creatures) cannot be sins in the moral sense, though they can be peccata naturae (sins of nature)

The Distinction Between Ignorance and Agnoia #

• In Greek, agnoia can mean both: (1) simple lack of knowledge, and (2) being mistaken or deceived
• In English, “ignorance” typically means only the lack of knowledge, not being mistaken
• Error/mistake is related but distinct from ignorance
• This distinction matters for understanding sin: one can sin by not knowing, or by wrongly thinking one knows what one doesn’t (a worse state in epistemology)

Folly and Defect #

• Folly or foolishness is not located in the emotions (anger, concupiscence) themselves
• Rather, it is a defect in reason; the emotions may be the cause but not the subject of the folly
• Following Aristotle’s principle: when defining a lack, one must specify what it is a lack of and in what subject (e.g., blindness is lack of sight in the eye)

Ends and Divine Order #

• There are two orders of ends: the last end (perfection of the thing) and the proximate end (near end)
• Bad acts cannot be ends; therefore, God does not order other things to them
• However, God orders bad things to something else: sometimes to the good of the individual (humbling him), sometimes to His justice
• Good acts are both ordered to something else AND have other things ordered to them (as in intermediary ends)
• Example: Taking aspirin is ordered to getting rid of a headache, which is ordered to general health

Sin in Natural, Artificial, and Moral Acts #

• Peccata naturae: defects in natural acts (e.g., a misshapen body)
• Peccata artis: errors in artificial acts (e.g., a grammarian writing incorrectly, a doctor giving wrong medicine)
• Peccata moralia: sins in moral acts, which alone carry culpa when voluntary
• In art, one can knowingly make a bad work (showing mastery of the art itself), as Mozart’s Musical Joke demonstrates
• In morals, willing the bad reveals moral fault, not moral mastery

Two-Fold Deviation in Artistic Acts #

• Deviation from the particular end intended by the artist (sin proper to art; makes one guilty as an artist)
• Deviation from the common end of human life (sin as a man; makes one guilty as a man)
• Example: If an artist intentionally makes a bad work to deceive others, he sins not as an artist but as a man

The Weakness of Evil #

• Evil is weak and impotent (Dionysius in De Divinis Nominibus, IV)
• Weakness or impotence does not take away guilt; it is subject to human power
• Therefore, infirmity in bad voluntary things does not diminish culpability

Key Arguments #

From De Malo on the Generality of Terms #

Thomas distinguishes three levels of generality:

1. Malum is in plus (more common) than peccatum because:

   • Any privation of form, order, or measure has the ratio of evil
   • This applies to any subject or any act
   • Example: A tibia curva (curved thigh) is a bad thigh but cannot be called a peccatum

2. Peccatum is in plus than culpa because:

   • Any disordered act—whether of nature, art, or morals—can be called a peccatum
   • But culpa (guilt) requires voluntariness
   • No sin (peccatum) has the ratio of culpa (guilt) except from the fact that it is voluntary

3. Culpa requires that the disordered act be in the agent’s power:

   • “To no one is imputed guilt of a disordered act except that it is in his power”

On Translation and Custom #

• Although Thomas originally distinguished these three terms precisely, in common theological usage (apud theologos), theologians now often use peccatum and culpa interchangeably
• This common usage has become established, yet understanding the original distinctions is important for rigorous analysis
• The word “concordia” (agreement/harmony) is translated as “agree” in English texts, which is less evocative than the Latin

The Example of Rectitude in Geometry #

• From Aristotle’s Sentences: “The rectum is said to be that whose middle does not go out from the extremes”
• An act is considered as between two extrema: the principium agens (agent/source) and the finem intentum (intended end)
• This mirrors the geometric principle: a straight line is one where all points lie evenly between two endpoints
• This illustrates how the mind carries over the concept from geometry to moral action

Important Definitions #

Rectum (Rightness) #

An act whose intermediate points do not deviate from its extremes (agent and end); an act lined up according to the order of reason and eternal law from its source to its intended end.

Dekatum (Skewed/Oblique) #

An act that departs from straightness; a sin that recedes from the order of reason and eternal law.

Malum (Evil/Bad) #

The most general term: any privation of due form, order, or measure in a subject or act, whether natural, artificial, or moral.

Peccatum (Sin) #

A more particular term than malum: a disordered or unmeasured act that deviates from proper order; can occur in nature, art, or morals but does not necessarily imply culpability.

Culpa (Guilt) #

The most particular term: the imputation of a voluntary sin to the agent; requires that the disordered act be in the agent’s power and that the agent be capable of otherwise.

Concordia (Agreement/Harmony) #

The harmony of an act with reason and eternal law; every good act is in concordia with both.

Agnoia (Ignorance/Error) #

In Greek, this term can mean either (1) simple lack of knowledge or (2) being mistaken or deceived; in English, “ignorance” typically captures only the first sense.

Examples & Illustrations #

The Curved Thigh #

Thomas uses tibia curva (curved thigh) as an example of malum that is not peccatum: a physical defect is bad but not a sin. However, claudicatio (limping/the act of walking crookedly) can be called a peccatum because it is an act.

Mozart’s Musical Joke (Köchel 522) #

Mozart intentionally writes bad music to show how not to compose. This demonstrates that an artist who knowingly produces a defective work possesses the art more fully than one who unknowingly does so. The intentional error reveals mastery, whereas the unintentional one reveals lack of skill.

The Headache and Intermediary Ends #

If someone has a headache, the last end is to eliminate it. The proximate end might be to obtain aspirin. If aspirin is unavailable, a further proximate end emerges: going to the drugstore. Each intermediary end is both ordered to something else and has other things ordered to it.

The Grammarian and the Doctor #

A grammarian who writes incorrectly is not held guilty (culpable) if he cannot write correctly. A doctor who prescribes the wrong potion is not held guilty if he cannot prescribe the right one. Culpability requires both knowledge and power over the act.

Painting and the Artist’s Intent #

If an artist intends to make a good work but produces a bad one, he sins as an artist. If an artist intends to make a bad work and succeeds (or inadvertently makes a good one), the sin differs. If he intends a bad work to deceive another, he sins not just as an artist but as a man.

The Logic Exam #

Berquist describes an exam where leaving a true-false question blank costs one point (for ignorance), but answering incorrectly costs two points: one for not knowing and one for thinking one knows what one doesn’t. This illustrates the distinction between simple ignorance and false opinion.

The Sense of Sin in Language #

A British general, upon capturing a city in India, reported: “I have sinned.” This archaic usage demonstrates that “sin” once carried broader connotations than it does in contemporary speech. Archbishop Cardinal Sin of Manila provides another linguistic example.

Notable Quotes #

“Evil or bad is more common than sin, and sin is more common than guilt.” — Thomas Aquinas, De Malo (quoted and explained by Berquist)

“Any disordered act whatsoever can be called a sin either of nature, of art, or of morals.” — Thomas Aquinas, De Malo

“No sin has the notion of guilt except from the fact that it is voluntary.” — Thomas Aquinas, De Malo

“To no one is imputed guilt of a disordered act except that it is in his power.” — Thomas Aquinas, De Malo

“The straight line is one where nothing goes out from the extremes.” — Geometric principle applied to moral rectitude

“He lacked the supreme gift of the artist: knowing when to stop.” — Sherlock Holmes story, quoted regarding the distinction between intentional and unintentional error in art

“The great artist knows when to stop.” — Common observation about Titian and Mozart, illustrating mastery

“The rectum is said to be that whose middle does not go out from the extremes.” — Aristotle / Sentences, quoted on geometric metaphor for moral rectitude

Questions Addressed #

Q1: What is the relationship between malum, peccatum, and culpa? #

A: They form a hierarchy of increasing particularity. Malum is the most general (any privation of form, order, or measure); peccatum is more particular (a disordered act); culpa is most particular (a voluntary, imputable sin). Every culpa is a peccatum, but not vice versa; every peccatum involves malum, but not vice versa.

Q2: What makes an act “right” or “straight”? #

A: An act is right (rectum) when it proceeds according to the order of reason and eternal law, with nothing deviating from the alignment between its source (the agent) and its end. It becomes oblique (dekatum/sinful) when it departs from this order.

Q3: Can a person be guilty for an act that is bad in nature but good in intention? #

A: Yes, if the act itself is disordered. Culpability requires voluntariness, but voluntariness alone is insufficient; the act must also align with reason and the proper order of things.

Q4: How can we distinguish between ignorance and being mistaken? #

A: In Greek, agnoia captures both senses; in English, “ignorance” typically means only lack of knowledge, while “error” or “mistake” means false belief. This distinction is important because thinking one knows what one doesn’t is epistemologically worse than simple ignorance.

Q5: Can an artist be culpable for making a bad work? #

A: An artist who intentionally makes a bad work is not culpable as an artist (he demonstrates mastery); however, if the intention is to deceive or harm, he is culpable as a man because he deviates from the common good of human life.

Q6: Where is folly located—in the emotions or in reason? #

A: Folly is a defect in reason itself, not in the emotions. Anger or desire may cause foolish acts, but they are not the subject of folly; rather, reason’s failure to moderate the act is the defect.

Q7: How does God order bad acts? #

A: God does not order other things to bad acts (since bad cannot be an end). However, He orders the bad act itself to something good: either to the humbling/correction of the individual or to His justice.

Connections to Broader Thomistic Thought #

• De Malo (Disputed Questions on Evil): The primary source for the hierarchy of malum, peccatum, and culpa; Berquist quotes directly from this work to establish the distinctions
• Aristotle’s Physics II: On natural defects (peccata naturae) and the distinction between nature and art
• Aristotle’s Metaphysics V: On the multiple meanings of principium (beginning/source), cause, and element, which parallel the hierarchy of malum, peccatum, and culpa
• Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics: On virtue and the mean; on the voluntary nature of moral acts
• Aquinas’s Commentary on the Sentences (Peter Lombard): Background on sin and guilt in medieval theology
• Scripture: Job 35:6-8 (sin against God); Ecclesiastes 12:14 (God’s judgment of all acts); Isaiah 10:15 (the axe and the one who wields it)