77. The Good as the Cause of Love

Subscribe in Podcast App | Download Transcript

Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

The Good as Cause of Love #

• The good is the proper and fundamental cause of love because love implies connaturality or agreement between lover and beloved
• What is connatural and proportioned to a thing is good for it
• The object of love must be good, either absolutely (simpliciter) or in some qualified sense (secundum quid)
• Love pertains to the desiring power (appetite), which is acted upon by its object as the cause of motion

The Problem of Bad Being Loved #

• Objection: The bad is sometimes loved (people love iniquity per Psalm 10)
• Response: The bad is never loved except insofar as it appears good in some respect
  • People who love iniquity do so because it tends toward some apparent good: pleasure, money, etc.
  • The bad itself is not the object of love; rather, a good connected to the bad is
  • When someone speaks of their own faults and is loved, they are loved not for the faults but for the virtue of humility or truthfulness manifested in their self-disclosure

The Beautiful #

• The beautiful is the same as the good, differing only in definition
• Beauty differs from goodness by its reference to knowledge: the appetite comes to rest in the knowing and aspect of the beautiful, rather than merely in possession
• Examples: beautiful gardens are restful to behold

Key Arguments #

Structure of Love’s Causation #

1. Love pertains to the desiring power
2. The desiring power is acted upon by its object as a cause of motion
3. The proper object of love is the good
4. Therefore, the good is the proper cause of love

Against the Bad Being Loved #

• Premise: The bad is sometimes loved (scriptural evidence)
• Resolution: The bad is always loved under the aspect of some good
• Application: A thing that appears good to an appetite may not be good absolutely (simpliciter) but only in a qualified way (secundum quid)
• Implication: This applies to all vicious loves—they target apparent goods, not true goods

On Self-Disclosure and Love #

• Telling one’s own faults has “a notion of something good”
• It excludes friction and pride
• It manifests truthfulness and humility
• Therefore, those who speak of their faults are loved for these virtues, not for the faults themselves

Important Definitions #

• Connaturality (connaturalitas): Agreement or fitness between a thing and what is suitable to it according to its nature; what makes something good for a thing
• Simpliciter: Simply; absolutely; in an unqualified sense
• Secundum quid: In a qualified sense; not absolutely
• The Beautiful (Pulchrum): Same as the good but defined by reference to knowledge; the appetite comes to rest in knowing and beholding it
• Desiring Power (vis appetitiva): The appetite; a power that is acted upon by its object

Examples & Illustrations #

The Problem of Apparent Goods #

• Abortion is chosen because it appears good (it continues a career, avoids embarrassment), not because abortion itself is good
• Iniquity is loved insofar as it leads to pleasure or money, not insofar as iniquity is evil

The Beauty of Simplicity #

• Seeing a beautiful garden: the appetite rests in the beholding itself, not merely in possession
• A person commenting that a sweater color is “restful”—capturing how beauty affects perception and rest

Truthfulness and Humility #

• Samuel Johnson’s response to a woman questioning a mistake in his dictionary: “Ignorance, madam”—a self-aware admission that wins affection through its honesty and humility
• Such self-disclosure is loved because it reveals virtue, not because mistakes are good

Questions Addressed #

Q: Is the good the only cause of love? A: Yes, properly speaking. The bad is never loved except insofar as it appears good in some respect. All loves, even vicious ones, are directed toward some apparent good.

Q: Why do we love those who speak of their own faults? A: Not for the faults themselves, but for the virtue (humility, truthfulness) manifested in their self-disclosure, which excludes pride and friction.

Q: Is beauty a different cause of love from goodness? A: No, beauty is the same as goodness, but defined by its relation to knowledge. In beauty, the appetite rests in the knowing and aspect of the thing, not merely in its possession.

Notable Quotes #

“Certainly nothing is loved except the good.” — Augustine, On the Trinity VIII (cited by Thomas Aquinas)

“The good is what all would want; the appetite comes to rest in it.” — Thomas Aquinas (Berquist’s paraphrase of the definition)

“It’s restful.” — Larry Brown, on the color of a sweater, illustrating how beauty operates through perception