106. Causes of Sadness: Unity, Desire, and Greater Power

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

The Desire for Unity as a Cause of Sadness #

• The good of each thing consists in a certain unity
• Unity and goodness are fundamentally connected among the transcendental properties
• Not every union perfects the notion of good—only that from which depends the perfection of the thing
• Therefore, the desire for unity is a cause of sadness insofar as it is the desire for good
• Separation from what is harmful or corrupting is pleasant because it removes unsuitable unity

Truth as Equality and the Role of Unity #

• Truth is the equality of the mind and things
• Equality involves the negation of more and less (neither adding to nor subtracting from truth)
• The cause of equality is unity
• When we say what is, is, and what is not, is not, we speak truth
• Adding to this (saying what is not, is) subtracts from truth; subtracting from this (saying what is, is not) adds a false claim
• In legal testimony: “the whole truth and nothing but the truth” means avoiding both excess and deficiency

Greater Power as a Cause of Sadness #

• What is against the inclination of something never comes to it except through the action of something stronger
• Greater power causes pain by actually causing the presence of corrupting evil
• Sadness follows only when the will resists the greater power; if the will consents, pain does not follow
• If a greater power is so strong that it changes the contrary inclination into its own, there is no repugnance or violence, and therefore no sadness
• The greater power causes sadness according to its actual operation, not merely according to its ability

Sadness and the Faculty of Learning #

• Moderate sadness can confer to receiving discipline and learning, especially when one hopes to be liberated from the sadness
• Intense sadness takes away the faculty of learning entirely
• Sadness and pleasure both impede consideration of reason by drawing the intention of the soul to themselves
• However, sadness draws the intention more than pleasure does
• Sadness can motivate study and intellectual work aimed at escaping the sadness itself

Key Arguments #

Article 3: Is the Desire of Unity a Cause of Pain? #

Objections:

• Not all union is good; repletion can cause displeasure
• Sadness cannot follow from desire for unity because separation is often pleasant
• We desire both conjunction (unity) of good and separation of evil, so unity is not more a cause of sadness than separation

Thomas’s Response:

• Only that union which constitutes the perfection of the thing is properly desired as good
• Therefore, desire for unity causes sadness as desire for good causes sadness
• Separation is pleasant insofar as it removes what is contrary to the thing’s perfection or insofar as separation has some suitable union joined to it
• The appetite for separation is not the first cause of pain, but rather the appetite for unity is

Key Principle:

• The good of each thing consists in a certain unity, insofar as each thing has joined or united those things from which its perfection consists
• The Platonists identified the one (ἕν) with the good itself

Article 4: Is Greater Power a Cause of Sadness? #

Objections:

• Greater power is about the future (what is in the agent’s power), but pain is about present evil
• Pain can come from illicit or weaker power
• Greater power is exterior; appetitive motions come from interior inclinations

Augustine’s Position (cited as authority):

• In the soul: the will resisting a greater power makes pain
• In the body: the sense resisting a more potent body makes pain

Thomas’s Response:

• Evil joined to one is a cause of pain as its proper object
• What is against the inclination of something never comes to it except through the action of something stronger
• Greater power causes pain by actually causing the presence of corrupting evil, not merely by possibility
• If the stronger power changes the contrary inclination into its own (like fire changing a heavy body to light), there is no repugnance or violence, and therefore no sadness
• Pain follows only when the will resists the greater power; if it consents by changing its inclination, pain does not follow

Article 1 of Question 37: Does Sadness Take Away the Faculty of Learning? #

Scriptural Support:

• Isaiah 26:9: “When you make your judgments on the earth, all the dwellers of the earth will learn justice”
• Moderate sadness about conditions from which one hopes to be liberated can aid learning

Key Distinction:

• Moderate sadness (which excludes wandering of the soul) can confer to receiving discipline
• Intense sadness takes away the faculty of learning entirely
• Both pleasure and sadness impede consideration of reason, but sadness draws the intention more forcefully than pleasure

Principle from Natural Philosophy:

• The action of a natural body is more increased in contrary conditions—water congeals more when heat is applied to cold
• Similarly, sadness more impedes reason than pleasure does

Important Definitions #

Transcendental Properties #

• Being, Unity, Truth, Goodness, and Beauty are transcendental properties
• Unity and goodness are fundamentally connected: the good of each thing consists in a certain unity
• Truth is the equality of mind and things; the cause of equality is unity
• In God, the knower and the known and that which is known are all one and the same, making God most true

Equality (ἰσότης / aequalitas) #

• Involves the negation of more and less
• To say “more or less than the truth” is to be false
• Truth neither adds to nor subtracts from what is

Violence and Repugnance (vis / repugnantia) #

• Violence occurs when the will resists a greater power
• If the greater power changes the inclination of the will into its own, there is no longer repugnance or violence
• Pain requires both the presence of evil and the resistance (repugnance) of the will

Examples & Illustrations #

Shakespeare’s King John #

• Young prince (Dauphin) and princess are incomplete except for each other
• Their union would perfect both; they are described as “better halves”
• Illustrates how union of persons constitutes their perfection

Courtroom Testimony #

• “I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth”
• The whole truth: avoiding subtraction (omitting Tom when Tom and Joe were present)
• Nothing but the truth: avoiding addition (adding Bill when only Tom and Joe were present)
• Demonstrates the principle that truth involves neither adding to nor subtracting from what is

Separation from Undesirable Things #

• Undesirable music in a restaurant: one desires separation from it because it’s contrary to one’s perfection
• Loud music at folk homes: people trapped there must endure music destructive to them
• Sailors: repetitive music playing all day through forced unity; one sailor slept in the shop to escape it
• All demonstrate that separation from what is harmful is pleasant because it removes unsuitable unity

Moderate Sadness Motivating Study #

• Student experiencing sadness over a failed love relationship reads through the Summa
• The moderate sadness, combined with hope of being liberated from it, motivates intellectual work
• The intensity of study serves partly as an escape from dwelling on the sadness
• This is distinct from intense sadness, which would paralyze learning entirely

Notable Quotes #

“Truth is the equality of the mind in things, but the cause of equality is unity.” — Thomas Aquinas

“The good of each thing consists in a certain unity, insofar as each thing has joined or united those things from which its perfection consists.” — Thomas Aquinas

“What is against the inclination of something never comes to it except through the action of something stronger.” — Thomas Aquinas

“Hell is the kingdom of noise.” — C.S. Lewis (cited by Berquist)

“When you make your judgments on the earth, all the dwellers of the earth will learn justice.” — Isaiah 26:9

Questions Addressed #

Question 36, Article 3: Is the Desire for Unity a Cause of Pain? #

Resolution: Yes, insofar as unity constitutes the perfection of the thing, the desire for unity is a cause of sadness as the desire for good is. However, not every union perfects the notion of good. Separation is pleasant insofar as it removes what is contrary to the thing’s perfection.

Question 36, Article 4: Is Greater Power a Cause of Sadness? #

Resolution: Yes, greater power causes sadness by causing the actual presence of corrupting evil. However, sadness follows only when the will resists the greater power. If the will consents and its inclination is changed by the greater power, sadness does not follow.

Question 37, Article 1: Does Sadness Take Away the Faculty of Learning? #

Resolution: Moderate sadness can aid learning, especially when one hopes to be liberated from it. However, intense sadness takes away the faculty of learning entirely. Sadness both draws the intention and can motivate intellectual work aimed at escaping the sadness.