117. Fear, Love, and the Causes of Fear

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

Fear of Fear Itself #

• Can fear be feared? Yes, but only by a different fear
• One fears the fear of an imminent evil, just as one can know that one knows something
• Fear is partly from extrinsic causes (the imagined evil) and partly subject to the will (through reason’s control of the lower appetite)
• Augustine supports this distinction: fear cannot fear itself per se

Sudden and Unaccustomed Things (Repentina/Insulita) #

• Thesis: Sudden and unaccustomed things are more feared than familiar ones
• Two causes of increased fear:
  1. Evil appears greater when not considered over time—premeditation mitigates fear
  2. Sudden things subtract remedies that could be prepared in advance
• Paradox resolved: Though experience usually increases hope and decreases fear, sudden things prevent the mitigating effect of experience
• Bodily goods appear greater when suddenly acquired due to contrast with prior poverty; the same principle applies to sudden evils appearing more terrible
• The more one considers a hidden danger, the more it becomes fearful (e.g., considering a fallacy increases fear of being deceived by it)

Irremediable Evils and Perpetuity #

• Thesis: Things that cannot be remedied are feared more because they are taken as perpetual
• Two types of remedy:
  1. Remedy preventing evil from coming (its removal eliminates hope and thus fear)
  2. Remedy removing evil already present (allows for hope and thus fear of failure to remove it)
• Infinite increase of badness: To suffer something for infinite time has an infinite increase of badness
• Exception for death: Although death is irremediable, it is not most feared because it is not imminent
• Perpetuity and duration measure evil; the longer the suffering, the greater the evil

Love as Material Cause of Fear #

• Thesis: Love is a cause of fear by way of material disposition, not efficient cause
• Augustine’s principle: “There is no cause of fearing except that which we love, either that having attained it we might lose it, or that we might not attain it when we hope”
• How love causes fear: Because one loves a good, that which deprives one of it becomes evil, and thus one fears it
• Distinction from efficient cause: The thing that inflicts harm is the efficient cause; love is the condition making fear possible
• Relation to theological virtues: Fear prepares the way for hope, and hope introduces love (the theological progression from faith through hope to love)

Fear’s Distinction from Hate #

• One may hate someone from whom one initially fears harm
• But after one begins to hope for good things from that person, one may begin to love them
• Example: Fear of God’s punishment may initially motivate obedience, but this can lead to hope and eventually to love

Key Arguments #

Against Fear Being Feared (Article 4 Objections) #

• Objection 1: Anything feared is guarded by fearing it; if fear were feared, one would guard himself by being fearful, which is unfearable
• Objection 2: Fear is a certain flight, but nothing flees itself; therefore fear does not fear fear
• Objection 3: Fear is about the future, but one who fears already has fear (in the present); therefore he cannot fear fear
• Resolution: Different fears address different objects; one fear (of imminent evil) is distinct from another fear (of experiencing that fear)

Against Sudden Things Being More Feared (Article 5 Objections) #

• Objection 1: Experience increases hope in good and thus should increase fear in bad; but sudden things prevent such experience
• Objection 2: Those quick to anger have sudden motions; therefore sudden things should be less terrible
• Objection 3: Things more considered are more feared; but sudden things are less considered; therefore sudden things are less feared
• Resolution: Suddenness makes evil appear greater and subtracts the remedies of premeditation; bodily things appear lesser the more they are contemplated over time (citing Cicero’s Tusculan Disputations)

Against Irremediable Things Being More Feared (Article 6 Objections) #

• Objection 1: Fear requires hope of salvation; irremediable evils leave no hope; therefore they cannot be feared
• Objection 2: Death is irremediable yet not most feared; things differ only by perpetuity, which doesn’t increase good or evil (per Aristotle’s Ethics)
• Resolution: Perpetuity increases evil not only by its kind but by circumstance; infinite duration means infinite increase of badness; irremediable evils are taken as perpetual

Against Love Being Cause of Fear (Article 1 Objections) #

• Objection 1: Fear introduces love (of charity), not the reverse (citing Augustine)
• Objection 2: Philosopher says we expect evil from some things and are provoked more to hate than love; fear is more cause of hate
• Objection 3: Things from ourselves are in our power and lack the definition of terrible; but things from love come from within and are thus not feared
• Resolution: Love is the material cause (disposition) making fear possible, not the efficient cause; the harmful agent is the efficient cause

Important Definitions #

Diverse Fears (Diversi Timores) #

• Different fears can address the same subject; e.g., one fear of being considered a coward motivates entering battle despite another fear of harm
• A man afraid of losing health guards it through fear; these are not the same fear fearing itself

Sudden/Unaccustomed (Repentina/Insulita) #

• Events that occur without premeditation or customary preparation
• Subtract the natural mitigation that time and familiarity provide

Imminent Evil (Malum Imminens) #

• Evil that is future but near at hand
• Distinguishes fear from sadness (present evil) and from general aversion

Perpetual Evil #

• Evil that cannot be remedied and is thus taken to last infinitely
• Increases badness infinitely through duration

Material Disposition (Dispositio Materialis) #

• A condition that makes something possible without being its direct cause
• Love is the material disposition of fear: one must love a good to fear its loss

Examples & Illustrations #

Fear of Cowardice Overcoming Fear of Harm #

• A man afraid of being considered a coward enters battle despite fear of physical harm
• Illustrates how one fear can overcome another through different objects and stronger motivation

Fear of Being Stingy #

• Example of social shame causing action: fear of being seen as miserly motivates charitable giving
• Shows how diverse fears operate in concert in human decision-making

Physical Reactions to Fear #

• Poking (ticklish fear) is more sensitive than arm-striking; shows how different evils produce different intensity of fear
• Relates to the body’s response and the immediacy of the threat

Whistling Past the Graveyard #

• Rapid speech born of anxiety about passing a feared place
• Illustrates how fear manifests in comportment and behavior

Historical Confusion from Equivocation #

• Discussion of Columbus and historians confusing him with relatives of the same name (uncle, cousin)
• Illustrates the fallacy of equivocation in historical interpretation and how even careful scholars can be misled

American Express Commercial #

• Man claiming to be Frank Sinatra but having the same actual name as someone famous
• Shows the practical confusion caused by name equivocation in common life

Gary Wills on Priesthood and the Church #

• Wills argues priesthood was a later development, not established by apostles
• Advocates return to election by people (as with Ambrose) rather than papal appointment
• Argues Vatican should receive the disrespect it deserves
• Illustrates contemporary theological perversity in rejecting Church teaching

Flannery O’Connor on Spiritual Matters #

• O’Connor responds to a question about the Church’s concern with contraception
• She argues that to say “don’t do this because it’s evil” is deeply spiritual
• Shows that moral teaching is not beneath spiritual concern but integral to it

Questions Addressed #

Can Fear Be Feared? (Article 4) #

• Resolution: Yes, but by a different fear
• One fear of an imminent evil is distinct from another fear of experiencing that fear
• Just as one knows that one knows (different acts), one can fear that one fears (different fears)

Are Sudden and Unaccustomed Things More Feared? (Article 5) #

• Resolution: Yes, for two reasons
• Suddenness makes the evil appear greater (not mitigated by premeditation)
• Suddenness prevents preparation of remedies
• Bodily evils are measured by their contemplation; sudden things prevent such contemplation

Are Irremediable Things More Feared? (Article 6) #

• Resolution: Yes, because perpetuity increases fear infinitely
• Irremediable evils are taken as perpetual; infinite suffering means infinite increase of badness
• Death, though irremediable, is not most feared because it is not imminent
• Two remedies exist: (1) preventing evil’s arrival, (2) removing evil already present

Is Love a Cause of Fear? (Article 1 of Question 43) #

• Resolution: Yes, as a material disposition
• Love makes one disposed to fear the loss of the beloved good
• Augustine: there is no fear without something loved that might be lost or not attained
• Fear arises per se from evil, but love is the material condition enabling fear

Connections to Earlier Discussion #

On the Nature of Fear #

• Fear concerns future evil that is difficult to avoid—this definition underlies all the articles
• Fear is partly from external causes and partly subject to the will

On Remedies and Hope #

• The distinction between preventing evil and removing it already present determines whether hope remains
• This connects to the nature of hope and its role in the passions

On Diverse Passions #

• Fear, hope, love, and hate form an interconnected network
• The transition from fear to hope to love shows the theological progression of conversion

Methodological Notes #

Fallacy of Equivocation #

• Berquist emphasizes how even those who know fallacies can commit them
• Requires constant vigilance and “awakening by guardian angels”
• Historical scholarship has been misled by name confusion (Columbus case)
• Most common of fallacies according to Aristotle

Definition and Precision #

• “Defining is like spelling. Leave one letter out, you’ve misspelled the word”
• Precise definition is essential to philosophical analysis
• Each element of a definition (evil, future, difficult, not easily repelled) is necessary