127. The Effects of Anger: Fervor, Reason, and Speech

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

Article 2: Does Anger Most of All Cause Fervor? #

Thomas examines whether anger, rather than love, is the primary cause of fervor (the boiling of blood around the heart).

The Problem:

• Love is the cause of all passions and is more potent than its effects
• Love causes fervor; saints are fervent in their love
• Anger diminishes over time while love strengthens
• Therefore, anger should not be the primary cause of fervor

Thomas’s Solution:

• Bodily change is proportional to the motion of the appetite
• When a contrary acts upon something, the response is more vehement (example: hot water and freezing air)
• Anger’s motion tends toward repelling the injury through desire for revenge
• This creates great vehemence and impetuosity
• The motion of anger operates like heat (expansion), not cold (contraction)
• Heat causes blood and spirits around the heart to ferment and boil
• This produces visible signs: blood vessels showing, veins pulsing, perspiration, face flushing, eyes fierce, tongue stumbling

Why Anger Diminishes Over Time:

• Anger is caused by memory of injury
• Memory diminishes through time (“forget and forgive”)
• As the estimate of the injury’s severity diminishes, so does anger
• Unlike love, which grows through continued presence of the beloved, anger fades through absence of the offender
• A great fire is quickly extinguished when its fuel is consumed

Distinction Between Fervor of Love and Fervor of Anger:

• Fervor of love: sweet and gentle, assimilated to heat of air and blood (sanguine temperament)
• Fervor of anger: bitter and consuming, assimilated to heat of fire and bile (choleric temperament)

Article 3: Does Anger Most of All Impede the Use of Reason? #

Thomas addresses the apparent paradox that anger both arises from reason and impedes reason.

The Objections:

• Anger proceeds from reason (one has rational grounds to be angry)
• The angry man is manifest, not insidious like concupiscence
• Contraries illuminate each other; contrast between honor and dishonor makes both more evident
• Therefore, anger should not impede reason

Thomas’s Resolution:

• Reason does not use a bodily organ in its own act, but depends on sense powers for its operation
• Bodily disturbances impede judgment of reason (as seen in drunkenness and sleep)
• Anger causes the greatest bodily disturbance around the heart
• This disturbance extends to exterior members (eyes, face, tongue)
• Therefore, anger manifestly impedes the judgment of reason

The Crucial Distinction—Formal vs. Material Aspect:

• Formal aspect (rational): Anger begins from reason regarding judgment that revenge is just
• Material aspect (bodily): Disturbance impedes the perfect hearing of reason through violent and quick impulsion of heat
• Anger preserves its formal aspect while the material aspect prevents reason from operating perfectly
• When applied to God metaphorically, only the formal aspect (the rational judgment) is retained, not the bodily aspect

Why the Angry Man is Manifest:

• Not because it is manifest to him what he ought to do
• But because he operates openly, not seeking secrecy
• This happens partly because reason cannot discern what should be hidden
• He cannot think of ways to hide his anger
• Like “a bull in a china shop”

Article 4: Does Anger Cause Taciturnity (Silence)? #

Thomas resolves the apparent contradiction that anger both causes disordered speech and silence.

The Problem:

• Anger impedes reason
• When reason is impeded, its manifestation is diminished
• The angry man should speak disordered words (from Matthew 12: “from the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks”)
• Therefore, anger should not cause taciturnity

Yet Gregory says:

• Anger closed off through silence burns more vehemently within the mind
• Like an enclosed fire that becomes more intense

Thomas’s Resolution—Two Ways Anger Can Cause Taciturnity:

From the side of reason:

• When judgment of reason is vigorous enough to prevent disordered speech
• Although it does not prevent the disordered desire for revenge
• Rational control restrains speech (the advice to “count to ten” when angry)

From the side of impediment to reason:

• The disturbance can be so great that it impedes the tongue from speaking
• Disturbance extends to exterior members most expressive of the heart’s state
• When extreme, it causes complete immobility and silence
• In extreme cases, the person may collapse (heart attack)

The Spectrum of Anger’s Effects:

• Lesser disturbance: disordered speech
• Greater disturbance: taciturnity and immobility
• Extreme disturbance: physical collapse or death

Key Arguments #

On Fervor and Anger #

Objection: Love is the cause of all passions; therefore love, not anger, should cause fervor.

Thomas’s Counter:

• The vehemence of anger’s motion toward repelling injury (a present contrary) produces greater bodily ferment than love’s motion
• Fervor of anger is specifically the boiling of blood and spirits caused by the motion toward revenge
• This is distinct from fervor of love, which is sweeter and assimilated to different humors

On Reason and Anger #

Objection: Anger arises from reason; therefore it does not impede reason.

Thomas’s Counter:

• The formal aspect (rational judgment) is preserved, but the material aspect (bodily disturbance) prevents reason’s perfect operation
• Bodily disturbance necessarily impedes sense powers on which reason depends
• Therefore anger can both arise from reason and impede reason’s perfect judgment

On Taciturnity and Anger #

Objection: Anger impedes reason; therefore it should cause disordered speech, not silence.

Thomas’s Counter:

• From the side of reason: rational control can restrain speech despite the appetite for revenge
• From the side of impediment: extreme disturbance can prevent speech entirely
• Both silence and speech can result from anger depending on the degree of disturbance

Important Definitions #

Fervor (fervor): The boiling or bubbling of blood around the heart caused by the evaporation of bile (choler). It produces visible bodily signs such as flushed face, fierce eyes, and pulsing veins. Distinct in character: fervor of love is sweet; fervor of anger is bitter and consuming.

Taciturnity (taciturnitas): The restraint or holding back of speech. Can arise either from rational control (judicious silence) or from extreme bodily disturbance that prevents the tongue from functioning.

Formal vs. Material Aspect:

• Formal aspect: The rational element (judgment that revenge is just or proportionate)
• Material aspect: The bodily element (disturbance of heart, blood, and spirits)
• Anger preserves its formal aspect while the material aspect can impede reason’s perfect operation

Examples & Illustrations #

From Natural Philosophy #

Hot Water and Freezing Weather: When hot water is exposed to freezing weather, it freezes faster than cold water. This illustrates the principle that the greater the contrary, the more vehement the response. Applied to anger: the injury (present contrary) causes more vehement motion of anger than absent or remembered injuries.

Fire and Fuel: A great fire is quickly extinguished when its fuel is consumed. Similarly, anger diminishes when its cause (memory of injury) fades with time.

From Literature and History #

Baseball Game (Boston vs. Baltimore): In the ninth inning, Boston was ahead 5-4. The pitcher walked bases loaded, and the next batter hit a home run, making it 8-5. This illustrates how opposition (being behind) increases vehemence of effort and desire.

Coach Behavior: A coach got angry at players for poor performance and publicly shamed them. He was fired due to publicity, yet some players defended him saying “he gets things done.” Illustrates anger in competitive contexts and its mixed effects.

Civil War Period Congressman: A congressman nearly beat another congressman to death with his cane in the U.S. House. Illustrates extreme manifestation of anger through bodily violence and absence from the House afterward.

From Personal Experience #

Observing an Angry Person’s Physical Signs:

• Blood vessels in the eyes become visible
• Veins on the forehead stick out and pulse (“that’s when you’re in real trouble”)
• Perspiration on the forehead
• Face becomes flushed or “flamed”
• Eyes become fierce/irritated/exasperated
• Mouth forms with clamor

Holding an Angry Kitten: Feeling a kitten shivering in one’s hands with commotion inside. Illustrates how anger produces internal bodily turbulence visible in external signs.

Anger Camps: Some camps teach men to express repressed anger by beating the ground with sticks and crying. This illustrates an extreme manifestation of anger and the contemporary practice of “getting anger out.”

Impotent Rage: When a child screams on the floor and gets increasingly angry, the rage becomes laughable. Illustrates how extreme and unrestrained anger can become ineffective.

Notable Quotes #

“The heart palpitates, the body tumbles, the tongue stumbles, the face is flamed, the eyes are fierce” — Gregory, Moralia Book 5

“From the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks” — Matthew 12:34

“My eye is disturbed from anger” — Psalm 30

“Time quiets anger” — Aristotle, Rhetoric Book 2

“The angry man is not insidious; he is manifest” — Aristotle, Rhetoric Book 7

“Forget and forgive” — Traditional saying, referenced to illustrate how anger diminishes with time

“Anger closed off through silence burns more vehemently within the mind” — Gregory, Moralia Book 5

Questions Addressed #

Q2: Does Anger Most of All Cause Fervor? #

Answer: Yes. The vehement motion of anger toward repelling injury causes great fervor in the blood and spirits around the heart, producing visible bodily signs. This fervor is bitter and consuming, assimilated to the heat of fire and bile, distinct from the sweet fervor of love assimilated to air and blood.

Q3: Does Anger Most of All Impede the Use of Reason? #

Answer: Yes, in its material aspect (bodily disturbance), but not in its formal aspect (rational judgment). Although anger begins from reason, the bodily disturbance it causes impedes the perfect judgment of reason by disturbing the sense powers on which reason depends. The formal aspect is preserved when anger is applied metaphorically to God.

Q4: Does Anger Cause Taciturnity? #

Answer: Yes, in two ways: (1) From the side of reason, when rational control restrains disordered speech; (2) From the side of impediment, when extreme bodily disturbance prevents the tongue from functioning. The degree of disturbance determines whether anger produces speech or silence.