Passions

By passions we are to understand here motions of the
sensitive appetite in man which tend towards the
attainment of some real or apparent good, or the
avoidance of some evil. The more intensely the object
is desired or abhorred, the more vehement is the
passion. St. Paul thus speaks of them: "When we were in
the flesh, the passions of sin, which were by the law,
did work in our members, to bring forth fruit unto
death" (Rom., vii, 5). They are called passions because
they cause a transformation of the normal condition of
the body and its organs which often appears externally.
It may also be noted that there is in man a rational
appetite as well as a sensitive appetite. The rational
appetite is the will; and its acts of love, joy, and
sorrow are only called passions metaphorically, because
of their likeness to the acts of the sensitive
appetite. They are classified by St. Thomas and the
Schoolmen as follows: The sensitive appetite is
twofold, concupiscible and irascible, specifically
distinct because of their objects. The object of the
concupiscible is real or apparent good, and suitable to
the sensitive inclination. The object of the irascible
appetite is good qualified by some special difficulty
in its attainment. The chief passions are eleven in
number:

* Six in the concupiscible appetite -- namely, joy or
delight, and sadness, desire and aversion or
abhorrence, love and hatred -- and

* five in the irascible -- hope and despair, courage
and fear, and anger.

To explain the passions in their relation to virtue it
is necessary to consider them first in the moral order.
Some moralists have taught that all passions are good
if kept under subjection, and all bad if unrestrained.
The truth is that, as regards morality, the passions
are indifferent, that is, neither good nor bad in
themselves. Only in so far as they are voluntary do
they come under the moral law. Their motions may
sometimes be antecedent to any act of the will; or they
may be so strong as to resist every command of the
will. The feelings in connexion with the passions may
be lasting, and not always under the control of the
will, as for example the feelings of love, sorrow,
fear, and anger, as experienced in the sensitive
appetite; but they can never be so strong as to force
the consent of our free will unless they first run away
with our reason.

These involuntary motions of the passions are neither
morally good nor morally bad. They become voluntary in
two ways:

* by the command of the will, which can command the
inferior powers of the sensitive appetite and excite
its emotions;

* by nonresistance, for the will can resist by refusing
its consent to their promptings, and it is bound to
resist when their promptings are irrational and
inordinate. When voluntary, the passions may increase
the intensity of the acts of the will, but they may
also lessen their morality by affecting its freedom.

In regard to virtue the passions may be considered in
the three stages of the spiritual life:

* first, its acquisition;

* secondly, its increase;

* thirdly, its perfection.

When regulated by reason, and subjected to the control
of the will, the passions may be considered good and
used as means of acquiring and exercising virtue.
Christ Himself, in whom their could be no sin nor
shadow of imperfection, admitted their influence, for
we read that He was sorrowful even unto death (Mark,
xiv, 34), that He wept over Jerusalem (Luke, xix, 41),
and at the tomb of Lazarus He groaned in the spirit,
and troubled Himself (John, xi, 33). St. Paul bids us
rejoice with them that rejoice, and weep with them that
weep (Rom., xii, 15). The sensitive is given to man by
God, and therefore its acts have to be employed in His
service. Fear of death, judgement, and hell prompts one
to repentance, and to the first efforts in acquiring
virtue. Thoughts of the mercy of God produce hope,
gratitude, and correspondence. Reflections on the
sufferings of Christ moves to sorrow for sin, and to
compassion and love for Him in His sufferings.

The moral virtues are to regulate the passions and
employ them as aids in the progress of spiritual life.
A just man at times experiences great joy, great hope
and confidence, and other feelings in performing duties
of piety, and also great sensible sorrow, as well as
sorrow of soul, for his sins, and he is thus confirmed
in his justice. He can also merit constantly by
restraining and purifying his passions. The saints who
reached the exalted state of perfection, have retained
their capacity for all human emotions and their
sensibility has remained subject to the ordinary laws;
but in them the love of God has controlled the mental
images which excite the passions and directed all their
emotions to His active service. It has been justly said
that the saint dies, and is born again: he dies to an
agitated, distracted and sensual life, by temperance,
continency, and austerity, and is born to a new and
transformed life. He passes through what St. John calls
"the night of the senses", after which his eyes are
opened to a clearer light. "The saint will return later
on to sensible objects to enjoy them in his own way,
but far more intensely than other men" (H. Joly,
"Psychology of the Saints", 128). Accordingly we can
understand how the passions and the emotions of the
sensitive appetite may be directed and devoted to the
service of God, and to the acquisition, increase, and
perfection of virtue.

All admit that the passions, unless restrained, will
carry a man beyond the bounds of duty and honesty, and
plunge him into sinful excesses. Unbridled passions
cause all the moral ruin and most of the physical and
social evils that afflict men. There are two adverse
elements in man contending for the mastery, and
designated by St. Paul as "the flesh" and "the spirit"
(Gal., v, 17). These two are often at variance with
each other in inclinations and desires. To establish
and preserve harmony in the individual, it is necessary
that the spirit rule, and that the flesh be made
obedient to it. The spirit must set itself free from
the tyranny of the passions in the flesh. It must free
itself by the renunciation of all those unlawful things
which our lower nature craves, that right order may be
established and preserved in the relations of our
higher and lower nature. The flesh and its appetites,
if allowed, will throw everything into confusion and
vitiate our whole nature by sin and its consequences.
It is therefore man's duty to control and regulate it
by reason and a strong will aided by God's grace.

ARTHUR DEVINE
Transcribed by Eric W. Kieselhorst

From the Catholic Encyclopedia, copyright � 1913 by the
Encyclopedia Press, Inc. Electronic version copyright �
1996 by New Advent, Inc., P.O. Box 281096, Denver,
Colorado, USA, 80228. ([email protected])

Taken from the New Advent Web Page
(www.knight.org/advent).

This article is part of the Catholic Encyclopedia
Project, an effort aimed at placing the  entire
Catholic Encyclopedia 1913 edition on the World Wide
Web. The coordinator is Kevin Knight,  editor of the
New Advent Catholic Website. If you would like to
contribute to this  worthwhile project, you can contact
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