Aquinas On Sorrow

1. Aquinas On Sorrow Ancient Philosophy

2. Three Aspects of a Passion • A passion is an individual’s reaction to an object acting upon him • The object reacting upon the individual • either good or bad • The effect on the subject • Increases or decreases power of being and acting • The relation of subject and object • either pursuit vs avoidance

3. Sorrow • Object • present evil • good of which the evil is depriving an individual • Subject • consciousness of this deprivation • destruction of some unity • Relation of subject and object • avoidance

4. Three Levels of Pain • natural appetite—no consciousness • repugnant to body • sensitive appetite—consciousness, but not self-consciousness • intellectual appetite—self-consciousness • Joy and sorrow require consciousness

5. Four Types of Sorrow • pity=sorrow for another's evil • envy=sorry for another's good, considered as one's own evil • anxiety=a sorrow that weighs on the mind, so as to make escape seem impossible • torpor=a sorrow that sorrow that weighs down on the appetite

6. The Effects of Sorrow • Degrees of Depression • not so much that can oppose the evil • So much that the hope of evasion is excluded • even the interior movement of the appetite is hindered • So much even exterior motion is prevented • The individual is stupified

7. Remedies for Sorrow • Pleasure • Outward expression • Releases the sorrow • appropriate outward expression provides pleasure • Support from others • others helping to bear the burden of sadness • love of others provide pleasure