Part II (Pars Prima Secundae) Part 63 (1/2)
Therefore sorrow is not a virtuous good.
Obj. 2: Further, the virtuous good is praiseworthy and meritorious.
But sorrow lessens praise or merit: for the Apostle says (2 Cor.
9:7): ”Everyone, as he hath determined in his heart, not with sadness, or of necessity.” Therefore sorrow is not a virtuous good.
Obj. 3: Further, as Augustine says (De Civ. Dei xiv, 15), ”sorrow is concerned about those things which happen against our will.” But not to will those things which are actually taking place, is to have a will opposed to the decree of G.o.d, to Whose providence whatever is done is subject. Since, then, conformity of the human to the Divine will is a condition of the rect.i.tude of the will, as stated above (Q.
19, A. 9), it seems that sorrow is incompatible with rect.i.tude of the will, and that consequently it is not virtuous.
_On the contrary,_ Whatever merits the reward of eternal life is virtuous. But such is sorrow; as is evident from Matt. 5:5: ”Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Therefore sorrow is a virtuous good.
_I answer that,_ In so far as sorrow is good, it can be a virtuous good. For it has been said above (A. 1) that sorrow is a good inasmuch as it denotes perception and rejection of evil. These two things, as regards bodily pain, are a proof of the goodness of nature, to which it is due that the senses perceive, and that nature shuns, the harmful thing that causes pain. As regards interior sorrow, perception of the evil is sometimes due to a right judgment of reason; while the rejection of the evil is the act of the will, well disposed and detesting that evil. Now every virtuous good results from these two things, the rect.i.tude of the reason and the will. Wherefore it is evident that sorrow may be a virtuous good.
Reply Obj. 1: All the pa.s.sions of the soul should be regulated according to the rule of reason, which is the root of the virtuous good; but excessive sorrow, of which Augustine is speaking, oversteps this rule, and therefore it fails to be a virtuous good.
Reply Obj. 2: Just as sorrow for an evil arises from a right will and reason, which detest the evil, so sorrow for a good is due to a perverse reason and will, which detest the good. Consequently such sorrow is an obstacle to the praise and merit of the virtuous good; for instance, when a man gives an alms sorrowfully.
Reply Obj. 3: Some things do actually happen, not because G.o.d wills, but because He permits them to happen--such as sins. Consequently a will that is opposed to sin, whether in oneself or in another, is not discordant from the Divine will. Penal evils happen actually, even by G.o.d's will. But it is not necessary for the rect.i.tude of his will, that man should will them in themselves: but only that he should not revolt against the order of Divine justice, as stated above (Q. 19, A. 10).
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THIRD ARTICLE [I-II, Q. 39, Art. 3]
Whether Sorrow Can Be a Useful Good?
Objection 1: It would seem that sorrow cannot be a useful good. For it is written (Ecclus. 30:25): ”Sadness hath killed many, and there is no profit in it.”
Obj. 2: Further, choice is of that which is useful to an end. But sorrow is not an object of choice; in fact, ”a thing without sorrow is to be chosen rather than the same thing with sorrow” (Topic. iii, 2). Therefore sorrow is not a useful good.
Obj. 3: Further, ”Everything is for the sake of its own operation,”
as stated in _De Coelo_ ii, 3. But ”sorrow hinders operation,” as stated in _Ethic._ x, 5. Therefore sorrow is not a useful good.
_On the contrary,_ The wise man seeks only that which is useful. But according to Eccles. 7:5, ”the heart of the wise is where there is mourning, and the heart of fools where there is mirth.” Therefore sorrow is useful.
_I answer that,_ A twofold movement of the appet.i.te ensues from a present evil. One is that whereby the appet.i.te is opposed to the present evil; and, in this respect, sorrow is of no use; because that which is present, cannot be not present. The other movement arises in the appet.i.te to the effect of avoiding or expelling the saddening evil: and, in this respect, sorrow is of use, if it be for something which ought to be avoided. Because there are two reasons for which it may be right to avoid a thing. First, because it should be avoided in itself, on account of its being contrary to good; for instance, sin.
Wherefore sorrow for sin is useful as inducing a man to avoid sin: hence the Apostle says (2 Cor. 7:9): ”I am glad: not because you were made sorrowful, but because you were made sorrowful unto penance.”
Secondly, a thing is to be avoided, not as though it were evil in itself, but because it is an occasion of evil; either through one's being attached to it, and loving it too much, or through one's being thrown headlong thereby into an evil, as is evident in the case of temporal goods. And, in this respect, sorrow for temporal goods may be useful; according to Eccles. 7:3: ”It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to the house of feasting: for in that we are put in mind of the end of all.”
Moreover, sorrow for that which ought to be avoided is always useful, since it adds another motive for avoiding it. Because the very evil is in itself a thing to be avoided: while everyone avoids sorrow for its own sake, just as everyone seeks the good, and pleasure in the good. Therefore just as pleasure in the good makes one seek the good more earnestly, so sorrow for evil makes one avoid evil more eagerly.
Reply Obj. 1: This pa.s.sage is to be taken as referring to excessive sorrow, which consumes the soul: for such sorrow paralyzes the soul, and hinders it from shunning evil, as stated above (Q. 37, A. 2).
Reply Obj. 2: Just as any object of choice becomes less eligible by reason of sorrow, so that which ought to be shunned is still more to be shunned by reason of sorrow: and, in this respect, sorrow is useful.
Reply Obj. 3: Sorrow caused by an action hinders that action: but sorrow for the cessation of an action, makes one do it more earnestly.
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FOURTH ARTICLE [I-II, Q. 39, Art. 4]
Whether Bodily Pain Is the Greatest Evil?
Objection 1: It would seem that pain is the greatest evil. Because ”the worst is contrary to the best” (Ethic. viii, 10). But a certain pleasure is the greatest good, viz. the pleasure of bliss. Therefore a certain pain is the greatest evil.