"As the gloss says, 'in the sin of fornication the soul is the body's slave in a special sense, because at the moment of sinning it can think of nothing else': whereas the pleasure of gluttony, although carnal, does not so utterly absorb the reason."
— St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
Work Title
Date
1273
Metaphor
"As the gloss says, 'in the sin of fornication the soul is the body's slave in a special sense, because at the moment of sinning it can think of nothing else': whereas the pleasure of gluttony, although carnal, does not so utterly absorb the reason."
Metaphor in Context
Reply OBJ 4: As the gloss says, "in the sin of fornication the soul is the body's slave in a special sense, because at the moment of sinning it can think of nothing else": whereas the pleasure of gluttony, although carnal, does not so utterly absorb the reason. It may also be said that in this sin, an injury is done to the body also, for it is defiled inordinately: wherefore by this sin alone is man said specifically to sin against his body. While covetousness, which is reckoned among the carnal sins, stands here for adultery, which is the unjust appropriation of another's wife. Again, it may be said that the thing in which the covetous man takes pleasure is something bodily, and in this respect covetousness is numbered with the carnal sins: but the pleasure itself does not belong to the body, but to the spirit, wherefore Gregory says (Moral. xxxi, 17) that it is a spiritual sin.
(I, Q72, A2, Rp4)
(I, Q72, A2, Rp4)
Categories
Provenance
Searching in Past Masters
Citation
St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, trans. Fathers of the English Dominican Province (London: Burns, Oates, and Washburne, 1912-36; New York: Benziger, 1947-48; New York: Christian Classics, 1981). Text from Intelex Past Masters, The Collected Works of St. Thomas Aquinas. Electronic edition. <Link to Past Masters>
Date of Entry
07/11/2011
