The 60-Second Aquinas
Lesson
The Winds of Passion
November 17, 1998
The lustful are battered by storm winds in the second circle of hell in Dante’s Divine Comedy. The reader’s attention is drawn particularly to Francesca and her lover, who cling together as the winds whip them to and fro.
Francesca’s sin is one of passion. She tells Dante that she and her lover were simply reading, when they kissed and "read no more that day."
Now, Aquinas says that all human actions are aimed at some end. This end is desired by the individual as a good (metaphysically speaking in that the end completes the desire). If one acts according to reason, then one acts in a morally correct way, which is the path to the ultimate good – God.
So, why would anyone sin?
Aquinas says sin occurs when the soul becomes disordered. There are three parts of the soul: appetite, reason, and will. In a correctly ordered soul, reason controls the appetite and commands the will.
Sin occurs when an "object moves the sensitive appetite, and the sensitive appetite inclines the reason and will" (ST I-II, Q. 85, Art. 1). In Francesca’s case and in ours when we sin, we let our appetites have too much power in the soul.
Explanation of The 60-Second Aquinas Lesson
