E.

THE MORAL VIRTUE OF

TEMPERANCE
1.HUMAN ACTION AND HUMAN BIOLOGY
 Temperance is primarily about the basic
requirement for biological life to which men finds
themselves especially and in some occasions
exceptionally inclined
three pairs of passiones animae constitute the
concupiscible appetites,
love and hatred,

desire and aversion,

pleasure and sadness.

 Temperance includes several good habitus or
qualities of character that enable man to restrain or
moderate the movements of the concupiscible
appetites
the emotions of the concupiscile appetites (as basic
human capacities) primarily secure goods necessary
for human flourishing e.g. union of man and woman
that has its roots in the their natural
complementarity a communion w/c is the fruit &
sign of a profoundly human need
 concupiscilbe appetites represent the human
capacity to achieve good sensible objects such as
food, drink, and sexual pleasure, these passions are
also called impulse emotions
goods which impulse emotions are concerned about
may be considered under two main headings: 1)the
good of nutrition, necessary for the preservation of
the individual, and 2) the good of reproduction,
necessary for the preservation of human species
 A correct view of the role of biological needs in a
general description of human well-being is
indispensable in a correct theological understanding
of virtuous temperance
 While the biological needs are embedded in human
biology, it is very essential in mans life to satisfy
those needs. While biological needs are deemed
important in virtuous prudence, simultaneously, not
every thirst, hunger, or sexual urge arises from and
therefore signifies true need
 Essential to the treatment of the virtues that
regulate the sense impulses of human nature is the
moral theologians consideration of the relationship
between biological need and inclination or
tendency
 In its most primitive form, tendency refers to what
the scholastics call appetite (appetites), that is to
say, the simple inclination or movement found in any
living subject toward a convenient object. In this
sense, convenient object means that a specific
reality is able to perfect a given subject endowed
with appetite, e.g. only drinkable liquids serve as
suitable objects for mans tendency to thirst
 Nature inclines everything to whatever is becoming to
it. Wherefore man naturally desires pleasures that are
becoming to him. Since, however, man as such is a
rational being, it follows that those pleasures are
becoming to man which are in accordance with reason.
From such pleasures temperance does not withdraw him,
but from those which are contrary to reason. Wherefore
it is clear that temperance is not contrary to the
inclination of human nature, but is in accord with it. It is,
however, contrary to the inclination of the
animal nature that is not subject to reason
(Summa theologiae q. 141, a. 1, ad 1)
 for appetite to operate appropriately in man, there
must be a potential for conformity between himself
and the good that satisfies his yearning. As an
example, when thirsting, saltwater never satisfies
mans appetite for liquid intake
objects of human appetite exercise a certain kind of
causal influence on man:
If the object represents some good that, when
embraced to a reasonable measure, perfects mans
nature, the drawing attraction then of such good serves
to advance the total well-being of man (mans drives
serve, and in themselves do not threaten the good of
ma)
when the sense appetites are drawn by objects the
embrace of which causes harm to man, then no virtuous
measure can be established for any inclination toward
such objects
sense appetites, then, can lead a person to act
against the reasonable order of virtue in two ways:
by wanting more or less of a good thing than what

is good to the person in accord with reason , and

by wanting something that frustrates the Creators
design for mans well-being.
Appetites according to the scholastics are of 2 types:
Natural appetite- represents a particular

organisms tendency toward any good that truly

perfects its being e.g. sunflowers turning to the sun
or mans seeking intelligent explanations for the
physical world
 Elicited appetite - found only in those beings that
have the capacity for sense knowledge or that
possess some form of voluntariness that develops
from cognition e.g. when a student masters a certain
difficult academic discipline, they are said to have
developed an elicited appetite for such discipline
2.THE DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON
 since the sense appetites lie so deeply embedded
in the biological structures of man, the life sciences
can provide useful data that assists our
understanding of the virtues of temperance, but as
Christians we recognize that the gospel teaches a
wisdom about human life that exceeds what
scientific research, though technologically
advanced, can achieve
Importance of the gospel truth in
making final determination about what
serves human progress & dignity
As sharers in the light of the divine mind, human
beings are correct in judging that by their intellect
they are superior to the totality of thingsThe
intellectual nature of the human person reaches its
final perfections, and needs to do so, through the
wisdom that gently draws the human mind to seek
and love what is true and good, and which leads it
through visible realities to those which are invisible
Gaudium et spes #15
 It would be entirely erroneous for Christians to
agree to a radical separation between the spiritual
and psychological orders, a separation that would
make the gospel irrelevant to human psychological
well-being
On the excellence of the human soul as the foundation
for recognizing the true dignity and vocation man:

Humankind is not mistaken in recognizing its superiority over

bodily things and in considering itself not just as a particle of
nature or an impersonal element of human society. By its interior
life it far exceeds the totality of things, and it experiences this
deep interiority when it enters into the heart where God, the
searcher of hearts, is waiting and where it decides its own destiny
in the sight of God (Gaudium et spes #14)
 virtues of temperance in particular show both the
psychosomatic unity of man and the subordination
of matter (including that of the human body) to the
vocation of man that realizes itself in intelligence
and freedom
3. THE VIRTUE OF TEMPERANCE
Temperance
particularly deals with pleasure

it represents a measured temper communicated by

intelligence that restrains mans desire for what

exerts strong attraction on him
moral virtue of Temperance
a supernatural habit that regulates the attraction to

sense pleasures and keeps them within the limits of

reason illumined by faith.
proper function is to regulate the movements of the
concupiscible appetite in which it resides
Temperance
concerns itself in a special way to the pleasures of

taste and touch, since they provide the most intense

delectation and are therefore, most likely to attract
the appetite beyond the rule of reason
 Natural Temperance acquired by natural effort and
guided by natural reason alone has no other aim in
view than mans health, and so it differs specifically
from supernatural temperance which is under the
direction of faith and has as its chief effect mans
spiritual welfare
Certainly, supernatural temperance sometimes
advises fasting, virginity, etc. which are abhorrent to
natural temperance(Prummer, 1988)
3. THE PARTS OF TEMPERANCE
The integral parts of temperance are: the sense of
shame and a love of propriety or honestas(these
two integral parts are vigilant protectors of chastity
and temperance and for that reason are highly to
be cherished from ones childhood)
sense of shame is a fear of anything disgraceful

which is not a virtue in the strict sense of the word

but rather a praiseworthy feeling which makes men
blush as soon as anything shameful touches them
subjective parts of the virtue of temperance:
abstinence i.e. temperance in food;

sobriety, i.e. temperance in drink particularly in the

use of intoxicating drinks;

chastity, i.e. temperance in the chief pleasure of the
sexual act;
modesty, which is concerned with the attendant

circumstances of the act like the pleasure arising

from kissing or touching, etc
potential part of temperance:
continence, meekness, clemency, modesty, which

regulate mans appetite in things less difficult than

the pleasures of touch
Sins against Temperance
Gluttony

Drunkenness

Impurity
Suggestions towards fostering the virtuous & moderate
enjoyment of sensate pleasure in accord w/ Temperance:
1. Avoid occasions that stimulate the desire for sensate
pleasure
2. Practice voluntary self-denial
3. Keep a vigilant control over the sense of sight
4. Occupy oneself w/safe & beneficial activities
5. Cultivate a sense of Christian dignity & an awareness
of the obligation to witness to Christ
 Fear of the Lord
In his mature schema, STA did not assign a particular
gift of the Holy Spirit exclusively to the cardinal virtue
of temperance, he indicated that the most
appropriate gift is fear of the Lord
Although they embody in a certain sense only
peripheral & surface gratifications, temperances
objects exercise such an attractive powers on human
person that they risk throwing off the sway of
reason & Gods law in order to attain them
 We exist to praise, reverence and serve God
according to St. Ignatius. A loving & chaste fear
helps us to keep a proper poise & to live out that
principle & foundation for Christian life
The gift of Fear of the Lord aids all the virtues of
cardinal temperance, i.e. all the virtues of the
general type of moderation, so that they keep the
Christian properly focused on the important matters
of life, but especially interested in the pursuit of
divine goods
Effects of the gift of fear as it relates to Temperance:
1. A vivid awareness of the sanctity & purity of God
2. A loss of interest in the pleasure afforded by
creature attachments
3. A lofty degree of humility
4. A profound appreciation for the beauty of the
spiritual life of grace