Art. 8: THE VIRTUE OF TEMPERANCE
(_Summa Theologica_, II-II, qq. 141-170.)
2461. Definition of Temperance.—Temperance is a moral virtue which regulates according to reason the gratification of the lower pleasures and desires of sense.
(a) It moderates pleasure and desire, and in consequence also the sadness caused by the absence of pleasure. Just as a special virtue (fortitude) is needed to check the strongest of the repelled emotions (fear of death), so likewise a special virtue (temperance) is necessary to bridle the most vehement of the attracted emotions (pleasure and desire).
(b) It moderates sensible pleasure, that is, satisfactions derived from the use of the external senses—sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. Spiritual pleasures, which are derived from the loftier powers of intellect, will and imagination (e.g., from the study of theology, the reading of classical literature, the meeting of mother and child or of friend and friend), have no opposition to reason, except accidentally when a still higher activity which should be exercised is impeded by them. Some of these (such as the pleasures of the intellect) may be called purely spiritual, since they make little or no impression on the sensible appetite; others, on the contrary (such as the pleasures of the will), may be called mixed pleasures, since at times they vehemently excite the sensitive appetite and powerfully affect the body (e.g., mothers have been known to die of joy at the return of a child who was thought to be dead).
(c) Temperance moderates the lower sensible pleasures, that is, the satisfactions caused primarily by touch and taste, and secondarily by other senses, in the activities necessary for preservation of the individual (eating and drinking) and of the race (sexual intercourse). These passions are called the lower, animal, or carnal pleasures, since they are common to man and beast, and are strongly rebellious against reason. The special virtue of temperance is necessary, then, to make man follow reason, not Bacchus or Venus. The higher sensible pleasures, on the other hand, are produced by a sensible object, not on account of any relation to venereal or gustatory delight, but on account of a perfection in the object that makes it suitable to the sense (e.g., the enjoyment derived from beautiful scenery, classical music, fragrant roses, or downy or velvety cloth). The esthete or the connoisseur obtains from these agreeable sensations a pleasure unknown to the animals, and one that is not from its nature refractory to reason nor seductive to carnal excess. Hence, these higher sensual pleasures are not gross, but refined; they should be moderated by prudence, but they are not so dangerous as to demand a special virtue, like temperance, for their regulation. Neither should we class with carnal pleasures the joys of physical well-being, such as the refreshment of sleep, the exhilaration of a sea bath or of a massage, the comfort of a balmy breeze, the ease of strength, or the relaxation of exercise.
2462. The Rule of Moderation.—The rule of moderation which temperance imposes on the carnal appetites is this: “Indulge only as necessity requires and duty allows.” For pleasure is a means whose end is some reasonable need of life, and it is therefore a perversion to make pleasure an end by indulging it apart from need and duty (see 85). But necessity is to be understood broadly, so as to include not only the essentials, but also the conveniences of life (e.g., seasonings and desserts with food).
(a) As to venereal pleasures, then, the rule means that they should not be used outside matrimony, nor in matrimony except for the procreation of children and the other lawful ends of marriage.
(b) As to the pleasures of the table, they should not be indulged except for the benefit of mind and body, and in such manner, quantity, quality, etc., as this purpose requires. But one may regulate one’s food or drink by the higher purpose of mortification, and partake of less than the body demands here and now.
2463. The Excellence of Temperance.—(a) Temperance is among the four principal or cardinal virtues. It keeps in order one of the passions that is most natural and most necessary for the present life, and among the virtues it excels in the quality of moderation, since it chastens the inclination that is hardest to hold within bounds, and guards the senses, the gateways of the soul (see 2441). “Wisdom teaches temperance, prudence, justice and fortitude, than which there is nothing more useful in life” (Wis., viii. 7).
(b) In its nature temperance is not the chief but the least of the moral virtues. For justice and bravery are of greater service to the common welfare, and the good of the multitude, as Aristotle remarks, is more divine than the good of the individual. But in accidental respects temperance has a superiority; for it is more tender and graceful than fortitude, more arduous than justice, and there is perhaps no other virtue whose exercise is so constantly called for.
2464. The Vices Opposed to Temperance.—(a) The vice of deficiency has been called insensibility, and consists in an unreasonable dislike of the inferior sensible pleasures, which makes one unwilling to use them when and as reason commands. Thus, the Stoics and Manichees believed that material joys are intrinsically evil, and there have been fanatical advocates of teetotalism (e.g., the Aquarians) and of purity (e.g., the Puritans who would not permit a man to kiss his wife on Sunday, the prudish and censorious who fear or suspect evil without reason, the Pharisees who think they are defiled if a sinner speaks to them, the misogynists who disapprove of marriage). The sin is venial _per se_, since it does not submit to passion; but it may be mortal on account of some circumstance, as when the marriage debt is unjustly refused or necessary nourishment is not taken. This vice is rarer than its opposite, and it must not be confused with austerity, which for the sake of a spiritual good foregoes some lawful but unnecessary sensible enjoyment.
(b) The vice of excess is immoderation, which includes gluttony and impurity. This is the most disgraceful of sins, because the most unworthy of a rational being; it enslaves man to pleasures of which the lower animals are capable; unlike other vices, it contains in itself nothing of intelligence, industry, generosity, and nothing that would at all liken it to virtue. The lowest depths of degradation are reached when immoderation is brutish even in its manner, as when one is gluttonous of human flesh or desirous of sodomitic pleasure. Immoderation is called by Aristotle a “childish sin,” because, as a child is eager for pleasures and will follow them unduly unless instructed and trained, so also an immoderate person thinks only of his appetite, and will go from bad to worse unless he accepts the discipline of reason. But the child is excusable, while the immoderate man should know better. Immoderation is worse than timidity; for, while the former seeks selfish delight and acts with willing unrestraint, the latter seeks self-preservation and is under some external menace.
2465. The Parts of Temperance.—(a) The subjective parts or species of temperance are two, since there are two distinct objects of the virtue. These objects are the two delights of touch that are ruled by the virtue, namely, those associated with the nutritive and those associated with the generative function. The first subjective part of temperance includes abstemiousness as to food and sobriety as to drink; the second part includes chastity, as regards the principal sexual act (copulation), and decency or pudicity, as regards the secondary acts (kisses, touches, embraces, etc).
(b) The integral parts are also two, since there are two conditions for the perfect exercise of temperance. These conditions are the fear and avoidance of what is disgraceful (shamefacedness, reserve, or delicacy) and the love of what is honorable (virtue of propriety or refinement). Shamefacedness is a passion, but, as physical fearlessness is a disposition for moral courage, so is the fear of incurring reproach a preparation for virtue. Hence, this delicacy is a laudable passion, and is ascribed chiefly to temperance, whose opposite is chief among things disgraceful. Propriety is also assigned to temperance, because it is an attraction towards that which is spiritually good and beautiful, a habit most useful for temperance, which must subordinate the delightful to the good, the carnal to the spiritual.
(c) The potential parts of temperance are its minor or servant virtues. They resemble temperance inasmuch as their chief praise is in moderation, but they are inferior to it inasmuch as that which is moderated by them is less recalcitrant than the sexual or gustatory appetites. First among these potential parts are those whose task of moderating, while not of the greatest difficulty, is yet more than ordinarily difficult; and here we have continence, which calms a will agitated by immoderate passion, and meekness, which governs the passion of anger. Next among the potential parts are those whose task of moderating offers less or ordinary difficulty, because they keep in order matters less removed from reason. All the virtues of this second group are given the common name of modesty. They are reduced to four: humility and studiosity, which moderate the internal appetites of excellence and of learning respectively; modesty of bearing and modesty of living, which regulate respectively the external acts of the body and the external goods of food, drink, clothing, furnishings, etc.
2466. Abstemiousness.—Abstemiousness is a virtue that moderates according to reason the desire and enjoyment of the pleasures of the table.
(a) It is a special virtue, because the appetite it curbs is very powerful, and on account of the body’s need of nourishment is often tempted.
(b) It moderates by avoiding both defect and excess in meals as to time, place, quantity, quality, etc. There is not, then, one standard amount of food for all, since the needs and duties of all are not the same, and hence he who takes more or less than is normal or usual cannot from that alone be accused of being unabstemious. Neither is the mean for an individual so rigidly fixed as not to permit some latitude within certain limits. It should be noted here too that abstemiousness is not the same thing as abstinence. Thus, a person who is immoderately abstinent, denying himself the food necessary for life or for duty or for optional works better than his abstinence, is not abstemious, since he is not guided by prudence or obligation.
(c) It moderates according to reason; that is, it decides what is proper for an individual, not merely from the viewpoint of bodily health, vigor, and longevity, as is done by the arts of medicine and hygiene, but also and chiefly from the viewpoints of higher goods, such as mental power, control of passion, austerity.
(d) It moderates the pleasures of the table, that is, the desire for and actual enjoyment of food and non-intoxicating beverages. Moderation in intoxicants is the special virtue of sobriety, which will be discussed later. Hence, a person who drinks too much ginger ale or water, tea or coffee, sins against abstemiousness; he who drinks too much whisky, beer, or wine sins against sobriety.
2467. Degrees of Abstemiousness.—(a) The lower degree practises temperance, taking sufficient food and drink for the preservation, not only of life and health, but also of the very pink of physical condition, yet so as to avoid all excess.
(b) The higher degree practises austerity, taking less than is necessary for the best condition, or strength or comfort of the body, but sufficient for life and health. The austere person eats less than he could reasonably take, but not less than his health and work demand. The subtraction he makes in his food will more likely benefit his health in the long run and promote longevity, for, in the wise words of old Galen, “abstemiousness is the best medicine.” But even though this austerity be slightly detrimental to health, or may slightly abbreviate life, it is still lawful, since the higher goods of the mind and of virtue may always be secured at such reasonable sacrifice of corporal goods (see 1164 sqq., 1561 sqq.).
2468. Austerity.—The two chief forms of austerity in food and drink are fasting and abstinence.
(a) Nature.—The natural fast is the omission of all eating and drinking, or the omission to receive into the stomach anything whatever that has the nature of food, drink or medicine. The moral fast is the omission to take a certain quantity of food that could be taken without intemperance. Abstinence is the omission to take a certain quality of food, such as meat or eggs.
(b) Kinds.—Fast and abstinence are in respect to duration either perpetual (e.g., the abstinence from meat of the Carthusians) or temporary (e.g., the abstinence for Fridays and other appointed days of the faithful generally); either voluntary (e.g., a fast which one assumes under private vow) or obligatory (e.g., the fasts and abstinences prescribed in the general or particular laws of the Church). The ecclesiastical fast and abstinence will be spoken of later when we treat of the precepts of the Church and Holy Communion.
2469. The Excellence of Fasting and Abstinence.—(a) Lawfulness.—Fasting and abstinence are acts of virtue, for they subdue the unruly flesh, fit the mind for divine contemplation (Dan, x. 3 sqq.), satisfy for sins (Joel, ii. 12), and add weight to prayers (Tob., xii. 8; Judith, iv. 11; Matt., xvii. 20). The greatest men of the Old and New Testaments practised fasting—Moses, Samson, Elias, John the Baptist, and St. Paul. Our Lord Himself fasted forty days and forty nights (Matt, iv. 2). St. Paul, therefore, numbers fasting with other virtues: “In fastings, in knowledge, in chastity” (II Cor., vi. 5). Examples of abstinence are Daniel avoiding meat (Dan, i. 8 sqq.) and Eleazar who died rather than eat forbidden swine flesh (II Mach., vi. 18 sqq.). Abstention from solid or liquid nourishment is not a virtue, however, if practised from purely indifferent or evil motives, for example, merely in order to recover health through diet, or to train for an athletic contest, or to preserve shape and beauty, or to commit suicide, or to simulate virtue, or to profess false doctrines or if carried to extremes. The forty-day fasts of Moses, Elias and of Our Lord are for our admiration, but very few are able to imitate these examples.
(b) Obligation.—Fasting and abstinence in general are obligatory under natural law, because without them certain necessary ends cannot be obtained. They are remedies for past sins and preservatives against future sins; and, as sin is the common state of man (James, iii. 2; Gal., v. 17), it would be presumptuous to neglect these antidotes. Under the positive law fasting and abstinence have been prescribed in detail, and this was necessary since it is the duty of the Church to determine the time, manner and other circumstances of natural duties of religion which the natural law itself has not determined.
2470. The Sins Opposed to Abstemiousness.—(a) The sin of deficiency in the matter of food is self-starvation. This is the sin of those who are martyrs to fashion, who in order to have a frail figure follow a diet (e.g., denying oneself all substantial food to reduce obesity) that undermines their constitutions and leaves them a prey to disease. It is also the sin of those who from unwise zeal for rigorous fasting deprive themselves of the necessaries of life, or eat what their stomachs rebel against. This sin does not differ from suicide or bodily injury treated above (see 1566 sqq., 1857 sqq.). “It is the same thing to kill yourself by slow degrees as to kill yourself in a moment. And he who kills himself by fasting is like one who offers God a sacrifice from stolen property” (St. Jerome).
(b) The sin of excess in food is gluttony. There is no sin in desiring food or in taking food with satisfaction, for the Author of nature has willed that such an essential act as eating should be pleasurable, and it is a fact that digestion and health suffer when food is taken without appetite or a peaceful frame of mind. But the glutton goes to excess by the inordinate and unreasonable enjoyment he takes in feeding himself.
2471. Ways of Committing Gluttony.—There are many ways of committing gluttony, but they can all be reduced to two heads.
(a) Gluttony in food is excess in the substance, quantity, or quality of the things eaten. The gourmet is extremely fastidious about the substance of his food; he must have the most dainty or costly or rare viands, and nothing else will satisfy him. Cannibalism seems to be lawful in extreme necessity, but it is not lawful to kill human beings in order to eat them. The gorger or gourmand may not be particular about the kind of food that is given him, but he desires a large quantity, more than is good for him. The epicure is too hard to please as to quality; even when there is no festal occasion, he must have a great variety of foods and they must be most carefully prepared, so that he may get the utmost joy of the palate. We should not class among gluttons, however, those who require special foods or special cooking for a good reason, as when health or hard work forces one to observe a strict diet.
(b) Gluttony in eating is excess as to the time or manner of taking food. There is excess about the time when a person is over-eager about the dinner bell, eats before or oftener than he should, or lingers too long at table. There is excess about the manner when a person eats greedily, hurriedly, or selfishly, rushing at his food like a tiger, bolting it like a dog, or depriving others like a pig.
2472. The Sinfulness of Gluttony.—(a) Gluttony is a mortal sin when it is so serious as to turn man away from his end itself, making him prefer his appetite to God. Thus, those sin gravely who are such high livers that they are unable to pay their debts, to the serious detriment of creditors; or who gormandize so much that they can do little work and have to spend most of their time in exercising or taking cures; or whose heavy eating is the occasion of serious sins of anger, impurity, or neglect of religious or other duties. To all these apply the words of St. Paul (Phil., iii. 19): “Whose god is their belly.” To eat until one vomits seems to be a mortal sin, if the vomit is caused by the enormous quantity of food consumed, for such an act seems to be gravely opposed to reason; but there is no grave sin if the vomit is due to the quality of the food or the weakness of the stomach.
(b) Gluttony in itself is a venial sin since it is a disorder about the means, and not a turning away from the end. This happens when one is inordinately fond of gastronomic joys, but is not prepared to sacrifice grave duties for their sakes. Thus, a person who gives too much indulgence to a sweet tooth, or who likes to stuff himself now and then, but who doesn’t disable himself or give scandal by his weakness, sins venially.
2473. Gluttony as a Capital Sin.—(a) The first condition of a capital sin is that it be one of the main sources of evil attraction. This condition is verified of gluttony, for all seek happiness, and gluttony contains one of the ingredients of happiness, namely, pleasure in an unusual degree. Among all sensual delights those of the palate and stomach are admitted to be, along with those of sexual love, the most intense. The first of the three temptations with which Satan assailed Christ was that of gluttony (Matt., iv. 1-4).
(b) The second condition of a capital vice is that it be the final or motive cause of a large crop of sins. This condition is also verified in gluttony, since the greedy man is so in love with his pet vice that in order to pamper it he is ready to suffer various kinds of evils which he should not permit. Evils of soul that are caused by gluttony are: heaviness in the mind, for an overloaded stomach unfits the mind to reflect on higher things or to consider the duty of moderation in rejoicing, in words or in acts (Ecclus., ii. 3); absurd mirth in the will, a feeling of security and gladness and unrestraint, for the glutton thinks only of his present contentment and does not consider the evils of his sin; loquacity in word, for his mental faculties being dulled and his will hilarious the glutton gives free rein to his tongue, often sinning by detraction, betrayal of secrets, contumely, and blasphemy (Prov., X. 19); levity in act, for the glutton wishes to give vent to his animal spirits, and he does so by unbecoming jokes and clownishness. Evils of body due to gluttony are dirtiness and disease: the glutton is often filthy in his manner of eating, his breath is fetid, he is much occupied with natural necessities, excretion and exgurgitation, and he suffers from gout or indigestion or one of the numerous other maladies that are the price of overindulgence.
2474. Sobriety.—Sobriety in its strictest sense is a virtue that keeps one to the moderation of temperance in the liking for intoxicating liquors and in their use.
(a) Thus, sobriety is concerned with intoxicants, that is, with substances that produce a poisonous effect upon the nerves and brain. It is, therefore, a different virtue from abstemiousness, since it has to subdue a vice far more alluring and deleterious than gluttony. Alcohol has the same effect as a narcotic drug, for it benumbs both mind and body, sometimes to the point of insensibility, so that those who are under its influence are unable to think, speak or regulate their movements properly; but it gives a feeling of exhilaration and elevation and leaves behind it an insatiable craving, so that those who have once taken too much are very likely to repeat the act. Habitual intoxication breaks down both morals and health, and the toper goes to a disgraceful and early grave.
(b) Sobriety is concerned with liquors, that is, with beverages and medicines. But secondarily it also controls the appetite for narcotics, such as opium, chloroform, tobacco, and the desire to inhale strong liquors or vapors or gases which may produce intoxication.
2475. Obligation to Practise Sobriety.—Sobriety should be cultivated by all, but certain ones are more bound to it than others.
(a) Thus, on account of the greater physical evils of insobriety in their regard, the virtue should be especially cultivated by the young, the old, women, and persons of sedentary life. Young people are greatly harmed by too much alcohol, because it stunts their growth and affects them more seriously in mind and body than adults. The old have not the strength to throw off the poison of too much stimulation and are accordingly more injured. Women, being more excitable than men, are more easily affected by strong drink, and hence among the ancient Romans females abstained from wine. Finally, those who lead a sedentary or indoor life do not so easily get the poison out of their systems, and they feel the evil effects more than those who live out of doors or who engage in manual work. But there is no constitution, however iron it may be, that is not conquered in the end by alcoholism.
(b) On account of the greater spiritual ills that result from their insobriety, the virtue of soberness is more imperative in certain individuals. Thus, there are some who do greater spiritual harm to themselves by intoxication, for example, the young, whose passions are more easily inflamed, and females, who are more readily taken advantage of; and hence St. Paul recommends sobriety to women and young men particularly (I Tim., iii. 11; Tit., ii. 6). There are also some who do greater harm to others by intoxication, such as those who should instruct others (Tit., ii. 2), or who should give good example (I Tim., iii. 2), or who are rulers over the people (Prov., xxxi. 4).
2476. The Sins against Sobriety.—(a) The sin of excess may be called, for want of a special name, over-sobriety. It is committed by those who condemn all liking for or enjoyment of intoxicants as intrinsically evil (e.g., the Manichees, who said that wine was the gall of the devil); also by those who deny to themselves or others intoxicants when the use of them is necessary (e.g., the Encratites, who would allow only water for the Eucharist, or a fanatical teetotaler who would see a man die rather than give him a necessary dose of whisky).
(b) The sin of deficiency against sobriety is drunkenness, which is a voluntary and unjustified loss of the use of reason brought on by the consumption of too much intoxicating liquor. Drunkenness as a sin (active drunkenness), therefore, is to be distinguished from drunkenness as a condition (passive drunkenness). There is active drunkenness or the sin of drunkenness when intoxication is both voluntary and inexcusable; there is passive drunkenness or the mere state of drunkenness when one or the other of these two conditions is lacking. Usually those who sin by drunkenness seek the pleasure or forgetfulness which potations bring, but this is not essential, it seems, to the sin of inebriety; the malice of drunkenness is found not merely in the excessive pleasure, but especially in the subordination of spirit to the flesh and in the damage done to mind and body. Hence, a person who yields to the insistence of a banquet companion that he drink wine which is disgusting to him, is guilty of drunkenness if he takes too much.
2477. Cases of Mere Passive Drunkenness.—(a) Involuntary Drunkenness.—This occurs when there is invincible ignorance of fact (e.g., when an adult becomes intoxicated in good faith, because he had no reason to suspect that a cocktail or eggnog was very strong, or that his stomach was very weak), or of law (e.g., when a child gets drunk because he does not know that it is wrong to do so), or when there is lack of intention (e.g., when drink is forced on a person who does not want it).
(b) Excusable Drunkenness.—This occurs according to most theologians when there is a proportionately grave reason which justifies the evil of intoxication (see 103 sqq.). Such grave reasons are the saving of life (e.g., to escape death from snake bite), the cure of serious disease (e.g., cholera or influenza), the avoidance or mitigation of severe suffering (e.g., before a surgical operation, or after a very painful accident, or when there is no other means of helping a grave case of insomnia). In all these cases it is generally admitted that one may bring on unconsciousness by the use of anesthetics and sedatives (such as chloroform, ether, morphine, opium); and there is no reason why we should not view intoxicants also in the light of remedies which may be taken on the advice of physicians or other competent persons if other remedies cannot be had. Some theologians, however, refuse to excuse intoxication for any reason, since they regard drunkenness as intrinsically evil. In addition to the excuses just mentioned some also give that of escape from violent death, as when a burglar threatens to kill unless those present make themselves helpless by intoxication. But all agree that intoxication is not excused by ordinary advantages, such as escape from slight physical pain (e.g., toothache, seasickness), nor by the desire to avoid what can be avoided by other and more suitable means (e.g., worry about one’s troubles, an unpleasant meeting or conversation).
2478. The Morality of Total Abstinence.—(a) Obligation.—_Per se_, there is no obligation of abstaining from every or any kind of intoxicating beverage, either perpetually or temporarily, for food and drink were intended by God for the use of man and the moderate use of intoxicants, especially when the percentage of alcohol is light, is found by many to be a help to digestion, a refreshing stimulant, an excellent tonic and remedy. The example of Our Lord, who changed water into wine, who partook of wine at banquets, and who made wine one of the elements of the most sacred of rites, is proof that it is not sinful to drink strong liquors. This is also clearly taught in the Bible, which praises moderate drinking of wine (Ecclus., xxxi 36), recommends that a little be taken for a weak stomach (I Tim., v. 23), and declares that it is not what enters the mouth that defiles (Matt., xv. 2).
But, _per accidens_, there is an obligation of total abstinence when a greater good requires that one sacrifice intoxicants, whether the good be of self (e.g., when intoxicants are a serious danger to one’s health or morals, or when one is bound by vow or pledge to abstain from them) or of another (e.g., when the use of intoxicants gives serious scandal, Rom., xiv. 21). If the common safety is seriously imperilled through drunkenness, and obligatory abstinence can be enforced and will be the most reasonable method of correcting the evil, we can see no objection to prohibition laws. But whether these conditions exist in this or that particular place or case is a question of fact and has to be decided by impartial study.
(b) Lawfulness.—_Per se_, it is also permissible to abstain freely from all intoxicants, for the sake of some higher good (e.g., in order the better to apply the mind to studies, Ecclus., ii. 3), to silence calumnious tongues, to practise mortification, or to give good example. But, _per accidens_, it is not lawful to abstain when law (e.g., in the celebration of Mass) or necessity (e.g., a man dying from influenza who cannot be saved without whiskey) requires one to drink spirits. Examples of total abstinence are the Nazarites (Num., vi. 3), Samson (Judges, xiii. 7), Judith (Jud., xii. 2, 19), and John the Baptist (Luke, i. 15).
2479. Degrees of the Sin of Drunkenness.—(a) The sin of perfect or complete drunkenness is a voluntary excess in intoxicants carried so far that one loses temporarily the use of reason. This does not mean that one must become insensible or fall in a stupor or be unable to walk or have delirium tremens (dead drunk), but only that one loses the mental power to direct oneself morally, even though one still retains enough judgment to direct oneself physically (e.g., to cross the street or ascend the stairs safely, or to find one’s own quarters without help). The indications of perfect drunkenness are that the intoxicated person no longer distinguishes between right and wrong, perpetrates evils he would abhor in his right senses (e.g., beats his wife, runs down a pedestrian, blasphemes, or provokes quarrels), and cannot remember on sobering up the chief things he said or did while drunk.
(b) The sin of imperfect or incomplete drunkenness is a voluntary excess in intoxicants carried so far that one is somewhat confused in mind, but does not lose the use of reason. Hence, a person who is physically impeded though not mentally incapable on account of drink, who staggers, speaks incoherently, or sees uncertainly, but who knows that he should not beat his wife, or kill, or blaspheme, or quarrel, etc., is imperfectly drunk. There are also circumstances that aggravate the evil of perfect or imperfect drunkenness. Thus, it is worse to be a toper or habitual drunkard than to be an occasional drunkard, and worse to go on a long spree than to be drunk only for an evening.
2480. Malice of the Sin of Drunkenness.—(a) Perfect drunkenness is a mortal sin, because it is a grave disorder to deprive oneself of moral judgment and thus expose oneself to the danger of perpetrating serious crimes and injuries. Moreover, it is a monstrous thing to despoil oneself unnecessarily of reason, the greatest natural good of man, and to make oneself for the time being a maniac, more like a beast than a human being. St. Paul declares that those who would put on Christ must put away drunkenness with other works of darkness (Rom., xiii. 13), and that drunkards shall not inherit the kingdom of God (Gal, v. 21). The opinion that perfect drunkenness is only venial if not habitual is now obsolete, and the opinion that perfect drunkenness is not mortal unless it lasts a considerable time (say, more than an hour) is commonly rejected; for the essential malice of drunkenness depends on its nature, not on its frequency or duration. A person who takes enough to make himself completely drunk and then escapes the consequences by artificial means (e.g., by using a drug or bringing on a vomit), does not sin mortally by drunkenness; but it seems that such a swinish person must sin mortally by reason of gluttony, injury to health, or scandal.
(b) Imperfect drunkenness is a venial sin, because the harm done is not considerable, for a tipsy man usually suffers nothing more than a slightly fuddled brain and some unsteadiness of body. Indeed, if wine or beer produces nothing more than a spirit of moderate hilarity and talkativeness, there is no sin.
Accidentally, imperfect drunkenness may be a mortal sin by reason of circumstances, as when the person who is intoxicated gives great scandal on account of his position or office, or when the motive is to inflame passion or to commit other serious sin, or when the drunkenness is constantly repeated, or when the drunkard seriously neglects his business, family, or religious duties, or does other grave harm in consequence of his love of the bottle. In fact, there may be grave sin when one is not intoxicated at all, but is only a tippler. For the habit of drinking alcoholic beverages frequently (e.g., a nip or dram of whisky several times a day) is, according to medical authority, more harmful to the system (alcoholism) than intoxication at long intervals, especially if the portion is generous and the drinker is young.
2481. Drunkenness Compared with Other Sins.—(a) It is not the worst of sins. Sins against the theological virtues are more wicked, since they offend against divine good, whereas drunkenness is against human good. Many sins against the moral virtues are worse, since they injure a greater human good; for example, it is more harmful to take away life than to suspend the use of reason.
(b) It is one of the most ruinous of sins in its consequences (see 2472, 2473): first, for society, since a large percentage of crime, insanity, destitution, and misery is due to intemperance; secondly, to religion, since indulgence in one sensual pleasure sharpens the appetite for others, while creating a distaste for spiritual things, for effort and self-sacrifice; thirdly, to the intellect, for strong drink steals away the mind and memory; fourthly, to the body, for drunkenness not only prostrates the nervous system at the moment and has most painful after-effects in bursting headaches and disabled stomach, but it also causes permanent disasters (to brain, heart, nerves, kidneys, and liver), weakens the resistance to disease and brings on an early death; fifthly, to goods of fortune, since drunkards squander their all for drink; sixthly, to posterity, since intemperate parents transmit constitutional weakness to their children.
2482. Responsibility of Drunkard for Sins Committed While Intoxicated.—(a) If the drunkenness is fully voluntary and culpable, he is responsible for all the sins he foresaw or should have foreseen; for then these sins are willed in their cause (see 94 sqq.). Hence one who is accustomed while under the influence of liquor to blaspheme, betray secrets, quarrel, etc., should confess that he committed them while drunk, or that he was prepared to commit them in getting drunk. Under similar conditions one who misses Mass because he was drunk is responsible for the omission; one who is too drunk to attend to a business appointment and thereby causes loss to another is held to restitution. But, if grave sins are foreseen only in a very confused way, generally they will be imputable only as venial in themselves.
(b) If the drunkenness is fully voluntary and culpable, but the sins that ensued were not foreseen and could not humanly have been foreseen, the drunkard is excused at least in part from the guilt of these sins. Hence, a person who gets drunk for the first time or who usually sleeps after getting drunk is not responsible for the bad language he uses, if the thought of profanity was farthest from his mind when he became drunk. But if this person was not completely drunk and had some realization of the malice and scandal of bad language, he is at least venially guilty of profanity and scandal.
(c) If the drunkenness was involuntary, the drunken person is excused entirely in case of complete drunkenness; he is excused partially in case of incomplete drunkenness that did not exclude some realization of the sinfulness of what he said or did while intoxicated (see Canon 2201, Sec.3). In the civil law drunkenness is not held to be an excuse for a criminal act, but it may negative a specific intent (Robinson, _Elements of Law_, Sec.Sec.471, 525, 531).
2483. Material Cooperation in the Sin of Drunkenness—(a) If there is no grave reason for the cooperation, it is illicit. Mere hospitality is not a sufficient reason for furnishing a table with a great supply of strong drinks when some of the guests are dipsomaniacs, and mere good fellowship does not justify one who has been treated to order another round of treats if some of the drinkers are already inebriated. Parents or others in authority who get drunk before their subjects are guilty of scandal; those who encourage drunkenness are guilty of seduction; those who supply others with drink in order that these may become drunkards are guilty of formal cooperation.
(b) If there is a grave reason for cooperation, it is not illicit (1515 sqq., 1538 sqq.). Whether it is lawful to persuade another to get sinfully drunk in order to keep him from the commission of a greater evil (e.g., homicide or sacrilege), is a disputed question (see 1502).
2484. Is it lawful to make another person drunk when he will be guiltless of sin, and there is a grave reason?
(a) According to one opinion this is not lawful, because drunkenness, like impurity, is intrinsically evil and never permissible, since the end does not justify the means. Hence, just as it would be wrong to induce a drunken person to impurity, so it would also be wrong to intoxicate a child or an insane person (see 306).
(b) According to the common opinion, it is lawful to intoxicate oneself for a grave reason (see 2477 b), and hence also it is lawful to intoxicate another for a similar reason. Thus, if a criminal were about to blow up a building and destroy many lives, it would be permissible or even obligatory to put powerful intoxicants into his drink so as to make him helpless. If one were about to be roasted by cannibals and could escape by making the cannibals drunk, it would not be sinful to make them drunk.
2485. Licit Use of Narcotics.—There are a great many substances that produce the same effects on mind and body as intoxicating liquors, namely, the narcotic poisons, such as morphine, opium, chloroform, ether, or laughing gas. To them then will apply the principles given above in reference to strong drink. Thus, it would be a serious sin to make oneself insensible by using morphine, if there were no just reason; but it is lawful to take ether for an operation, gas when having a tooth pulled, morphine when it is ordered by a physician to relieve pain, etc. In his address of Feb. 24, 1957 to a symposium of the Italian Society of Anaesthesiology (_The Pope Speaks_, Summer, 1957, pp. 33 ff.) Pope Pius XII considered some special aspects of the use of drugs in the practice of analgesis. Among the questions submitted to him for consideration were the following:
1) Is there a general moral obligation to refuse analgesis and to accept physical pain in a spirit of faith? After indicating that in certain cases the acceptance of physical suffering is a matter of serious obligation, the Pope responded that there was no conflict with the spirit of faith to avoid pain by the use of narcotics. Pain can and does prevent the achievement of higher goods and interests and may licitly be avoided; obviously, too, the pain may be willingly accepted in fulfillment of the Christian duty of renunciation and of interior purification.
2) Is it lawful for the dying or the sick who are in danger of death to make use of narcotics when there are medical reasons for their use? The Pope responded; “Yes—provided that no other means exist, and if, in the given circumstances, that action does not prevent the carrying out of other moral and religious duties.” The duties referred to include settling important business, making a will, or going to confession. (Should a dying man refuse first to attend to these duties and persist in asking for narcotics, the doctor can administer the drugs without rendering himself guilty of formal co-operation in the fault committed, which results, not from the narcotics but from the immoral will of the patient.) Among the conditions and circumstances laid down for the licit use of narcotics in the case in question are the following: “if the dying person has received the last Sacraments, if medical reasons clearly suggest the use of anaesthesia, if in delivering the dose the permitted amount is not exceeded, if the intensity and duration of the treatment is carefully reckoned, and finally, if the patient consents to it, then there is no objection, the use of anaesthesia is morally permissible.”
3) Can narcotics be used even if the lessening of pain probably be accompanied by a shortening of life? The Pope responded that “every form of direct euthanasia, that is, the administration of a narcotic in order to produce or hasten death, is unlawful because in that case one presumes to dispose directly of life ... If between the narcotics and the shortening of life there exists no direct causal link, imposed either by the intention of the interested parties or by the nature of things (as would be the case if the suppression of the pain could be attained only by the shortening of life), and if, on the contrary, the administration of narcotics produces two distinct effects, one, the relief of pain and the other the shortening of life, then the action is lawful. However it must be determined whether there is a reasonable proportion between these two effects and whether the advantages of the one effect compensate for the disadvantages of the other. It is important also to ask oneself whether the present state of science does not make it possible for the same result to be obtained by other means. Finally, in the use of the narcotics, one should not go beyond the limits which are actually necessary.”
2486. The Virtue of Purity.—As abstemiousness and sobriety preside over the pleasures of the self-preservative instinct, so purity governs those that pertain to the species-preservative instinct. Purity is an inclusive name for the virtues of chastity and decency or pudicity, and its office is to regulate proximately the internal movements of the soul (thoughts and desires) and remotely the external words and acts that have to do with sexual delights.
(a) Chastity in its strictest sense is a virtue that moderates or chastens through reason venereal pleasure, chiefly as to its principal or consummated act (i.e., intercourse, semination) or as to its principal bodily centers (i.e., the genital organs). Hence, there is a twofold chastity, conjugal and celibate: conjugal chastity abstains from unnatural pleasure, and uses the natural reasonably in marriage; celibate chastity abstains from all venereal pleasure, as being unlawful in the single state.
(b) Decency (_pudicitia_) in its strictest sense is a virtue that moderates by the sense of shame venereal pleasure chiefly in its secondary or non-consummated external acts (e.g., looks, conversations, touches, embraces, kisses), which are related to the principal act as being an enticement to it, its preparation, or its external sign and accompaniment. The conjugal act, though lawful, occasions a feeling of shame, and the same is true of the non-consummated acts; but decency is especially concerned with these latter, because they are usually more openly performed than the consummated act. Decency means, then, that manifestations of carnal desire should be conducted with a sense that this desire arises from a lower and rebellious passion, removed in itself farthest from reason, and not more suited for unrestrained expression or public exhibition than other lower animal acts. The sense of shame and decency is a protection to the virtue of the unmarried and the married, restraining the former from the unlawful and holding the latter to moderation in the use of the lawful.
2487. Chastity and decency are not separate virtues; rather decency is a circumstance of chastity. (a) Thus, chastity moderates also the secondary acts, for reason must chastise the pleasure that is taken in these acts, if this passion is to be kept in due bounds, (b) Decency moderates also the primary act, for in the use of marriage there should be nothing unworthy, nothing to bring a blush of confusion.
2488. Virginity.—The highest form of chastity is virginity, which is a purity unblemished that retains the bloom of its original innocence. Conjugal chastity uses venereal pleasures moderately and virtuously; virginity abstains from them entirely and virtuously. Virginity is threefold.
(a) Virginity of body is freedom from corruption in the genitals, which means that a male has never had sexual intercourse, that the hymen of a female is inviolate. This physical purity belongs to the virtue of virginity accidentally, seeing that it is the result or indication of the virtue; but it does not belong to the virtue essentially, since virtue is in the soul, not in the body. Hence, one may be virginal in body without the virtue of virginity (e.g., a new-born infant), or vice versa (e.g., a woman vowed to virginity who has been raped).
(b) Virginity of the lower part of the soul (the passions) is freedom from venereal pleasure voluntarily experienced. Primarily, this refers to pleasure in consummated acts, secondarily to pleasure in non-consummated acts and internal acts of thought and desire. This kind of purity belongs to the virtue of virginity essentially, since sexual pleasures are the material element or subject-matter of virginity, whose office it is to exclude all indulgence of them. Hence, a person who has had even one voluntary experience of these satisfactions, lawful or gravely unlawful, has lost virginity permanently, though the virtue of chastity may remain or may be recovered. For virginity cannot continue when its subject-matter has been removed. It should be noted that involuntary pleasures, as in nocturnal pollution or in rape or in passive spermic discharges, are not detrimental to the virtue of virginity.
(c) Virginity of the higher part of the soul (the mind) is the intention to abstain from every venereal act in the future. This purity of soul also belongs to the virtue of virginity essentially, being its formal element, since acts of the sensitive appetites are made moral and virtuous only from the direction and influence of reason and will. Hence, one who has had no experience of voluntary carnal pleasure, but who intends to marry and use its rights or to act unchastely, has not in the first case the virtue of virginity, or in the second case the virtue of chastity.
2489. Loss of Virginity.—Physical or bodily virginity once lost can never be recovered, for this virginity means that a certain bodily action or passion has not occurred, whereas the loss means that such action or passion has occurred. Of course, a miracle could restore bodily integrity. But a more important question is this: is moral virginity, or the virtue of virginity, also irrecoverable?
(a) If the virtue has been lost as to its chief material element, it cannot be recovered. This material element (i.e., the absence of all voluntary seminal experience) cannot be restored, for even God cannot make what has been experienced a non-actuality. However, it should be noted once for all that loss of virginity does not necessarily imply loss of conjugal chastity, and that lost chastity may be recovered by repentance.
(b) If virginity has been lost as to its formal element, and the intention not to abstain was unlawful and naturally, though not actually, productive of semination (e.g., copulation of a completely aspermatic adult, or internal and intense libidinous sin from which accidentally pollution does not result), it seems that the virtue cannot be recovered. For in these cases the sinner wills, at least indirectly, the loss of the chief material element of virginity, and it seems repugnant to reason to ascribe the glory of virginity to one who has sinned in this way. Non expedit regulariter monere poenitentes de eorum virginitate irreparabiliter amissa, sed praestat quaerentibus respondere omnia peccata remitti de quibus contritio habeatur.
(c) If virginity has been lost as to its formal element and the intention not to abstain was lawful (e.g., a maid not under vow decided to marry and have children, but changed her mind and decided to remain single), or was unlawful but neither naturally nor actually productive of semination (e.g., external unchastity of a child incapable through impuberty of emissions, or internal and only mildly exciting unchastity of an adult), the virtue may be recovered, certainly in the first case and probably also in the second case. For the matter of virginity is certainly not taken away by the mere intention to have lawful venereal pleasure, nor probably even by pleasures that do not tend to semination. Recovery of virginity is made in the one case by the retractation of contrary intention and in the other case by repentance and renewal of good purpose.
2490. Conditions Necessary for the Virtue of Virginity.—(a) As to its manner, it seems more probable that this purpose must be expressed as a vow. The reason for this according to some is that virginity is a special virtue only because of the sacred character which religion gives it, and according to others also because of the unshakable renunciation which is conferred by a vow. But it is also held as probable that unvowed virginity may be called a lesser degree of the special virtue of virginity, At least, it is a higher degree of the virtue of chastity.
(b) As to its motive, virginity must be justified by an extrinsic reason. Chastity is justified by its own end, which is reasonable moderation. Virginity, on the contrary, is not self-justificatory, since in itself it is unfruitful and without advantage. Hence, it is not praiseworthy unless it serves some higher good than that of propagation, such as a good of the mind (e.g., Plato remained single for the sake of philosophy) or of the will (e.g., the New Testament recommends virginity for the sake of greater devotion to the things of God). Virginity that results from mere contempt for sensible pleasure would be an excess, and continence embraced merely to escape the burdens of marriage and to lead an easy, self-indulgent, irresponsible life would be selfishness; but virginity followed from an ideal of self-sacrifice which reason approves observes the golden mean (see Pius XII, _Sacra Virginitas_, March 25, 1954).
2491. The Excellence of Virginity.-(a) Virginity has the highest rank among the various forms of chastity. Every kind of chastity (pre-nuptial, conjugal, vidual) is of great importance, because to this virtue is entrusted the right propagation of the entire race and the moral and physical health of the individual in the most insistent of passions. The material reproduction of the race is indeed a more urgent need than virginity, since without it the human species would die out; and if there were danger of race extinction, it would be more imperative to marry than to remain continent. But if we confine our attention to the ordinary course of things and compare virginity and non-virginal chastity from the viewpoint of nobility, it must be said virginity is more valuable both to the community and to the individual than the other kinds of chastity. It is more valuable to the community, since the example of its excellence is a protection to public morals, and its permanence gives the opportunity for a more general and ready service of society. It is more valuable to the individual, since to be occupied with the things of God is better than to be engrossed in the things of the world, and the unmarried have the opportunity to devote more time with less distraction to higher things. Scripture affirms the superiority of virginity to marriage by its teaching (e.g., Our Lord in Matt., xix. 12, counsels virginity; St. Paul in I Cor., vii. 7 sqq., says that it is the better and more blessed state), by its examples (Our Lord, the Blessed Virgin, St. John the Baptist, St. John the Evangelist, and in the Old Dispensation Josue, Elias, Eliseus, Jeremias), and by its promised rewards (Apoc., xiv. 4). A popular philosophy of materialism today makes repressed sex-urges responsible for hysteria and other emotional disturbances, but experience proves that continence benefits both psychical and physical health.
(b) Virginity does not rank first among all the virtues. The theological virtues surpass it, being its goal; martyrdom and religious obedience are greater, because they sacrifice the superior goods of life and of the will. It may happen, then, that a person in the married state or a penitent (Luke, vii. 36 sqq.) is personally more holy than one dedicated to continence; a married person or penitent may surpass a virgin in faith, hope and charity, and may be therefore, simply speaking, more perfect.
2492. The Sin of Impurity.—This sin, which is also known as lust, is an inordinate desire of sexual pleasure.
(a) Its object is sexual pleasure, that is, the sense of physical enjoyment in the bodily organs or of psychical satisfaction in the lower appetites of the soul derived from acts related to generation. Hence, we should distinguish impurity from sensuality (which is an inordinate attachment to esthetic pleasure or other higher sense-pleasure), from luxury (which is an excessive desire of health and comfort), and from the vice called curiosity (which is an over-fondness for intellectual delights, see 2461). But it should be noted that sensual pleasure easily leads to venereal delight, and that intellectual curiosity about sex matters is dangerous, and hence this sensuality and curiosity may be, and frequently are, a temptation to impurity (see below on Temptations to Impurity).
(b) Impurity is in desire, for the passions in themselves are indifferent (see 121), and they become sinful only when their abuse is consented to by the will.
(c) Impurity is inordinate; that is, it takes pleasure against lhe dictate of reason. This happens when sexual gratifications are indulged by the unmarried, or by the married in unnatural ways. It is a perversion and a sin to cheat the stomach in order to gratify the palate, because God willed that the pleasure of eating should serve the nourishment of the body, or, as the proverb has it, because man does not live to eat, but eats to live. Now, sex pleasure has been ordained by God as an inducement to perform an act which has for its purpose the propagation and education of children, duties that cannot be rightly attended to except in the married state. Hence, those who seek venereal pleasure outside of matrimony, or outside the way intended by nature, act unreasonably, for they sacrifice the end for the means. Instinct guides the animal aright in these matters, but man is a nobler creature and must guide himself by religion and reason.
2493. Kinds of Impurity.—(a) Impurity is consummated when the act is continued to its natural conclusion and complete venereal satisfaction is had. This occurs in semination, which is the termination of the process set up by the impure thought and desire and the realization of its full pleasure. Semination occurs either in the process of coition, or in extracoitional issues known as “pollution.” Equivalent to semination, morally speaking, are other emissions or secretions that accompany complete or almost complete gratification, but in which the fluid is not prolific (e.g., the urethral emissions in boys who have not attained puberty or in eunuchs, the vaginal flow in women, urethral distillations). Consummated impurity is either natural (that is, suitable for reproduction, the end intended by nature), as in fornication or adultery, or unnatural (that is, not suited for reproduction), as in sodomy or pollution.
(b) Impurity is non-consummated when not carried to its natural conclusion of complete satisfaction and semination. There are two classes of the non-consummated sins, namely, the internal (as in thoughts and desires) and the external or lewdness (as in words, looks, kisses). This happens without carnal commotion (e.g., when a frigid old man thinks with mental pleasure only on the wild deeds of his youth), or with carnal commotion, that is, with an excitement and stimulation in the genital organs that prepares the way for semination.
2494. Gravity of the Sin of Impurity.—(a) Impurity is a mortal sin, because it is a disorder that affects a good of the highest importance (viz, the propagation of the race), and brings in its train public and private, moral and physical, evils of the most serious kind. Man has no more right to degrade his body by lust than he has to kill it by suicide, for God is the absolute Lord over the body and He severely forbids impurity of every kind. Those who do the works of the flesh, whether according to nature (e.g., fornicators and adulterers) or against nature (e.g., sodomites) or by unconsummated sin (e.g., the unclean, the impure), shall not obtain the kingdom of God (Gal., v. 19; I Cor., vi. 9 sqq.), nor have any inheritance with Christ (Eph., v. 5).
(b) Impurity is not the worst of sins, because sins against God (e.g., hatred of God, sacrilege) are more heinous than sins against created goods, and sins of malice are more inexcusable than sins of passion or frailty. But carnal sins are peculiarly disgraceful on account of their animality (see 2464 b, 224), and in a Christian they are a kind of profanation, since his body has been given to Christ in Baptism and the other Sacraments (I Cor., vi. 11-19).
(c) Impurity is one of the seven capital vices. The capital sins have a preeminence in evil, as the cardinal virtues have a superiority in good. The preeminence in evil is due, first, to some special attractiveness of a vice that makes it an end for the commission of other sins, which are used as means to it or are incurred for its sake; or, secondly, to a power and influence that is so strong as to hurry those under its sway into various kinds of sin. Now, impurity is a moral disease that ravages every part of the soul, its deadly effects appearing in the reason, the will and external speech; for the more one subjects oneself to the dominion of passion, the less fitted does one become for the higher and nobler things of life; and the more ignoble the inner life, the more vulgar, cheap and degrading will be the conversation.
Hence, the Fathers trace back to impurity the following sins of imprudence in the mind: wrong apprehension, about the end or purpose of life, and precipitancy in deliberation, thoughtlessness in decision, inconstancy in direction, in reference to the means to the end (see 1693 sqq.). They also trace to impurity the following sins in the will: as to the end, voluptuarism (which subordinates all to fleshly pleasure) and hatred of God (which abhors the Supreme Lawgiver who forbids and punishes lust); as to the means, love of the present and horror of the future life (since the carnal man revels in bodily pleasures and dreads the thought of death and judgment). Finally, they trace the following sins of the tongue to the vice of impurity: the subject of the lewd man’s talk is filthy, for out of the heart the mouth speaketh (Matt., xii. 34), the expression itself is foolish, since passion clouds his mind, the origin of his talk is emptiness of mind which shows itself in frivolous words, and his purpose is unsuitable amusement, which leads to farcical or vulgar jokes.
2495. Evil Fruits of Impurity.—In addition to these moral consequences, impurity is also prolific of many other evil fruits.
(a) Thus, for the sinner himself it is like a cruel goad that constantly annoys him and takes away his peace (St. Ambrose), like a sword that kills the nobler instincts (St. Gregory the Great), like a descent from human dignity to a condition below the beasts (St. Eusebius of Caesarea).
(b) For society it is disastrous in many ways, since it propagates dread mental and physical diseases, disrupts the peace of families, brings disgrace and destitution on innocent children, eats away fortunes and leads up to innumerable crimes of injustice and violence.
2496. Is Impurity Ever a Venial Sin?—(a) By reason of the imperfection of the act, impurity is venial when there is no sufficient deliberation or consent. Invincible ignorance in reference to the sixth commandment itself sometimes happens, especially in reference to internal sins of thought, to external sins of pollution if the person is young, and to other external sins when there is some complication of circumstances (e.g., kissing and other intimacy by engaged persons, onanism when married persons are poor or the woman sickly); and more frequently there is invincible ignorance about details of the sixth commandment (e.g., about the precise theological or moral malice of what is known to be sinful).
(b) By reason of the matter, impurity according to the common teaching is always mortal if directly willed, but sometimes venial if only indirectly willed. Impurity is directly willed when one posits an act intending to obtain from it unlawful venereal delectation, or perceives that such delectation is already present and consents to it. No matter how brief this voluntary assent, no matter how slight the commotion of the animal nature, no matter how far from the consummated is the impure act in question, there is always a serious injury done to a great good or at least (exception is made for the case of married persons) the proximate danger of such injury, and hence mortal sin (see 260). That even slight yielding to impurity is a serious peril is the teaching of Scripture (which declares that lust has killed even the strongest, Prov., vii. 26), of the Church (which condemns the opinion that libidinous kisses are not dangerous, see Denzinger, Enchiridion, n. 1140), of theology (which reminds us that by original sin reason has been darkened, the will enfeebled and the passions strengthened), and of experience (which shows that those who expose themselves to passion’s flame will be burnt). A small spark of fire is not trivial in the vicinity of a powder magazine, a minute flaw in a machine is not unimportant if it may bring on disaster, a first step is not safe if it is made on a slippery downward declivity.
(c) Impurity is indirectly willed when deliberately and without sufficient reason one posits an act which is not venereal pleasure (whether the act be good, such as a prayer made with great sensible fervor, or bad, such as gluttony, or indifferent, such as reading a book, looking at a picture, taking a bath), but which produces foreseen venereal pleasure (consummated or non-consummated) that one neither intends nor directly consents to. Impurity thus indirectly willed is sinful, because the pleasure is foreseen and permitted without sufficient reason (see 102), or in other words because one exposes oneself to danger of internal defilement (consent), or external pollution without justification (see 260). Indirect impurity is mortal when there is proximate danger of grave sin in the act done, that is, when the posited act _per se_ or from its nature strongly incites the agent to sexual passion, as when one gazes long and fixedly at obscene pictures, knowing that always or nearly always this arouses impure emotions. The sin is venial when there is only remote danger of grave sin. This happens when the posited act is not of a venereal kind (an unnecessary conversation on indifferent topics) or is only mildly exciting (e.g., a passing glance at an obscene object), or when the agent himself is not greatly affected by it (e.g., when an old man, or one who is of very cold disposition, or an artist whose only thought is the esthetic excellence, carefully studies a picture of the nude).
2497. Temptations to Impurity.—Before treating the various kinds of impurity, we shall speak briefly of temptations that occasion this sin and of the duties of the person tempted.
(a) External temptation comes from the devil or the world, and the duty of struggling against it has been treated elsewhere (see 252, 1455 sqq., 1495 sqq.). Thus, he who finds that certain persons, places or things are for him a temptation to impurity must be guided by the principles given for occasions of sin (263 sqq.); he who finds that another wishes to seduce him into impurity must refuse all internal consent (see 254 sqq.), and must also resist violence when there is hope of success, or when this is necessary to avoid giving scandal or yielding consent (see on self-defense, 1841).
(b) Internal temptation comes from the flesh. It consists in inchoative disturbances or excitements of the organs or fluids that serve generation (e.g., erections, clitoral movements). Sometimes it is produced involuntarily, without any intention or consent of the will, by physiological states (e.g., conditions of the blood, nerves, etc., due solely to the weather, to disease, to aphrodisiac properties of ailment, to clothing, or position) or by psychical states (e.g., spontaneous images or appetites of the soul mentioned in 129), and in these cases the temptation is manifestly free from all sin. St. Pius V condemned the teaching of Baius that those who suffer motions of concupiscence against their will are transgressors of the command: “Thou shalt not covet” (see Denziger, Enchiridion, nn. 1050, 1051, 1075). Sometimes the temptation is directly voluntary, as when the passion is deliberately awakened for the purpose of sin, and then there is grave guilt (see 2496 b). Sometimes the temptation is indirectly voluntary, as when with the foresight of the passion but without desire of it an action is performed that arouses it. In this last case, if there is a just reason for the excitatory action (e.g., a physician sees and hears things that are calculated to be a temptation, but his reason is the exercise of his profession), no sin is committed; but if there is no just reason for the action (e.g., a person reads an erotic book, and curiosity is his only motive), sin is committed, and its gravity depends on the amount of danger to which one exposes oneself (see 2496 c).
2498. Resistance to Internal Temptations.—The fight against internal temptations is of various kinds.
(a) By reason of its subject, the conflict is chiefly in the will, to which it belongs to give or withhold consent; secondarily, in the other powers of the soul and the body, which under command from the will perform acts designed to overcome temptation.
(b) By reason of its manner, the conflict is either removal of the temptation (i.e., cessation from an act which produces the temptation) or resistance, passive or active. Passive resistance is the suspension of activity relative to the temptation till it ends of itself, as when internally the will neither consents nor dissents, or externally nothing is done for or against the temptation. Active resistance is positive opposition offered to temptation. It is made in two ways: first, by way of flight, as when internally the mind turns away to other thoughts (e.g., absorbing studies, meditation on the passion of Christ), or the will devotes itself to other subjects of resolve (e.g., acts of love of God or of purity), or externally the body is removed or freed from conditions that excite temptation; secondly, by way of attack, as when internally the mind turns against the temptation (e.g., thinking of its dangers, calling on God to drive it away), or the will rejects the temptation (e.g., by despising it, by expressing dislike, disapproval and unwillingness, by firmly resolving not to yield, by deciding on measures against the passion), or when externally the body is subjected to pain or mortification.
(c) By reason of its circumstances, resistance to temptation is either prolonged, as when the act by which the will resists is of considerable duration or is renewed at frequent intervals, or is brief, as when the act of rejection is momentary and is not repeated.
2499. What Opposition to Temptation Is Sufficient?—Opposition to temptations of the flesh must be sufficient to remove the temptation, when the temptation is due to the continuance of one’s own sinful or unjustified act; for one is obliged to cease from sin or the unreasonable. This happens (a) when the temptation is directly voluntary—for example, one who wished to experience temptation and therefore reads a very seductive book must give over this reading; or (b) when the temptation is not directly voluntary and is without sufficient reason—for example, one who experiences carnal temptation due to a book which he reads from idle curiosity must desist from the book. But one is not bound to omit or interrupt necessary or useful acts, such as rest and sleep, prayer and charity; consent should be denied the evil, but the good should be continued.
2500. Insufficient, Harmful and Unnecessary Opposition.—In other cases opposition to temptations of the flesh must be such as is sufficient to keep one from consent, that is, to protect one against the proximate danger of sin.
(a) Hence, that resistance is insufficient which does not strengthen the will. It seems that passive will-resistance is of this kind, since it is most difficult for the will to remain inactive in the presence of carnal stimulation or motions of the sensible appetites without being moved by the evil suggestion. In external resistance, however, passive opposition suffices when it alone is feasible, as when temptation grows out of necessary work, or rest that cannot be discontinued or interrupted by active resistance, provided the will registers internally its displeasure or disapproval; but external passivity is not permissible when the will needs the help of external resistance, as in the case of vehement and prolonged temptations.
(b) That resistance is harmful which strengthens the temptation. Hence, resistance by direct attack or by formal rejection is oftentimes to be omitted in favor of resistance by flight or by contempt; for it is a common teaching of the Fathers and Doctors confirmed by experience that dwelling on reasons and means of repelling passion often adds to its strength, and that resolving mightily and expressly to crush a weak and passing temptation often serves only to give it a longer life. It is better to brush a mosquito away than to risk one’s neck by chasing it up and down stairs.
(c) That resistance is unnecessary which demands a physical or moral impossibility. Thus, a prolonged act of resistance or one repeated at intervals of a few minutes, or a resistance that includes extreme corporal austerities, is not required in ordinary cases at least. When a temptation is unusually vehement or is due to one’s own fault, there should be proportionately greater resistance to offset the greater danger; but when a temptation is only moderately dangerous, it suffices to reject it firmly but briefly and to repeat this when there arises a new crisis or danger and the renewal of resistance is useful.
2501. Weapons against Carnal Temptations.—The most powerful weapons against carnal temptations are spiritual ones, and of these the most necessary is grace, which should be asked in prayer (Wis., viii. 21), especially through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary (see Pius XII, _Sacra Virginitas_, March 25, 1954). But corporal means, chiefly of a preventive kind, should not be neglected.
(a) Physical measures are the observance of what are now often spoken of as sex hygiene for normal and sex therapeutics for abnormal cases. Special health rules whose observance conduces to good morals are especially the cultivation of habits of bodily cleanliness, of hard mental and physical work, of vigorous exercise and the avoidance of unhealthful habits (such as constipation, drug or spirit stimulation), unsuitable clothing or sleeping conditions. Surgical or medical treatment for structural abnormalities or for mental or bodily diseases that react unfavorably on sex life requires the service of a conscientious and competent physician.
(b) Religious measures are various forms of corporal mortification, such as custody of the eyes and other senses, deprivation in food (fasting and abstinence) and sleep (vigils, night watches), afflictive penances through the use of hairshirts, painful girdles, scourges or disciplines. But austerities must be suited to the health, age, condition, duties and other circumstances of the person who practises them, and should not be used without the consent of one’s confessor or spiritual director.
2502. Sinfulness of Negligence in Resisting Temptations.—It is sinful not to struggle against temptation, since he who in no way resists, not even passively, surrenders or yields to sin. Hence, the Church condemned the quietistic indifference to temptation of Molinos (Denzinger, nn. 1237, 1257, 1267). It is also sinful to resist, but only insufficiently, as regards promptness, vigor, manner, etc.
(a) The Theological Malice.—It is mortally or venially sinful to be negligent against temptation, according to the greatness or smallness of the danger to which the negligence exposes one (see 256-262). Thus, it is not a serious sin to omit all resistance to a weak and dying temptation, or to neglect from indolence or other venial fault all external resistance when the danger is made remote by the internal displeasure or resolution; but it is a serious sin to trifle with any very attractive temptation or to put off resistance until a progressing temptation has grown formidable and made self-control difficult, and this is true even though consent is not finally given to the impure suggestion.
(b) The Moral Malice.—Negligences in reference to carnal temptations do not differ specifically but only in degree, according to the approach the stimuli make towards complete lust. Even when there is an object (e.g., fornication, adultery) before the mind, the difference in species of the object, it seems, does not induce a difference in species of the sin, since the sin is the general one of carelessness in presence of temptation. Hence, it suffices to confess that one has been remiss in banishing impure emotions or thoughts.
2503. Applications.—(a) The principles here given in reference to emotions of the sensible appetite and rebellions of the flesh should be applied to other involuntary acts in the imagination, reason and will (see 129). Thus, thoughts or images of impure scenes that pass through the mind should be treated in the same way as temptations of the flesh.
(b) The principles here given about the person who suffers temptation should also be applied to the person who causes temptation. Since it is a mortal sin to commit impurity, it is also a mortal sin to solicit impurity; since it is a mortal sin of lust to make oneself drunk in order to experience carnal emotions, it is also a mortal sin of lust to make another person drunk that he may become likewise inflamed; since it is a mortal sin to expose oneself to extreme danger by reading a pornographic work, it is also a mortal sin to wish to expose another to a like danger. And this is true even though the temptation is unsuccessful. Physicians who minimize the wrong of masturbation, or who counsel fornication to young men on the absurd plea that continence is unhealthy or productive of impotency, share in the guilt of pollution or fornication which they counsel; and young persons who seek to win the sinful love of others by nourishing their hair, painting their faces, exposing their bodies, etc., have the guilt, if not the gain, of seduction.