§ III. On Fear

17. • DEFINITION. Fear is a trepidation of the mind on account of some present or future danger to oneself or to those closely connected.

DIVISION. Fear is commonly divided thus, namely:

1. Grave, or light fear, according as the evil feared is either grave, such as death, mutilation, hard imprisonment, notable detriment to reputation, great loss of goods, etc.; or, on the contrary, light, or a moderate inconvenience, such as the loss of a thing of slight moment, a small detriment to reputation, or even a grave one, but from a slight cause, or one which can easily be averted, etc.

But grave fear is absolutely or relatively so. Fear is called absolutely grave when evils truly grave in themselves are feared; but relatively grave when, although light in itself, it is nevertheless grave with respect to certain persons: thus children, women, the aged, are accustomed to be affected by a greater fear in the same danger than men of mature age.

2. Fear from within, or from without, according as it comes from an intrinsic cause, for example from disease, from infirmity of mind, etc., or from an extrinsic cause, whether free, namely from man, or necessary or natural, as from the elements, contagion, etc.

3. Fear justly or unjustly struck, according as the cause is just, for example that of deserved punishments, which is brought on; or unjust, that is, it is struck by injury.

Reverential fear also must be added, which is had when someone fears lest he have offended his parents or other Superiors. It is referred to just or unjust fear according as its cause is just or unjust. But it can be grave, if there is a prudent fear lest those who strike fear be held offended for a long time or gravely.

18. Principles. - I. An act posited from fear, however grave, is simply and absolutely voluntary and free. The reason is that through fear cognition on the part of the intellect is not taken away, unless the mind is utterly disturbed, nor election on the part of the will, which always enjoys the faculty of determining itself to the opposite. - St. Lig., no. 21. - Hence those have always been held as apostates who, conquered by fear of torments, denied the Faith.

II. Those things which are done from fear, even if they are simply voluntary, nevertheless regularly ¹ are also involuntary in a certain respect: whence also the gravity of fault is lessened. The reason is that when someone is impelled to act by fear alone, he so acts that, fear being absent, he would flee from acting; and therefore a work done from fear alone has joined with it a certain sadness and repugnance of the will, although inefficacious.

¹ It is said regularly; because sorrow for sins which is elicited from fear of divine vengeance excludes every account of true involuntary, or every deliberate affection toward sin.

III. If fear takes away the use of reason, the act, as is clear, can in no way be voluntary. But if it does not indeed take away the use of reason, but notably impedes it, the act will be imperfectly voluntary on account of imperfect cognition of the thing.

IV. Fear light in every respect, at least in the external forum ², is not considered an efficacious cause of acts. For it is presumed that fear of this sort could easily have been contemned, and thus that the man acted entirely of his own accord.

² It is said in the external forum; because it is a mere presumption, since otherwise even light fear can in reality be the cause of acting, so that the act is indeed simply voluntary, yet also involuntary in a certain respect; and although light fear cannot excuse from any grave obligation, nevertheless, if it is unjustly struck, it probably gives the right in the forum of conscience that one not be obliged to a contract entered into from such fear. - St. Alphonsus, book 3, no. 718.

19. You Will Resolve. - 1. Light fear can never excuse from grave sin where the matter of the violated precept is grave.

2. Even grave fear does not excuse of itself from mortal sin, nor make a mortal sin venial, whenever the violation yields to contempt of the Faith or Religion, and generally whenever the law does not cease on account of some grave inconvenience, as will be said below in the Treatise on Laws, no. 108. Moreover, this kind of danger being removed, grave fear excuses from human law; because the legislator is not considered to wish to urge the obligation of the law with so great an inconvenience ³.

³ But when fear exempts a delinquent from censures or other penalties, or when it impedes the value of acts, is disputed in its own places, where Vow, Contracts, Marriage, Censures, etc., are treated.

3. Fear, if it disturbs reason, excuses from mortal sin, as was said above, where concupiscence was treated, no. 15.

4. Fear coming from within or from natural causes does not prevent the act elicited from it from being simply voluntary, and able to be valid: thus a vow made from fear of death in the midst of shipwreck, or in grave sickness, is valid. - Reuter, no. 20. - Billuart, diss. 1, art. 7. - Elbel, no. 48. - See Cases, no. 17 and following.