The Sins Against Prudence

The Sins Against Prudence.—There are two classes of sins opposed to prudence. (a) Manifestly opposed to it are those sins that consist in a want of the acts or conditions requisite for prudence. These may be called sins of imprudence or sins that offend prudence by way of non-use. (b) Seemingly allied with prudence are those sins that consist in a wrong application of the acts or conditions of the virtue. These may be called sins of pseudo-prudence, or sins that offend against prudence by way of abuse. We shall speak first of imprudence and then of pseudo-prudence.

1056. 4. Concerning the vices opposed to prudence. From this one is given to understand what the vices opposed to prudence are. Certain ones are directly opposed to this virtue, namely by defect; others indirectly, insofar as they have a false likeness with it.

(A) The vices which are directly opposed to this virtue are called by the common name of imprudence; but because prudence consists in three principal acts, above, n. 1050, three vices likewise are customarily distinguished: precipitation, which omits consultation; inconsideration, which harms judgment; negligence and inconstancy, which are opposed to precept.

(a) Precipitation consists in this, that a man, neglecting the various means of inquiry which are at hand, acts before he considers; wherefore he is borne toward acting, not from the dictate of reason, but from the impulse of prejudice or passion. When precipitation arises from contempt of the directing rule, it is properly called rashness, and is a graver sin.

(b) Inconsideration consists in this, that someone despises or neglects diligently to weigh all those things which are required so that he may bear an equitable judgment; for thus he exposes himself to the danger of judging badly concerning those things which are here and now to be done, and therefore of acting badly.

(c) Negligence is the defect of a prompt will in executing the judgment of reason, or in commanding those things which have been judged necessary or useful. Akin to this vice is inconstancy, which, without sufficient reason, withdraws from a good proposal already elicited: it arises for the most part from the impulse of passions which resist the good proposal, and little by little induce a man to change his counsel, and therefore to leave those things which had already been wisely begun.

In all these things, a grave sin is committed if someone acts in such a way that he contemns divine rules; but if he acts without contempt, and without detriment to those things which are of the necessity of salvation, it is a venial sin.¹

¹ St. Thomas, II-II, q. 53, a. 1.

Praenotamen. Since sin is against conscience, it is also against prudence, because conscience is an act of prudence, as has been said. Hence every sin can deservedly be called folly or imprudence. But nevertheless from this it is not yet licit to conclude that every sin proceeds from imprudence, since several sins proceed from disordered passion, or even from malice. But if now we speak of sins against prudence, we understand those which are directly opposed to the three acts of prudence, namely rightly to deliberate, to judge, and to command. Such vices, however, are opposed to prudence either by defect or by excess.

a) By defect there is opposed to prudence imprudence, which has four species:

634. 1. Precipitation, which, sufficient inquiry and consideration having been neglected, acts too quickly, or which acts before it has considered. Precipitation is opposed to eubulia and makes little of that admonition: "One must deliberate slowly." As the Angelic Doctor rightly notes,³⁵ precipitation in acts of the soul is said metaphorically according to the likeness of bodily precipitation. But bodily someone is precipitated who descends from a high place to a lower one from impulse without right order and often with great danger or bodily damage, e.g. he who is cast down from a high mountain. If someone descends to an external work without sufficient consideration of past, present, and future events, then he proceeds too quickly, which is sinful precipitation. When precipitation arises from contempt of the directing rule, it is called temerity.³⁶

2. Inconsideration, which always follows from precipitation, but which can also be present without previous precipitation, namely when someone brings judgment concerning some action to be done or omitted without sufficient consideration of all circumstances.³⁷ St. Thomas says: "Defect of right judgment pertains to the vice of inconsideration, according as someone ... contemns or neglects to attend to those things from which right judgment proceeds."³⁸ Therefore inconsideration is opposed to synesis and gnome.

3. Inconstancy,³⁹ which imports a certain departure from a defined good purpose.⁴⁰ This inconstancy is accustomed to arise from the appetitive power, but is consummated in reason. As precipitation is from defect concerning the act of counsel, and inconsideration from defect concerning the act of judgment, so inconstancy is concerned with the act of command. - These three vices often arise from lust, because perfect prudence consists in abstraction from sensible things; but venereal delight absorbs the whole soul and draws it to sensible delight; therefore it especially corrupts the estimation of prudence.⁴¹ Hence Aristotle⁴² says: "Venus steals the understanding of one very wise." A sad example of this matter is King Solomon.

4. Negligence, which can be taken in two ways: a) generally for the omission of any due act, and thus it is not opposed to prudence, but to the virtue in whose matter it is concerned, e.g. negligence in restoring is opposed to justice; b) for the defect of required solicitude in the interior act of the intellect for stirring and directing the will in the execution of a good proposed work. Negligence accepted in this second sense is a special sin and is opposed to prudence, but is distinguished from omission, slothfulness, torpor, and inconstancy. For negligence consists in defect of the interior act of reason not commanding what it ought, or in the way in which it ought. But omission pertains to external action. Slothfulness and torpor pertain to execution, yet in such a way that slothfulness imports tardiness for executing, but torpor a certain slackness in the very execution. Finally the inconstant man fails in commanding as if impeded by something, but the negligent man through defect of his own will.⁴³

These four sins are venial from their kind; nevertheless they can become mortal on account of circumstances, e.g. of scandal, or of exposing oneself to the danger of grave sin.

³⁵ S. theol. 1, 2, q. 53, a. 3.

³⁶ Precipitation = acting with undue haste; temerity = rashness. This sense of temerity is to be attended to in some excommunications which are brought against those rashly violating some law.

³⁷ Thoughtlessness, heedlessness.

³⁸ S. theol. 2, 2, q. 53, a. 4.

³⁹ Inconstancy, fickleness.

⁴⁰ Cf. S. theol. 2, 2, q. 53, a. 5.

⁴¹ Cf. ib. a. 6.

⁴² Ethic. 7, c. 6, n. 3.

⁴³ Cf. S. theol. 2, 2, q. 54, a. 2 ad 1-3; Billuart, De prud. diss. 3, a. 1.

635. b) By excess three vices especially are opposed to prudence:⁴⁴

1. Prudence of the flesh, which devises suitable means for living according to the flesh or according to corrupt human nature, or even which has the goods of the flesh as the ultimate end of life. Concerning this prudence of the flesh St. Paul says: "For the prudence of the flesh is death; but the prudence of the spirit is life and peace. Since the wisdom of the flesh is an enemy of God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor can it be. But those who are in the flesh cannot please God."⁴⁵

2. Craftiness,⁴⁶ deceit, and fraud.⁴⁷ Craftiness properly so called is not necessarily concerned with an evil end in itself; nevertheless it sins because it devises depraved means for obtaining the intended end (whether good or evil); it is opposed to Christian simplicity and is often nothing else than a practical and pernicious lie. The crafty man is accustomed to be feared as well as despised. The words of Psalm 3 can be applied to him: "Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they acted deceitfully; the poison of asps is under their lips." Deceit and fraud are the execution of craftiness; deceit universally, whether by deeds or by words, but fraud is done principally by deeds.

3. Excessive solicitude concerning temporal and future things. Solicitude imports a certain zeal for obtaining or preserving something; but it can be illicit in a threefold way concerning temporal and future things: a) if temporal things are sought as an end, by preferring them to spiritual things; b) if excessive zeal is employed for acquiring or preserving them; c) if there is present excessive fear and anxiety lest, by doing what must be done, necessary things fail us. Therefore not all solicitude for temporal things is illicit, but only immoderate solicitude.⁴⁸

The Angelic Doctor shrewdly notes,⁴⁹ just as vices against prudence by defect commonly arise from lust, so vices against prudence by excess often take their origin from avarice.

⁴⁴ The Angelic Doctor (S. theol. 2, 2, q. 53, prolog.) teaches that these vices have a certain false likeness with prudence and that they happen through abuse of those things which are required for prudence.

⁴⁵ Rom. 8, 6-8.

⁴⁶ Cunning.

⁴⁷ Deception; cf. S. theol. 2, 2, q. 55, a. 3, 4, 5.

⁴⁸ Cf. S. theol. 2, 2, q. 55, a. 6.

⁴⁹ Ib. a. 8.

636. Scholion. On the means suited for acquiring prudence. Since prudence is so worthy and excellent a virtue, and so necessary equally for personal spiritual life and for the spiritual direction of others, it is worth the labor to desire it from the whole heart and acquire it by intense labor. But the efficacious means for acquiring prudence are 1. fervent prayer to God, the Father of every light, 2. restraint of disordered passions, and especially of lust. Solomon, most wise, on account of lust fell into most foolish idolatry. 3. Consideration of all events under the aspect of eternity. For if in all acts we have before our eyes that saying: What is this to eternity? we certainly exercise Christian prudence by choosing the more suitable means for attaining our supernatural end.

35. Sins are opposed to prudence by excess or by defect: by defect, those which come from defect of prudence or of those things which are required for prudence, and are called by the general name of imprudence; by excess, those which have some likeness with prudence and occur through abuse of those things which are required for prudence, and therefore are called false prudence.

The higher seat in which a virtue is placed, and the more virtues it presides over, the more frequently is it assailed by the more common vices; wherefore Prudence, which is set over the other virtues for directing them to the mark in the citadel of the mind, is assailed by a very great troop of vices.

But the vices opposed to the virtues standing in the mean are of two kinds: some from defect; others from excess. The vices from defect of prudence, opposed to it, are four: Precipitation, Inconsideration, Inconstancy, Negligence.

The sins by excess opposed to prudence, which indeed bear before themselves a false species of prudence, are six: the Prudence of the flesh, Astuteness, Guile, Fraud, Solicitude for temporal things, Solicitude for things to come: All these are under the genus Imprudence, contrary to right discretion, which belongs to Prudence; of all these we shall inquire briefly.