Thomas also defines capital vices as “those whose ends have certain primary reasons for moving the appetite” (ST I-II q. The Church’s Tradition lists seven: pride, avarice, envy, wrath, impurity, gluttony and laziness or acedia (cf. There are some vices that are called “capital” because they generate many other sins and vices. We are talking about a terrible and disturbing state. They consist not only of a fall, that is to say, a sinful act in isolation, which could have been caused by a particular circumstance, but of a state of true internal decomposition, which influences customs and affections. We discussed the theme of the habit in the book Virtues: the path of imitation of Christ 1, in which we pointed out that the Latin term habitus indicates dwelling, residence, permanence, and how this predisposes to the realization of acts, both good and bad, as St. Thus sin tends to reproduce and reinforce itself, although it cannot radically destroy the moral sense”. The result is perverse inclinations, which obscure the conscience and corrupt the concrete appreciation of good and evil. “Sin leads to sin it generates vice, by the repetition of the same acts. The third is the evil habit, which is generated by the repetition of the evil act and is called vice. It is not fitting here to list the grave consequences of sin.
When he chooses evil and transgresses the law of God to satisfy his appetites, we are in the presence of a sinful act. In the face of desire, disordered by concupiscent tendency, man has the option to consent or resist it. Augustine is clear in stating that “every sin is so voluntary that not being voluntary is not sin.” Freedom of choice
The key word to understand this point is “consent”.įor there to be sin, the consent is necessary. The second is the evil act, which we well know as sin, a term which means “to get off the path”, “to miss the target. However, we must not forget that it is only a tendency. The concupiscent tendency is universal, that is, it is present in every human being as a legacy of original sin. It makes man want to satisfy his appetites in a disordered way.
The first is what the Church’s Tradition called concupiscence. Secondly, we must make the difference between the tendency to evil, the evil act and the evil habit. To answer this question, two things are fundamental.įirst, we must be clear about moral good and evil, that is, we must be clear about what is good or bad, or what is convenient or not for man to do according to the will of God and, consequently, his holiness and happiness. ).Ī very common doubt that occurs when speaking of vices is their identification. Thomas affirms in the Summa Theologica: “call what you see as lacking in the perfection of nature a vice” (ST I-II q. Man was created for good, and vice is a disposition to evil, so man with vice has a fault or defect in relation to the realization of the end for which he was created according to his nature.įor this reason, St. This “fault” refers to a person’s unavailability in relation to his nature and the end in which he orders himself. The term vice comes from the Latin vitium, meaning “failure” or “defect”. How about changing your life from now on? But what is a vice after all? We will also show you the virtues necessary to combat them.
You will now follow a Special Series about vices.