Abaelard Flashcards
A: Morals according to Abaelard?
B: What is a vice?
A:
Morals are vices or virtues of the mind disposing us to evil or good.
B:
A vice is a disposition to desire what is forbidden.
Give three examples of virtues that ARE morally SIGNIFICANT, according to Abaelard.
- Justice
- Constancy
- Temperance
Give three examples of vices that ARE morally SIGNIFICANT, according to Abaelard.
- Injustice
- Sloth
- Intemperance
Give three examples of virtues that are NOT morally SIGNIFICANT, according to Abaelard.
- Quickness in thinking
- Good memory
- Learning
Give three examples of vices that are NOT morally SIGNIFICANT, according to Abaelard.
- Slowness in thinking
- Forgetfulness
- Ignorance
What is a necessary and sufficient condition for sin?
Contempt for God.
By consenting to act in a way that is forbidden we show contempt for God. Thus we sin.
What is a necessary and sufficient condition for sin?
Contempt for God.
By consenting to act in a way that is forbidden we show contempt for God. Thus we sin.
What is Abaelard’s general definition of sin, and what are the three key points for sin?
To sin is to do something that we know we shouldn’t and refuse to do what we know we should.
- Show contempt for God.
- Disobey the (10) divine commands.
- Not do what we believe God wishes us to.
What is a requirement of Sin, according to Abaelard?
To sin one must have beliefs about God’s commands.
According to Abaelard, are we sinning if we have a bad desire (or will)?
How does this compare to Augustine?
Abaelard: The possession of a bad desire or will is not in itself a sin for we have not consented to it and you can sin without having any kind of bad desire/will.
Augustine: The possession of a bad desire or will is a sin. If we desire/will something, then we want to want it.
Why does Abaelard say that it is not a sin to posses a bad desire or will?
Since one has not consented to the bad desire or will, they are still able to refrain and obey God’s wishes. We sometimes do not want to desire/will something.
According to Abaelard, does the slave sin when he kills the master? Explain.
According to Abaelard, the slave DOES sin.
The slaves intent to preserve his own life is not a sin. But to do so the slave must kill his master - so the master becomes a means to his goal. Since the slave has consented to killing the master to save his own life, the slave has sinned.
However the slave has sinned not because he has bad desires/wills (as Augustine proposes), but because he did not obey what we believe God would have wanted (to refrain from killing the master). Therefore the slave has shown contempt for God, and has thus sinned.
What is Abaelard’s ‘logic of qualified and unqualified desires’? Use example of slave and master.
When X is a means to achieve Y, we may desire X in order to obtain Y but not desire/will X without qualification.
For instance, if killing the master is a means for the slave to avoid death, then the salve will desire/will the killing of his master so he can avoid death. However, the slave would not want to kill his master for no reason.
What is the role of consent in Abaelard’s ethical theory?
The role of consent is the commencing of an act (or intention to act) in a way that is forbidden (in other words, not in the way that God wants us to act), therefore we show contempt for God. Thus we sin.
Consent is a key aspect of sin, since one must consent to an action in order to sin.
In the ‘Chained Monk’ scenario, why does the Monk not sin when he feels pleasure?
Abaelard states that the Monk does does not sin in this scenario because he has not consented to act, instead he is chained there between two naked women. It is only natural that the feeling of their skin against his gives him pleasure, despite not consenting to being there.
How could God create us to find pleasure in certain things that we cannot avoid (e.g. sex or eating), then forbid the pleasure? This is unreasonable, therefore it cannot possibly be a sin.
