Thursday, July 08, 2010

1a 2ae q40 a4: Whether despair is contrary to hope? Yes.

Desperatio contrariatur ei solum secundum contrarietatem accessus et recessus, quia importat motum cuiusdam recessus.

Despair is contrary to hope, only by contrariety of approach and withdrawal, because it implies a movement of withdrawal.

Obiectum autem spei, quod est bonum arduum, habet quidem rationem attractivi, prout consideratur cum possibilitate adipiscendi: et sic tendit in ipsum spes, quae importat quendam accessum.

The object of hope, which is the arduous good, has the formal aspect of attraction, if it be considered in the light of something attainable: and thus hope tends thereto, for it denotes a kind of approach.

Sed secundum quod consideratur cum impossibilitate obtinendi, habet rationem repulsivi, quia, ut dicitur in III Ethic., cum ventum fuerit ad aliquid impossibile, tunc homines discedunt.

But insofar as it is considered as unobtainable, it has the formal aspect of repulsion, because, as stated in Ethic. iii, 3, "when men come to an impossibility, they disperse."

Desperatio nominatur per contrarium spei.

The very name of despair [desperatio] implies that it is contrary to hope [spes].