In his Ethics,
Abelard proposes a new way to understand sin and morality. He does not address morality outside of
religion. Although previous thinkers
such as Augustine had suggested that sin and right action be measured according
to intention and not according to the action itself, it was far from a
generally accepted view in his time.
Abelard’s system of intention is a little more complicated
than Augustine’s, however. While
previous theologians considered sin to be the result of action or intention
alone, Abelard believes it is not only the temptation or desire to do evil, but
also a consent to that desire. He
attempts to support this claim by describing the nature of temptation. For Abelard, the temptation itself cannot
possibly be sin because it is involuntary, and therefore not a possible cause
of guilt. Instead, he considers temptation
to be a defect similar to blindness or lameness- it causes humans to fall below
their potential as followers of God.
Similarly, Abelard rules out the possibility that sin be
defined as certain actions. He argues
that some actions may be sins in some cases, but just actions in other
cases. For instance, while it is a sin
to murder, it is not a sin to execute a murder through process of law.
One
difficulty I had with Abelard was that it seemed that he was advocating a kind
of subjectivism where it is impossible to know for sure if someone else
sinned. No matter how terrible their
actions, it is always possible that they were acting in mistaken belief that
they were serving God, or even acting in ignorance. He does not seem to want to do away with the current system of
repentance, but the selections included in the book do not explain how a priest
was supposed to decide what penance is appropriate for each person.
In general,
I feel that Abelard’s explanation of sin is more accurate and flexible than
some of the lists of forbidden deeds and their corresponding penances used by
the Church at the time, as it takes more extenuating circumstances into
account. However, it is difficult to
see how Abelard planned to implement his understanding in a practical way.
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Posted By: Sarah Magruder
Last
Updated: 12-12-00
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