The Serpent in the Soul: How Desire Becomes the Seed of Sin
By Henry Montgomery

Summary: This article explores the philosophical argument that desire serves as the fundamental cause of sin, examining how the human will navigates or succumbs to these powerful urges, drawing insights from the Great Books of the Western World. We will delve into how unbridled longing, when unchecked by reason or moral imperative, leads to transgression and moral failing.

Introduction: The Unseen Architect of Our Downfall

From the earliest narratives of human fallibility to the most profound philosophical treatises on ethics, there exists a persistent and compelling argument: that desire, in its myriad forms, lies at the very heart of sin. It is a notion that implicates not merely fleeting temptation, but the deep-seated inclinations of the human spirit. How can something so intrinsic to life—the longing for beauty, knowledge, connection—also be the wellspring of our gravest moral errors? This is not merely a theological question but a profound philosophical inquiry into human nature, agency, and the intricate dance between our appetites and our moral compass. As we turn the pages of the Great Books of the Western World, a chorus of venerable voices emerges, each in its own way illuminating the critical role of desire as the primary cause of sin, and the crucial, often beleaguered, function of the will in this eternal struggle.

Defining Desire: A Force Both Primal and Perilous

To understand how desire fuels sin, we must first define it. Philosophically, desire is more than a simple want; it is a fundamental orientation of the soul towards an apprehended good, real or imagined. It is the impetus behind action, the engine of human striving.

  • From Plato's Chariot to Augustine's Disordered Love: Plato, in his Phaedrus, famously depicted the soul as a charioteer (reason) guiding two winged horses: one noble (spirit) and one unruly (appetite or epithymia). It is the unruly horse, representing sensual desire, that constantly threatens to drag the soul off course. For Saint Augustine, whose Confessions offer an unparalleled introspection into the human condition, desire is not inherently evil, but becomes so when it is "disordered." When our love (a form of desire) turns away from the highest good (God) and fixes itself on lesser, temporal goods as ultimate ends, it constitutes a perversion of the will and is, by its very nature, sinful. This turning away, this corruptio optimi, is the essence of sin for Augustine.

The Nature of Sin: More Than Mere Transgression

Sin, in this philosophical context, is far more than a simple breaking of rules. It is a fundamental disharmony within the self, a deliberate act of the will that contravenes reason, moral law, or divine order.

  • The Will's Assent and the Turning Away: Sin often begins not with the mere presence of desire, but with the will's assent to a disordered desire. It is when the intellect perceives a good, however fleeting or illusory, and the will chooses to pursue it despite its known moral impropriety or its conflict with a higher good. Aquinas, drawing heavily on Aristotle, speaks of "concupiscence," the pull of our lower appetites, which, while not sinful in themselves, become the material for sin when the will consents to them against the dictates of right reason.

The Causal Nexus: How Desire Breeds Sin

The causal link between desire and sin is not always direct or immediate. It is often a process, a series of stages where the will is incrementally compromised.

Stages from Desire to Sin:

  1. Inception of Desire: A longing arises, perhaps for pleasure, power, or possession. This initial inclination is often morally neutral.
  2. Cognition and Deliberation: The mind recognizes the desire and begins to consider its fulfillment. This is where reason and moral judgment should ideally intervene.
  3. Assent of the Will: If reason fails to redirect or suppress the desire, or if the will deliberately chooses to ignore reason, it assents to the pursuit of the desired object, even if it is known to be wrong. This is the crucial point of moral culpability.
  4. Execution of the Act: The will translates the assented desire into action, thereby committing the sin.
  5. Consequences: The act of sin leads to moral failing, guilt, and often, further enslavement to the disordered desire.

(Image: A classical depiction of a human figure, perhaps from an illuminated manuscript or an allegorical painting, standing at a crossroads. One path is well-lit and leads upwards towards a celestial or virtuous scene, while the other is shrouded in shadows, leading towards a more chaotic or tempting landscape. The figure's face shows internal struggle, their hand perhaps reaching hesitantly towards the darker path, symbolizing the moment of choice between reason and disordered desire.)

The cause here is not merely the presence of desire, but the will's failure to properly govern it, to orient it towards its proper end. When desire becomes an end in itself, rather than a means to a higher good, it becomes a tyrannical force, compelling the will towards transgression.

The Pivotal Role of the Will: Our Inner Arbiter

The concept of the will is indispensable to understanding desire as the cause of sin. Without a free will, there can be no moral responsibility, and thus, no sin in the true sense.

  • The Struggle for Self-Mastery: Philosophers like Epictetus and Seneca, figures from the Stoic tradition, emphasized the importance of mastering one's desires through reason and discipline. They viewed uncontrolled passions as a form of slavery. The will, therefore, is not merely a passive recipient of desire, but an active faculty capable of assenting to or rejecting it.
  • Freedom, Choice, and Moral Responsibility: It is this freedom of the will that makes us morally accountable. When we succumb to a desire that leads to sin, it is because our will has, however subtly, chosen to yield. This choice, often born of weakness or a perverse valuation of goods, is the true locus of sin.

Echoes from the Great Books: A Chorus of Caution

Across the centuries, the giants of Western thought have grappled with this profound connection:

  • Plato and Aristotle: Both emphasized the need for reason to govern the appetites. For them, sin (or moral failing) often stemmed from a lack of temperance, where the lower parts of the soul usurped the role of the rational part.
  • Saint Augustine: As noted, Augustine's profound insight was that sin is a turning away of the will from the unchangeable Good, driven by a disordered love or desire for changeable goods. The will is corrupted when it chooses to pursue these lesser goods as if they were ultimate.
  • Saint Thomas Aquinas: Building on Aristotle and Augustine, Aquinas elaborated on how desire (concupiscence) can lead to sin. While the initial inclination is not sinful, the will's voluntary consent to these inclinations, especially when they conflict with right reason or divine law, constitutes sin.
  • Immanuel Kant: While his focus was on duty and the moral law, Kant implicitly recognized the power of desire (inclination) to lead one astray. For Kant, a truly moral act is one performed from duty, not merely in conformity with duty, especially if driven by a selfish desire. To act purely from inclination, even if the outcome is good, lacks true moral worth.

The enduring lesson from these philosophical masters is that desire itself is not inherently evil. It is a fundamental aspect of human existence, driving us towards growth, love, and accomplishment. The problem arises when desire becomes untethered from reason, when it dictates the will rather than being guided by it, or when it seeks gratification in objects that are ultimately destructive or contrary to a higher good. It is in this uncontrolled, misdirected, or excessive desire that the cause of sin truly resides. The challenge for humanity, then, is not to eradicate desire, but to understand it, discipline it, and direct it towards noble and virtuous ends.

Conclusion: The Enduring Battle for the Soul

The philosophical tradition, particularly as illuminated by the Great Books of the Western World, presents a compelling case for desire as the primary cause of sin. It is not a simplistic accusation against our natural inclinations, but a nuanced understanding of how our inner longings, when unchecked or misdirected by a misguided will, can lead us down paths of moral transgression. The ongoing struggle to master our desires, to align our will with reason and virtue, remains one of the most profound and perennial challenges of the human condition, a testament to the enduring power of these ancient insights in navigating the complexities of our own souls.

Further Exploration:

Video by: The School of Life

💡 Want different videos? Search YouTube for: "Augustine Confessions Will Sin Desire Philosophy"

Video by: The School of Life

💡 Want different videos? Search YouTube for: "Plato Ethics Appetites Reason Will"

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