Lust vs. Chastity: Understanding Vice and Virtue in Modern Society

This essay delves into the philosophical concepts of lust and chastity, examining lust as a prominent vice and chastity as a virtue to counteract it. It explores the historical and religious perspectives on these concepts, referencing figures like Thomas Aquinas and Dante, and biblical verses that address lust and chastity. The essay further discusses how truth, goodness, and beauty—core elements of science, religion, and art—can play a role in combating the negative impacts of lust on society. The document is available on Desklib, a platform offering a range of study tools and resources for students.

Running head: THE TRUE, THE GOOD AND THE BEAUTIFUL
THE TRUE, THE GOOD AND THE BEAUTIFUL
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Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung authored the book “Glittering Vices: A New Look at the
Seven Deadly Sins and Their Remedies”, in which she reattempts to throw lights on the 7 sins or
vices in the human society and their preventions in theocratic formulae (DeYoung, 2009). This
concept of vice existing deep inside the human nature and its opposite, the virtue which is the
most prominent weapon to defeat the ills of vice, existed from ancient times and was vividly
described in the early Greek philosophy (Hack, 2015). In religions from all over the world there
are mentions of the ideal human behavior at one hand, and the sins and devilish immorality on
the other hand (Pojman & Rea, 2012). In the Jewish scripture there are ten commandments
which were ideal for human life, the Buddhists have their own analogy of the good and the bad,
and every other scripture have a similar guidance.
The early Greeks wrote voraciously about “vice and virtues”, Aristotle claims that for one
virtue present in the human character there are two vices that are directly opposite. The seven
deadly vices allegedly coming from the monk Evagrius Ponticus originally (Casiday, 2013),
were later included in the Christian tradition mainly due to Pope Gregory I and then by Thomas
Equinas who popularized them further (Gilson, 2013). The seven deadly sins as recognized
presently are “Lust, Gluttony, Greed (avarice), Sloth, Wrath, Envy and Pride” (Cunningham,
2012). It is very evident from each of the mentioned qualities that these are harmful for an
individual and needs to be counteracted, here is where virtue comes to play. In this essay the
vice of Lust will be described and the virtues working to counteract it will be analyzed. The
thesis statement of this essay is “Lust is one of the most prominent among the many
harmful traits in humanity and the virtue of chastity is helpful in combatting and arresting
lust.”

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The sense organs provided to the human beings were originally meant for survival.
However, with the ever advancing social system, now senses are used for gratification more than
they are used for survival. Sensual gratification has lead the humanity to fall into the trap of vices
more helplessly than ever. All the unethical and immoral activities throughout the world are
because of human beings wanting to satisfy their senses either in the form of cash or in kind.
Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologiae talks about lust as “...wherever there occurs a
special kind of deformity whereby the venereal act is rendered unbecoming, there is a
determinate species of lust. This may occur in two ways: First, through being contrary to right
reason, and this is common to all lustful vices; secondly, because, in addition, it is contrary to
the natural order of the venereal act as becoming to the human race: and this is called "the
unnatural vice” (Davies, 2014). Lust is one of those vices which is the most difficult to abstain
from. In this context lust is defined as the sexual desire that is unethical to have for that
individual in that circumstance, however in spite knowing so that individual continues to nurture
the desire and takes actions in fulfilling it. Dante in his work Paradiso states that everyone on
this earth has successfully avoided at least one vice from the list, but no one could avoid lust
(Dante, 2017).
In the contemporary world out of the most of the crimes committed, lust is probably one
of the biggest contributors. Most of the sexual crimes and violence happens due to unsatisfied
desire that turns into terrible lust (Scully, 2013). Though there are a section of philosophers and
thinkers who believe lust in adequate form and size is required to allow the world function
normally, however most of the time “adequate lust” becomes uncontrolled and creates chaos.
Lust is probably the most self-identifiable vice among all of them. Lust is additionally a capital
sin about which currently men and ladies, including Catholics, routinely delude themselves. It is

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true that it isn't valid, men ask, that Dante just appointed desire to the Second Circle, in this way
suggestively putting it more distant from Satan than some other vices, that clerics frequently
hush, both to the followers and to themselves, that sexual sins are the minimum genuine of all.
It is as if lust has put some illusion unto the people of the modern day who cannot, in
spite of wanting to, come out of the deadly hold of the deadly vice. Lust is operating throughout
the world in a dark alley of people’s mind, to sway them away from the path of righteousness
and lead them to dangerous roads of criminal activities and unethical behaviors. Even the clerics
we see regularly on the news channels cannot win over the vice easily and commit offences even
within the premises of worship. This is how this particular vice Lust is operating in the
present world.
The bible dedicates several verses about lust some of which are, “You have heard that it
was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman
with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:27-28), “For
this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; that
each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in lustful
passion like the Gentiles who do not know God. (1 Thessalonians 4:3-5)”, “Live . . . no longer
for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. For the time already past is sufficient for you to
have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts,
drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries. (1 Peter 4:2-3)”.
The Biblical virtue that is operating against Lust to counteract its effects is Chastity
(Schleiermacher, 2016). Chastity is mainly related to sexual conduct of a person, but it may be
related to other aspects of the human character as well. Chastity is seen to be the moral righteous
position of a person in sexual conduct, it is the sexual abstinence before or after marriage

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(Simon, 2017). The chaste individual is expected to not be engaging in sexual encounters before
marriage, and while in marriage the person is expected to have fidelity towards the partner, that
may be the husband or the wife. Chastity is one of the seven virtues. In a marriage both the
husband and the wife is expected to maintain loyalty towards each other and not engage in any
sort of extra marital sexual relationships. The householders may engage in sexual contact with
each other but in the case of the monastics, everyone who has dedicated their life to the church,
they are required to maintain strict Celibacy.
One of the central teachings and concepts of the Roman Catholics is Chastity and its
importance. The practice was considered necessary in uniting the physical body with the
transcendental spirit. Considering the words of the Bible itself, “In addition to reserving sexual
intimacy for marriage, we obey the law of chastity by controlling our thoughts, words, and
actions. Jesus Christ taught, “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not
commit adultery: but I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath
committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Matthew 5:27–28).”
A broader meaning of the term includes not just abstinence from sexual misconduct in
extramarital relationships, but also includes cleanliness and hygiene of both the physical and the
mental state, refraining from bad habits including alcoholism, and refraining from being
dishonest to one and all. It is the inclusion of “moral wholesomeness” and achieving “purity of
the thought”.
In Bible a number of verses deals with the importance of chastity. Exodus 20:14 says
"You shall not commit adultery.” Corinthians 6:18-20 states “Flee from sexual immorality.
Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins
against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within

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you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So
glorify God in your body.” Therefore, we find not just the matter of adultery as a sexual
misconduct has been addressed but by saying that the Holy Spirit resides in the body, the
Biblical text mentally prepares a person not to engage in any kind of Lustful behavior and sexual
misconduct. This is how Chastity, the opposite Biblical virtue to the vice Lust, combats and
addresses this particular sin.
The important three fields of study in contemporary human civilization are Science, Arts
and Religion. The subsequent transcendental analysis of the properties of these subjects will
show that they deal with the Truth (science), the Beauty (arts) and the Good (religion). The
history of the study of these three concepts dates back to the age of Socrates, then Plato and
subsequently Aristotle. The Greek philosophers contributed substantially after which the concept
was taken up by the Church.
Every human being must have the abilities of “thinking, feeling and willing”. These three
abilities are closely attached to the concepts of truth, beauty and goodness respectively
(Changeux, 2012). The present society is in a condition where every individual is highly
opinionated and truth is conditional, beauty depends on the beholder and goodness is subjective.
In such a situation it is difficult for these three aspects of the transcendentalists to work strongly
against the vices which are rooted deeply in the society. Psychologically people are wired to
catch bad habits easily.
The vice of lust is too strong for a person to overcome. However, the part of the human
being that has ego and understanding of morality gives a lot of importance to the concept of
“truth”. Truth lies in the fact that lust gives rise to degradable behaviors like cheating one’s
partner, establishing extra marital relationships and even crimes such as rape and murder. This

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sense of truth has the power to stop a person from going completely haywire and do criminal
offences driven by lust. This is how truth helps in combating the evils of lust in the society.
Goodness is the positive moral side of an individual which stops him or her from
activities which are immoral, unethical, and which harm other lives. It is said that every
individual has a good and a bad side inside, it is required for an external agent to just act as a
catalyst to help in activation of anyone of the two. The goodness in a human being always stops
him or her from doing things which are “bad”. Lust as a vice endeavors in making a person
engage in activities which are immoral and even criminal. The goodness in the individual acts
against this vice and stops such activities. This is how “the good” helps the society in
preventing lust to spread its ill.
On the other hand, beauty is the concept of aesthetics which make people appreciate
people and things around them. Beauty helps in developing a fine sense of appreciation and
satisfaction. It is the quality which dissolves even the strongest emotions of hatred from a
person’s heart. The quality of Lust is dissolved to give birth to appreciation and joy. To relish the
beauty is to appreciate and commend its intricacies and not destroy it or harm it. This is how
beauty helps in fighting off the ill effects of lust from humanity.
In conclusion it can be said that the society is fighting with a number of vices even more
than the ones that are included as the seven vices in the scriptures. Though it is a fact that the
amount of evil, vicious and bad elements are increasing by the day, but on the other hand it is
also true that humanity is continuously fighting with the evil elements to establish righteousness.
This is only because in the larger section of the population virtue is a strong force that is still
present and will never diminish.

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Refererences:
Casiday, A. (2013). Reconstructing the Theology of Evagrius Ponticus: Beyond Heresy.
Cambridge University Press.
Changeux, J. P. (2012). The good, the true, and the beautiful: A neuronal approach. Yale
University Press.
Cunningham, L. S. (2012). The Seven Deadly Sins: A Visitor's Guide. Ave Maria Press.
Dante. (2017). Paradiso. Hackett Publishing Company, Incorporated.
Davies, B. (2014). Thomas Aquinas's Summa theologiae: a guide and commentary. Oxford
University Press.
DeYoung, R. K. (2009). Glittering vices: A new look at the seven deadly sins and their remedies.
Brazos Press.
Gilson, E. (2013). The Christian Philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas. Random House.
Hack, R. K. (2015). God in Greek philosophy to the time of Socrates. Princeton University Press.
Pojman, L. P., & Rea, M. (2012). Philosophy of religion: An anthology. Cengage Learning.
Schleiermacher, F. (2016). Christian Faith (Two-Volume Set): A New Translation and Critical
Edition. Westminster John Knox Press.
Scully, D. (2013). Understanding sexual violence: A study of convicted rapists. Routledge.
Simon, W. (2017). Sexual conduct: The social sources of human sexuality. Routledge.