Language of Love in Aquinas’ Theory of the Passions

Abstract

In the treatise on the passions of the Summa Theologiae (I-II.22-48), Aquinas speaks of love under an intriguing variety of terms, such as connaturalitas, complacentia, consonantia, coaptatio, aptitudo, proportio, and inclinatio. This terminology has been an issue since the early stages of studies related to Aquinas’ theory of love. Yet, while much attention has been focused on the transition of these terms from the Commentary on the Sentences to the Summa Theologiae, there are only few studies concerned with the reason why Aquinas uses this terminology to express love. This study shows that Aquinas was aware of the poverty of ordinary language and therefore felt the need to employ multiple terms in order to express the passion of love as adequately as possible.