Wednesday, November 14, 2018
Lust vs. Gluttony
An important thing to recognize between the first few circles of Hell is the primary reasoning of why certain sins are worse than others and vice versa. In the case of Lust and Gluttony, Gluttony, as we've read in Dante's Inferno, is considered worse. The primary reason for Lust being considered a less-serious sin is due to the fact that lust is "shared." The individuality of Gluttony is what makes it such a profound sin. When sin is shared, according to Dante's God, it is of less offense than when it is individually acted upon. This, of course, links to the fact that the worst sins in Dante's Hell are ones of fraudulence, which relate to the manipulative nature of the human mind. While working alone in thought and with human nature as an accomplice, one is more likely to sin and sin to a more intense degree.
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3 comments:
The order of Dante’s circles of Hell might not always appear obvious at first glance. For example, why is avarice worse than lust? Avarice probably won’t hurt anyone—your spouse would likely rather you have an obsession with money than cheat on them. I believe that Dante places the avaricious in a lower circle because avarice shows an unhealthy love for something inanimate, while lust at least shows an unhealthy “love” for another person. If you think about it, money is just metal or paper—if humans didn’t give it value, it would be worthless. Greed for sex or food (lust, circle 2, and gluttony, circle 3) are more animalistic desires, while avarice is something purely human. That’s why Dante places this sin in circle 4.
You bring up an interesting issue with individual sin vs. “shared” sin. Another aspect of this to consider is the well-known theory of “mob-mentality,” which is essentially the notion that people are highly succeptible to doing things that they would otherwise not do when goaded on by a group of people. Could this—the fact that humans more readily commit sins in groups—possibly be another reason Dante placing Lust lower than Gluttony? Is this the reason it’s better to sin in the company of others (lust) than it is to sin individually (gluttony)? It’s surely worth considering.
This is an interesting idea of why Gluttony is worse than lust. On paper, one who is a Glutton doesn’t sound worse than someone who is Lustful but rather the opposite because being Lustful can cause someone can lead to unacceptable sexual acts such as rape or sexual assault. However, lust doesn’t have to be individual like in these cases but it can be shared as you say. Gluttony can’t be shared among others because it only really affects the person who is a glutton. This idea may explain why doing an act of violence against oneself is worse than doing an act of violence against a neighbor. I was wondering why doing violence against oneself is worse than doing violence against neighbors because, again, it seems like someone who does violence to someone else is worse than someone who does violence against themselves. However, it may have something to do with the individuality of such a sin like you say.
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