TanaNari
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TL;DR : Started a tangent I'm really interested in continuing, but don't want to be an asshole and keep it going in the wrong place.
So I'm taking it here, starting with my attempt to rename the Sins, not to change their meanings, but to use words that more accurately reflect the modern English speaker's use of the language, rather than words from a version of English when 'fag' meant 'sticks', 'boy' meant 'unskilled laborer', and 'protest' meant 'to advocate in favor of.'
In short: the goal is to capture the intent of the Sins, so that you don't need a BA in linguistics or philosophy to understand what the actual meanings are.
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Now, obviously, many philosophers have raked this subject down to the last, and I'm mostly running on Aquinus's ideas as well as the Stoicism philosophy that influenced the concept of Cardinal Sin in the first place... I'll try as much as I can to avoid personal opinion and get to the 'cleanest' definition (that is to say, avoiding getting into depths and edge-cases by staying at the surface level), but defining 'sin' is much like defining 'love'- no two people will fully agree on the depths of meaning.
Here's how I think the list should be rebuilt:
Lust ====== Selfishness
Gluttony === Hedonism
Greed ===== Corruption
Sloth====== Apathy
Wrath ===== Malice
Envy====== Resentment
Pride ===== Contempt
My Reasoning:
Lust ... Is about more than just sexual thoughts, and covers basically all forms of physical longing. Pleasure is one example, but hardly the only. Drug abuse and general laziness fall into this camp. And just generally abandoning one's duties in pursuit of desire. In the modern language, I think Selfishness is apt.
Gluttony ... Is about taking things in excess, and presumably harming others by doing so. Food, being in such short supply for most of history, was the most obvious version... but it also includes all other forms of lavishness. Hedonism is probably the best modern word for the intent of Gluttony.
(Note: It has been a long running debate with philosophers where the line is drawn between Lust and Gluttony... I don't think it'll be much easier to draw a line between 'selfishness' and 'hedonism'... which I consider a point in favor of using these two words for a modern translation. The goal is to capture the original intent, that should include the original categorical overlaps.
Greed ... Was always about more than just the collection of wealth. There's nothing inherently sinful about owning things according to Stoic or Christian tradition. This sin revolves mainly around the methods used to acquire said wealth- namely, sacrificing your morality in pursuit of material gain. As such, a modern translation could be Corruption. It's not about being rich, it's about cheating and exploitation.
Sloth ... While laziness is part of the issue, most philosophers see it as something deeper and is often associated with withdrawal, defeatism, and what modern psychologists will tell you are all the classic signs of depression. I think the most apt word in Modern English would be Apathy.
Acedia ... Most literally, it could be translated as 'a lack of love/care' and was folded into the sin of Sloth. I do not disagree with that interpretation, and in fact use this sin's merger as further justification for the use of Apathy as a replacement for Sloth... because it also makes a good modern translation for Acedia.
Wrath ... Again, it's more than merely 'anger', or even 'revenge'- One can be angry and seek out recompense (say, in a court of law) without it being sinful (according to most scholars on the subject)... but one cannot be excessive about it. If someone kills your child, there's nothing wrong with wanting that asshole dead. It is, however, wrong to seek out said asshole, then murder his kid in retaliation. That shit does not fly. Nor does running someone off the road for cutting you off in traffic. Or slashing your ex's tires.
This is a sin of hatred, obsession, and perpetuating a cycle of violence. I wanted to call it 'vengeance', but that isn't quite right in my opinion... I was also tempted to try to define it by its 'opposite' of forgiveness, but that word's not quite adequate in English, either. For lack of any better word, I am going to refer to this one as Cruelty, more for its association with 'cruel and unusual punishment' than it being a perfect fit for the word. 'Spite' and 'pettiness' are other potential picks. None of them really seem adequate to me.
EDIT: Thanks to Sinnerlust for pointing out Malice- I hadn't thought of that one, but it works better than cruelty does.
Envy ... Personally, I think this one is just about where it needs to be, except that the English word has a second meaning- that being of 'jealousy' and 'covetousness' that is adequately covered under the more physical sins at the top, while the sin of Envy is written as a spiritual crime, rather than physical one. I think the word Resentment is more apt. Again, Envy also means Resentment, so changing it is mainly for clarification's sake.
Vainglory... Another discontinued Cardinal Sin. This was the sin of bragging and self-aggrandizement. Eventually, numerous scholars (and at least one Pope) decided to discontinue it, since they viewed this one as just another reflection of Envy, Pride, or Lust/Gluttony rather than a sin in its own right. Mainly I place it here to both agree that it's really not necessary given the other sins, and to help set the stage for discussing the sin from which all other sins are born:
Pride. Now, in modern parlance, 'pride' has many morally fine, and even good, expressions. Pride in your accomplishments, your family, your country... all these are fine and good by Stoic and Christian belief. Even if gong too far slides into the Vainglory zone and should be avoided.
The sin of Pride is the belief that you are superior to others, the belief that you are special and, therefor, deserve all those things that you desire, even if you didn't work for them or they come at the expense of harming others. The belief that consequences don't apply to you. The belief that nobody else matters as much as you do.
I was thinking about calling it 'arrogance', but it doesn't fully capture the nature of this sin, same with 'conceit' and 'hubris'. And while 'narcissism' isn't wrong, I want to avoid using a word that has such a clinical definition.
Eventually, I settled on Contempt. Specifically, having contempt for others (extending all the way up to the top and having contempt for God Himself). I don't think it's a perfect word, but it's the best I've got.
That was a fun intellectual exercise. It'll be fun watching this little sandcastle get kicked in.
So I'm taking it here, starting with my attempt to rename the Sins, not to change their meanings, but to use words that more accurately reflect the modern English speaker's use of the language, rather than words from a version of English when 'fag' meant 'sticks', 'boy' meant 'unskilled laborer', and 'protest' meant 'to advocate in favor of.'
In short: the goal is to capture the intent of the Sins, so that you don't need a BA in linguistics or philosophy to understand what the actual meanings are.
======
Now, obviously, many philosophers have raked this subject down to the last, and I'm mostly running on Aquinus's ideas as well as the Stoicism philosophy that influenced the concept of Cardinal Sin in the first place... I'll try as much as I can to avoid personal opinion and get to the 'cleanest' definition (that is to say, avoiding getting into depths and edge-cases by staying at the surface level), but defining 'sin' is much like defining 'love'- no two people will fully agree on the depths of meaning.
Here's how I think the list should be rebuilt:
Lust ====== Selfishness
Gluttony === Hedonism
Greed ===== Corruption
Sloth====== Apathy
Wrath ===== Malice
Envy====== Resentment
Pride ===== Contempt
My Reasoning:
Lust ... Is about more than just sexual thoughts, and covers basically all forms of physical longing. Pleasure is one example, but hardly the only. Drug abuse and general laziness fall into this camp. And just generally abandoning one's duties in pursuit of desire. In the modern language, I think Selfishness is apt.
Gluttony ... Is about taking things in excess, and presumably harming others by doing so. Food, being in such short supply for most of history, was the most obvious version... but it also includes all other forms of lavishness. Hedonism is probably the best modern word for the intent of Gluttony.
(Note: It has been a long running debate with philosophers where the line is drawn between Lust and Gluttony... I don't think it'll be much easier to draw a line between 'selfishness' and 'hedonism'... which I consider a point in favor of using these two words for a modern translation. The goal is to capture the original intent, that should include the original categorical overlaps.
Greed ... Was always about more than just the collection of wealth. There's nothing inherently sinful about owning things according to Stoic or Christian tradition. This sin revolves mainly around the methods used to acquire said wealth- namely, sacrificing your morality in pursuit of material gain. As such, a modern translation could be Corruption. It's not about being rich, it's about cheating and exploitation.
Sloth ... While laziness is part of the issue, most philosophers see it as something deeper and is often associated with withdrawal, defeatism, and what modern psychologists will tell you are all the classic signs of depression. I think the most apt word in Modern English would be Apathy.
Congrats, you got it exactly right.
Acedia ... Most literally, it could be translated as 'a lack of love/care' and was folded into the sin of Sloth. I do not disagree with that interpretation, and in fact use this sin's merger as further justification for the use of Apathy as a replacement for Sloth... because it also makes a good modern translation for Acedia.
Wrath ... Again, it's more than merely 'anger', or even 'revenge'- One can be angry and seek out recompense (say, in a court of law) without it being sinful (according to most scholars on the subject)... but one cannot be excessive about it. If someone kills your child, there's nothing wrong with wanting that asshole dead. It is, however, wrong to seek out said asshole, then murder his kid in retaliation. That shit does not fly. Nor does running someone off the road for cutting you off in traffic. Or slashing your ex's tires.
This is a sin of hatred, obsession, and perpetuating a cycle of violence. I wanted to call it 'vengeance', but that isn't quite right in my opinion... I was also tempted to try to define it by its 'opposite' of forgiveness, but that word's not quite adequate in English, either. For lack of any better word, I am going to refer to this one as Cruelty, more for its association with 'cruel and unusual punishment' than it being a perfect fit for the word. 'Spite' and 'pettiness' are other potential picks. None of them really seem adequate to me.
EDIT: Thanks to Sinnerlust for pointing out Malice- I hadn't thought of that one, but it works better than cruelty does.
Envy ... Personally, I think this one is just about where it needs to be, except that the English word has a second meaning- that being of 'jealousy' and 'covetousness' that is adequately covered under the more physical sins at the top, while the sin of Envy is written as a spiritual crime, rather than physical one. I think the word Resentment is more apt. Again, Envy also means Resentment, so changing it is mainly for clarification's sake.
Vainglory... Another discontinued Cardinal Sin. This was the sin of bragging and self-aggrandizement. Eventually, numerous scholars (and at least one Pope) decided to discontinue it, since they viewed this one as just another reflection of Envy, Pride, or Lust/Gluttony rather than a sin in its own right. Mainly I place it here to both agree that it's really not necessary given the other sins, and to help set the stage for discussing the sin from which all other sins are born:
Pride. Now, in modern parlance, 'pride' has many morally fine, and even good, expressions. Pride in your accomplishments, your family, your country... all these are fine and good by Stoic and Christian belief. Even if gong too far slides into the Vainglory zone and should be avoided.
The sin of Pride is the belief that you are superior to others, the belief that you are special and, therefor, deserve all those things that you desire, even if you didn't work for them or they come at the expense of harming others. The belief that consequences don't apply to you. The belief that nobody else matters as much as you do.
I was thinking about calling it 'arrogance', but it doesn't fully capture the nature of this sin, same with 'conceit' and 'hubris'. And while 'narcissism' isn't wrong, I want to avoid using a word that has such a clinical definition.
Eventually, I settled on Contempt. Specifically, having contempt for others (extending all the way up to the top and having contempt for God Himself). I don't think it's a perfect word, but it's the best I've got.
That was a fun intellectual exercise. It'll be fun watching this little sandcastle get kicked in.
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