Interpenetrations of Nature and Morality: the Case of Nocturnal Seminal Emissions in Medieval Theological Thought
- Autores: Núria Montserrat Farré Barril
- Localización: Quaderns-e, ISSN-e 1696-8298, Nº. 12, 2008
- Idioma: inglés
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Resumen
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the relationships between bodily nature and human will in the male body. By using sources from John Cassian and Augustine up to Thomas Aquinas, I wish to examine how the male body was conceptualised in its particular struggle between nature and morality. To this effect, I shall take as a central phenomenon nocturnal seminal emissions. This is a privileged location from which to observe how that battle was fought and how a balance was searched between body and ascetic will. In this connection, I will also look at the meaning of dreams and illusions in general in medieval imaginary. The effort to keep the movements of the flesh under control takes us directly into the mind-body interface in medieval man. Morality, physiology and psychological implications appear intertwined in a complex nexus that allows us to trace the ways in which men perceived their own nature (and to see what relationships, and in what terms, were established between body and mind).
