Episode 18: Acedia, the Forgotten Capital Sin—RJ Snell
By Catholic Culture Podcast ( bio - articles - email ) | Oct 02, 2018 | In The Catholic Culture Podcast
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Once included among the capital sins, acedia has been identified with both sloth and sadness. St. Thomas Aquinas, for example, defined it both as “disgust with activity” and “sadness about spiritual good.” Today’s guest, RJ Snell, argues that acedia is the chief spiritual malady of our age, underlying the malaise, nihilism and despair so prevalent in the modern West.
Links
R.J. Snell, Acedia and Its Discontents: Metaphysical Boredom in the Empire of Desire https://amzn.to/2xTTBhQ
Thomas’s 2015 review of Snell, Acedia and Its Discontents https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/otc.cfm?id=1307
Thomas’s 2015 review of Nault, The Noonday Devil https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/otc.cfm?id=1283
Forthcoming book: R.J. Snell and Robert P. George, Mind, Heart & Soul: Intellectuals and the Path to Rome https://amzn.to/2zO9Uhk
Theme music: “Franciscan Eyes”, written and performed by Thomas Mirus. Download the Catholic Culture Podcast soundtrack.
Thomas V. Mirus is Director of Podcasts for CatholicCulture.org, hosts The Catholic Culture Podcast, and co-hosts Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast. See full bio.
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