Happiness from Virtue or Indulgence? Part 2

Continuing our investigation of how to approach the truest happiness, we must investigate an alternative approach to happiness than we did in Part 1. The beauty and goodness of what is truly true is its harmony which subsists independence of retinue. When we are seeking the highest good of the person, we must realize that where there is truth found it will have corollaries that reverberate and resonate with other truths, forming a single consistent narrative. Hence academic, peer-reviewed psychological research, generally affirms or complements the magisterium of the Catholic Church teaching, especially regarding sexuality (which again is the simplest, most accessible, and relevant case to use as a principal subject of study). 

In terms of sexuality, the Church recommends chastity which means “the successful integration of sexuality within the person and thus the inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being. Sexuality… becomes personal … when it is integrated into the relationship of one person to another, in the complete and lifelong mutual gift of a man and a woman.”.[1] Chastity is a virtue insofar as it is habitus, formed into consistency over time through concrete action, and as such, “includes an apprenticeship in self-mastery which is a training in human freedom”.[2] Temperance is the broader virtue of which chastity is a part since temperance is concerned with the frequency, context, extent, etc. to which we take pleasure in things that are not God.[3] By means of it being an “integration of sexuality within the [self]” and is concerned with man’s spiritual-biological harmony, it also has influence over all other virtues ordering them especially insofar as sexuality influences our psychological interpersonal/social dynamics.[4] At odds with how our culture has redefined the meaning of sexuality, divorcing it from its biological nature and psychological meaning, the Catholic Church defines sexuality as the “means of which man and woman give themselves to one another through the acts which are proper and exclusive to spouses, is not something simply biological, but concerns the innermost being of the human person as such…”[5] One study shows that spirituality, as found above and in general, contributes consistently to happiness.[6] Chastity was a virtue from antiquity according to several religions in addition to Christianity and its efficacy is now being affirmed by science through various studies.[7] The effects of chastity have been studied and proven to decrease the likelihood of divorce. Couples in which one or both partners have had premarital sex are more like to divorce than those who have not.[8] Within the context of marriage, couples who use periodic abstinence as natural family planning have been shown to have lower rates of divorce.[9] Even priestly celibacy, accompanied by prior psychological health, can be fruitful.[10] An article that suggests laws are the source of sex worker mental health issues does not discuss whether or not mental health issues are related to the work itself but still admits that, “sex workers are at disproportionate risk of violence and sexual and emotional ill-health…”.[11] Therefore, it is apparent that even conclusion-seeking articles make admissions that support chastity (recommended by the Catholic Church) as a much healthier long-term psychological decision than seeking immediate emotional and physiological benefits of sexual activity that do not uphold the dignity of persons or of the act itself. 

 In conclusion, perhaps if we are waiting for newfound insights from psychology studies, we may never be satisfied. Catholic, and thus Christian, faith has been giving forth the answer to this question of happiness ever since Jesus. Aristotle, who lived long before Jesus took flesh, developed the explicit concept of "the good life". Even Aristotle had a workable understanding of what was truly good for our nature and this question of the good overlaps nearly completely with our question of happiness. We find these things to be the case in light of recent finding on sexual temperance (chastity). Chastity has been a long-standing virtue among cultures with different religions, and it is not difficult to infer a negative correlation between the practice/esteem of chastity and marital discontent/divorce rates. Studies seem to generally support Catholic Magisterium’s psychological implications, especially with regard to sexuality.

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FN:

1. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed. (Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, 2000), 2337.
2. CCC, 1803.; CCC, 2339.
3. CCC, 2341, 2345.
4. CCC, 2337
5. CCC, 2361.
6. Samta Pandya, “Spirituality, Happiness, and Psychological Well-Being in 13- to 15-Year Olds: A Cross-Country Longitudinal RCT Study,” Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling 71, no. 1 (2017), 22.
7. Hwa Yeong Wang, “Chastity as a Virtue,” Religions 11, no. 5 (2020), 1-11.
8. Joan Kahn, and Kathryn London, “Premarital Sex and the Risk of Divorce,” Journal of Marriage and Family 53, no. 4 (1991), 845-855.
9. Richard Fehring and Michael Manhart, “Natural Family Planning and Marital Chastity: The Effects of Periodic Abstinence on Marital Relationships” Linacre 88, no. 1 (2020), 42-55.
10. Wenceslas Vial, “Psychology and Celibacy,” Scripta Theologica 50, no. 1 (2018), 139-166.
11. Lucy Platt, Pippa Grenfell, Rebecca Meiksin, Jocelyn Elmes, Susan G Sherman, Teela Sanders, Peninah Mwangi, Anna-Louise Crago, “Associations between sex work laws and sex workers” health: A systematic review and meta-analysis of quantitative and qualitative studies," “PLoS medicine” 15, no. 12 (2020), 1.