- Oct 2024
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www.newadvent.org www.newadvent.org
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First, on account of the very species of the acts employed for the purpose of fun, and this kind of jesting, according to Tully (De Offic. i, 29), is stated to be "discourteous, insolent, scandalous, and obscene," when to wit a man, for the purpose of jesting, employs indecent words or deeds, or such as are injurious to his neighbor, these being of themselves mortal sins.
I wonder what Thomas Aquinas had in mind here specifically. Was he thinking of violent games leading to injury, or of games leading to taunting and argument, or of gambling?
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I answer that, In all things dirigible according to reason, the excessive is that which goes beyond, and the deficient is that which falls short of the rule of reason. Now it has been stated (Article 2) that playful or jesting words or deeds are dirigible according to reason. Wherefore excessive play is that which goes beyond the rule of reason
It seems that Thomas Aquinas's overall position is that games and play can play a positive role as an opportunity for rest from work and serious obligations when done in moderation, but that they can become problematic when done excessively and when prioritized over work, personal morals, and religion. Aquinas reaches this conclusion using theological arguments, and the purpose of this text seems to be to provide a theological perspective on games and play. This differs significantly from Isidore of Seville's writings on games which present information and opinion as fact rather than as debate/discussion (Cambridge University Press 371), and from FitzStephens writings on games and play, which approach the topic much more from a description of the mostly-positive ways in which he observed them in day-to-day life in Medieval London (FitzStephens, 1170s/1860).
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the-orb.arlima.net the-orb.arlima.net
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(for we were all boys once)
Although in context, this line seems to mean something to the effect of, "we were all young once", the use of the word "boys" does imply that FitzStephen was intending to write to a male audience. That does give a sense that gender roles were present in Medieval London, and that both physical play and scholarly reading were possibly considered to be activities for boys and men. It's interesting because although it's maybe not quite this explicit, gender does play a role in the way in which sports today are perceived as well.
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you can see their inner passions aroused as they watch the action and get caught up in the fun being had by the carefree adolescents.
It's interesting how this section on ball games focuses on the joy, passion, and sense of community brought by ball games, while in The Etymologies of Isadore of Seville, the focus is much more on the rules and mechanisms of the ball games themselves rather than the ways in which they fit into day-to-day life (Cambridge University Press 371).
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On holy days, the schoolmasters assemble their students at the churches associated with the particular festival, for purposes of a training exercise. There the students debate, some using demonstrative rhetoric, others using dialectical logic. Yet others "hurtle enthymemes", while those who are more advanced employ syllogisms. Some undergo the debating exercise just to be put through their paces, it being like a wrestling match of the intellect; for others it is to help perfect their skills in determining the truth.
I found this section to be really interesting. I love the comparison of debate to wrestling, a very physical sport. This way of viewing debate as falling into a similar category of activity to physical sports seems similar to me to the way debate is viewed as an activity today. It's interesting, too, how despite it encouraging a similar competitiveness to physical sports which were not always viewed positively (Milliman 609), debate here is shown as an activity very much encouraged by schools and by churches.
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