Whether a Man Can Hate Himself?
Objection 1: It would seem that a man can hate himself. For it is
written (Ps. 10:6): "He that loveth iniquity, hateth his own soul."
But many love iniquity. Therefore many hate themselves.
Obj. 2: Further, him we hate, to whom we wish and work evil. But
sometimes a man wishes and works evil to himself, e.g. a man who
kills himself. Therefore some men hate themselves.
Obj. 3: Further, Boethius says (De Consol. ii) that "avarice makes a
man hateful"; whence we may conclude that everyone hates a miser. But
some men are misers. Therefore they hate themselves.
_On the contrary,_ The Apostle says (Eph. 5:29) that "no man ever
hated his own flesh."
_I answer that,_ Properly speaking, it is impossible for a man to
hate himself. For everything naturally desires good, nor can anyone
desire anything for himself, save under the aspect of good: for "evil
is outside the scope of the will," as Dionysius says (Div. Nom. iv).
Now to love a man is to will good to him, as stated above (Q. 26, A.
4). Consequently, a man must, of necessity, love himself; and it is
impossible for a man to hate himself, properly speaking.
But accidentally it happens that a man hates himself: and this in two
ways. First, on the part of the good which a man wills to himself.
For it happens sometimes that what is desired as good in some
particular respect, is simply evil; and in this way, a man
accidentally wills evil to himself; and thus hates himself. Secondly,
in regard to himself, to whom he wills good. For each thing is that
which is predominant in it; wherefore the state is said to do what
the king does, as if the king were the whole state. Now it is clear
that man is principally the mind of man. And it happens that some men
account themselves as being principally that which they are in their
material and sensitive nature. Wherefore they love themselves
according to what they take themselves to be, while they hate that
which they really are, by desiring what is contrary to reason. And in
both these ways, "he that loveth iniquity hateth" not only "his own
soul," but also himself.
Wherefore the reply to the First Objection is evident.
Reply Obj. 2: No man wills and works evil to himself, except he
apprehend it under the aspect of good. For even they who kill
themselves, apprehend death itself as a good, considered as putting
an end to some unhappiness or pain.
Reply Obj. 3: The miser hates something accidental to himself, but
not for that reason does he hate himself: thus a sick man hates his
sickness for the very reason that he loves himself. Or we may say
that avarice makes man hateful to others, but not to himself. In
fact, it is caused by inordinate self-love, in respect of which,
man desires temporal goods for himself more than he should.
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