Whether Folly Is Contrary to Wisdom?
Objection 1: It would seem that folly is not contrary to wisdom. For
seemingly unwisdom is directly opposed to wisdom. But folly does not
seem to be the same as unwisdom, for the latter is apparently about
Divine things alone, whereas folly is about both Divine and human
things. Therefore folly is not contrary to wisdom.
Obj. 2: Further, one contrary is not the way to arrive at the other.
But folly is the way to arrive at wisdom, for it is written (1 Cor.
3:18): "If any man among you seem to be wise in this world, let him
become a fool, that he may be wise." Therefore folly is not opposed
to wisdom.
Obj. 3: Further, one contrary is not the cause of the other. But
wisdom is the cause of folly; for it is written (Jer. 10:14): "Every
man is become a fool for knowledge," and wisdom is a kind of
knowledge. Moreover, it is written (Isa. 47:10): "Thy wisdom and thy
knowledge, this hath deceived thee." Now it belongs to folly to be
deceived. Therefore folly is not contrary to wisdom.
Obj. 4: Further, Isidore says (Etym. x, under the letter S) that "a
fool is one whom shame does not incite to sorrow, and who is
unconcerned when he is injured." But this pertains to spiritual
wisdom, according to Gregory (Moral. x, 49). Therefore folly is not
opposed to wisdom.
_On the contrary,_ Gregory says (Moral. ii, 26) that "the gift of
wisdom is given as a remedy against folly."
_I answer that,_ _Stultitia (Folly)_ seems to take its name from
_stupor;_ wherefore Isidore says (loc. cit.): "A fool is one who
through dullness (_stuporem_) remains unmoved." And folly differs
from fatuity, according to the same authority (Etym. x), in that
folly implies apathy in the heart and dullness in the senses, while
fatuity denotes entire privation of the spiritual sense. Therefore
folly is fittingly opposed to wisdom.
For "sapiens" (_wise_) as Isidore says (Etym. x) "is so named from
_sapor_ (savor), because just as the taste is quick to distinguish
between savors of meats, so is a wise man in discerning things and
causes." Wherefore it is manifest that _folly_ is opposed to _wisdom_
as its contrary, while _fatuity_ is opposed to it as a pure negation:
since the fatuous man lacks the sense of judgment, while the fool has
the sense, though dulled, whereas the wise man has the sense acute
and penetrating.
Reply Obj. 1: According to Isidore (Etym. x), "unwisdom is contrary
to wisdom because it lacks the savor of discretion and sense"; so
that unwisdom is seemingly the same as folly. Yet a man would appear
to be a fool chiefly through some deficiency in the verdict of that
judgment, which is according to the highest cause, for if a man fails
in judgment about some trivial matter, he is not for that reason
called a fool.
Reply Obj. 2: Just as there is an evil wisdom, as stated above (Q.
45, A. 1, ad 1), called "worldly wisdom," because it takes for the
highest cause and last end some worldly good, so too there is a good
folly opposed to this evil wisdom, whereby man despises worldly
things: and it is of this folly that the Apostle speaks.
Reply Obj. 3: It is the wisdom of the world that deceives and makes
us foolish in God's sight, as is evident from the Apostle's words (1
Cor. 3:19).
Reply Obj. 4: To be unconcerned when one is injured is sometimes due
to the fact that one has no taste for worldly things, but only for
heavenly things. Hence this belongs not to worldly but to Divine
wisdom, as Gregory declares (Moral. x, 49). Sometimes however it is
the result of a man's being simply stupid about everything, as may be
seen in idiots, who do not discern what is injurious to them, and
this belongs to folly simply.
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