The Heart: An Analysis of Human and Divine Affectivity

Very few people understand the central role of the heart in a full, authentic human life, and this great book by Dietrich von Hildebrand seeks to correct that problem. Some put too much stock in the heart and carelessly assert such disastrous things as "do what you love," regardless of any moral or rational order. Others put absolutely no stock in the heart and think of human affectivity as being all too sweet and sentimental for any serious consideration. Both camps are wrong, and this book tells you exactly why - and so much more.The main subject of this work is the heart as the center of human affectivity. What this means is that love, joy, enthusiasm, sorrow, etc. are situated in a unique sphere of human acts akin to the way that cognition, thought, reflection, etc. are situated in the intellectual sphere or how willing, striving, etc. are in the volitional sphere (I avoid the usually employed phrase of "faculty of the soul" for reasons that are best saved for your own reading of the book - it's far too much for me to explain in a simple Amazon review). Thus the old saw that "love is an act of the will" couldn't be further from the truth (hear that, you Neo-Thomists?). If love be a mere act of the will, 1 Corinthians 13:3 makes no sense: surely one’s will to do good and will to love are involved in giving to the poor, but clearly St. Paul distinguishes from the mere will to do good for another and a full love. Love must, then, be situated outside the will. The first part of the book (which constitutes over half of its length) deals with proving this thesis and making necessary distinctions between true acts of the heart and acts of the passions, between spiritual and non-spiritual affectivity, analyzing common defects of the heart (e.g., gushy sentimentality, hard-heartedness, etc.), and other more philosophical-type reflections. The second part deals with the Sacred Heart of Jesus and illustrates how the Gospels' depiction of Christ reveals His affectivity as an outpouring of His Sacred Heart. The final third section offers some great insights - I chose two that I found especially profound to briefly describe below. This lattermost part is concerned with how our own heart must be transformed in Christ and how we must properly use it (our heart) to love the things that warrant our love (God above all).von Hildebrand offers a very important clarification/correction to a common pious expression: that one must always be joyous in carrying out the will of God. Certainly one must conform his will to God's will, and ought to be cognizant of the fact that in doing so he is doing what is best and what is of the highest value in that situation. Cheerfulness, though, need not always, and in some cases should not, accompany such acts of the will, though. As von Hildebrand points out, it would be monstrous for Abraham to be joyous over his sacrifice of Isaac. Or, it would similarly be reprehensible for someone to be happy over the death of their beloved "because it's God's will that it be so." One must of course be resigned to God's will, but the proper affective responses demanded of Abraham or the lover in these instances are feelings of great sorrow. Or again, think of Christ's human will when He asked the Father to let the chalice of the crucifixion pass Him by; yet at the end of His prayer, He resigns Himself anyway to the Father's will. Here, Christ in His Sacred Heart suffered on account of His impending crucifixion - He was not happy/joyful about it; and yet His will was ready to act in conformity with the will of His Father. God sends crosses our way which we need to accept with appropriate acts of our will, but they would cease to be crosses (and therefore, our resignation to them would cease to be efficacious) if we do not suffer on account of them.Additionally, the author discusses "loving in God" ("amare in Deo"), the brunt of which is that the earthly goods that possess real, transcendent value need not be despised the way that those worldly goods which are only subjectively satisfying do. Thus, loving another person (if done correctly, namely "in God") can never interfere with our love for God. When Christ tells us to "hate mother, father, etc." if we wishe to be His disciple (Luke 14:26), this can only be understood as referring to the primacy of the love of God over all other people and things (since to literally hate another person would obviously run contrary to the command to love our neighbor). Thus, love for a spouse, philosophical truth, natural or artistic beauty, etc. need not be renounced (and indeed ought not, for each these possesses value in itself and thus demands a positive value-response), but simply need be expressed in our "amare in Deo". Remember that in addition to loving all men, Jesus had a special love for the Apostle John, and Mary Magdalene, Martha, and Lazarus (and certainly for His mother). The particular loves He felt for these individuals in no way interfered with His divine love for all men, though.All Christians (especially Catholics) should read this book in order to really understand what role God has for our heart in our Christian love for Him and for our neighbor. Even non-Christians (and especially philosophers) can learn a great deal at least from the first part of the book. And all you Neo-Thomists need to seriously consider the philosophical implications of this book's central thesis on your bipartite view of the higher faculties of the soul - the intellect and will alone just won't cut it.

J.M.JHusserl radically changed philosophy forever by making clear in his Logical Investigations that intuition is a direct encounter with the object. He renewed the importance of sensibility - which Kant basically dismissed in his Transcendental Aesthetic - and opened the road for a new study of the human heart based on the notion (Intentionality) that the heart is responding to reality. I am consciousness of something, I am talking about something, I love someone: consciousness is consciousness of. Love no longer needs to be "The [subjective] desire to be loved" (Being and Nothingness, p. 493-495), but rather can be understand as a response to something real - value in the world. Husserl never really explored this because of his formal way of doing philosophy and also because he radically changed his views in 1913 with the publication of his Ideas. But Hildebrand has seized upon the importance of "Value Response" and given us a new way of understanding the human person. One that avoids relativing or subjectifying man, but rather shows his dignity by showing how in his human heart he transcends reality and is in constant dialogue with it.

Great book. Lots of insights. The human soul has three potencies: the will, the intellect and, the heart (affectivity). Affectivity has been neglected in philosophy. This highly gifted philosopher (Von Hildebrand), through this book, sheds some light on affectivity, "the Sacred Heart of Jesus", and, the affectivity of Jesus as an example to follow.

Dietrich von Hildebrand wrote his doctoral dissertation under Edmund Husserl and earned high praise from this founder of the philosophical approach of phenomenology. Also from this tradition come Karol Wojtyla and Saint Edith Stein. This later short work on von Hildebrand's philosophy of Love is both accessible and profound.

Excellent analysis of this "third faculty" of the human soul that is often ignored or relegated to simpl a subdivision of the will. Necessary reading for all those interested in Christian Anthropology.

Deep.

A deeply life changing book, that is spiritual, practical and academic and steeped in Catholic tradition.

Excellent evaluation of what the human person should be

One of the most penetrating analyses I’ve ever read. Hildebrand is as wise as he is analytically astute.

Excellent reading and guidance. so glad it's been reprinted