Casuists

Use in the book

A central example occurs in the regulation of exercise. Burton begins by opposing excessive or ill-timed exercise on one side and idleness on the other to moderate, suitable activity. He then attacks a gentry who regard useful work as beneath their birth and devote their lives to hawking, hunting and similar recreations. “which our Casuists tax” refers to those sports and recreations; tax means censure. The concluding “too immoderate” places the complaint within his attack on excess, while “almost” and the exemption of a few governors limit the account of the nobility. The parenthesis calls in moral authorities; it does not accuse those authorities of dishonest reasoning.

That practical authority is not restricted to sport. In debating whether a desperate patient may seek a magician’s aid, Burton sets casuistic writers alongside divines and schoolmen against the argument that a cure’s benefit makes its source immaterial. His claim invokes “all our Divines, Schoolmen, and such as write cases of conscience” against such recourse. The possessive our and the listed categories belong to his theological appeal, not to a verified universal survey of moral opinion; the nearby list itself records advocates of the opposing position. This is a historical dispute about lawful means, not an instruction about present treatment.

Later, casuists appear within a commendation of learned divines whose books can give readers fuller satisfaction concerning God and the soul. Burton calls their arguments irrefragable, but the praise does not guarantee persuasion. He specifies receptive, well-disposed readers, qualifies the desired change with “si fieri posset,” if it could be done, and ends by conceding that the endeavour often achieves little. Casuists here are valued resources, not merely targets of suspicion.

The causes of despair disclose a different hazard. Questions about mysteries, ceremonies, Sabbaths, laws and duties are things “the Casuists discuss, and Schoolmen broach”; people then mistake, misconstrue and misapply them to themselves. Keeping those agents separate is essential. The sentence does not simply say that casuists deliberately drive their readers mad. Burton proceeds to attack terrifying ministers and indiscreet pastors in his own religious community, including those who magnify small faults and honest recreations into unforgivable offences. He asks for judgment together with mercy, since either terror or complacent flattery can harm.

In the remedial discussion, the same field contributes to help rather than harm. Burton recommends exhortatory writings and cases of conscience, expressly including the Catholic writers Azorius, Navarrus and Sayrus. Medicine and counsel generally cooperate; advice must fit the person and cause, and the subsequent paragraphs add God’s word and specific pastoral preparation. “Navarrus the Casuist” then supplies a reported scheme of remedies. Burton announces ten but prints only five before “&c.”: God, medicine, avoiding the objects that occasioned the distress, submitting to other judgments and answering objections. The compressed attribution to other writers remains a citation chain, not ten reconstructed remedies or proof that every author said precisely the same thing. Burton then acknowledges that overwhelming distress can leave sufferers unable to receive counsel, pray, believe or repent; assistance must therefore meet their particular infirmities, causes and symptoms.

Related entries

Divine, for theologians and spiritual care; Conscience, for moral judgment and scruples; Calling, for useful occupation; Schoolmen, for the related but distinct learned category; Satisfaction, for answering religious doubts.

Places to read

1. The Second Partition. The Cure of Melancholy. Section 1. Member 1. Subsection 1. Unlawful Cures Rejected · paragraphs 46–53the lawfulness of magical cures and the claimed opposition of writers on conscience.
2. Member 4 Exercise of Body and Mind Regulated · paragraphs 1–10; Member 4 Exercise of Body and Mind Regulated · paragraph 6; note 5725moderate exercise, useful occupation and the censure of excessive aristocratic recreation, including the casuist phrase and its original marginal reference.
3. Member 2 Subsection 1 Religious Melancholy From Deficiency: Those Affected—Epicures, Atheists, Hypocrites, the Worldly and Complacent, Carnalists, All Impious People, Impenitent Sinners, and Others · paragraphs 20–25; Member 2 Subsection 1 Religious Melancholy From Deficiency: Those Affected—Epicures, Atheists, Hypocrites, the Worldly and Complacent, Carnalists, All Impious People, Impenitent Sinners, and Others · paragraph 22learned arguments, their limited practical success, and the casuist designation.
4. Causes of Despair: The Devil, Melancholy, Meditation, Distrust, Weakness of Faith, Harsh Ministers, Misunderstanding Scripture, Guilty Consciences, and So On · paragraphs 28–42misapplied questions of conscience, harsh preaching and the necessary balance of mercy and judgment.
5. Treatment of Despair Through Medicine, Good Counsel, Consolation, and So On · paragraphs 11–22counsel, preparation, the book-list and the reported remedies of “Navarrus the Casuist.”

In this edition

“our Casuists tax” is locally aligned as “our writers on cases of conscience condemn”. The expansion explains Casuists; condemn separately renders tax. “which the Casuists discuss, and Schoolmen broach” becomes “debated by casuists and raised by scholastic theologians”: the syntax becomes passive, but the two groups remain the agents of their respective activities. Casuist is retained and explained by the person’s named field, not translated as moral faultfinding.

The original marginal reference in the accompanying note and its editorial expansion are separate layers, even though the note is labelled Burton. The quoted title and abbreviated locator are original marginal evidence; the identification William and the expanded bibliography are the edition’s explanation. Earlier discussions already treat the surrounding evidence: cases of conscience under Conscience, ad sanam mentem under Religious melancholy, well disposed under Habit and disposition, and nice points under Nice. Their shared passages are complementary routes, not newly discovered occurrences.

casuist; casuists

A writer or theologian concerned with cases of conscience: particular questions of moral conduct, religious duty and judgment. The term identifies an area of learned or pastoral work; local praise, censure and effects must be specified separately.

Original text: “our Casuists tax”. In the modern column: “our writers on cases of conscience condemn”. Writers judging particular moral obligations, here cited as censuring aristocratic sports and recreations. Which refers to the sports and recreations just listed; the criticism culminates in too immoderate. Almost and some few governers exempted limit the wider attack on noble idleness. Casuists expands to writers on cases of conscience; our remains our; tax supplies condemn. The noun does not itself mean condemners, tax-collectors or dishonest reasoners. Complementary earlier route: Honour and nobility. Same paragraph already explains badge of gentry; the casuist component is complementary, not a newly discovered occurrence.

Original text: “Schoolmen amongst the rest, and Casuists”. In the modern column: “including the scholastics and casuists”. Moral theologians included among learned writers recommended for fuller religious argument. Burton praises these arguments but limits the receptive audience and admits often slight effect. Si fieri posset qualifies the hoped-for recovery; no guaranteed success is asserted. Casuists is retained as casuists; Schoolmen supplies scholastics, while amongst the rest is recast as including.

Original text: “which the Casuists discuss, and Schoolmen broach”. In the modern column: “debated by casuists and raised by scholastic theologians”. Writers debating particular matters of religious and moral duty. The harmful action is misunderstanding and applying difficult matters wrongly to oneself; Luther is cited for the ensuing self-torment. Later criticism addresses terrifying ministers, including Burton’s own religious camp. The relative clause is recast in passive participles; casuists remain agents of debate, Schoolmen become scholastic theologians. Misapplication belongs to the next clause’s divers/Many, not automatically to the casuists.

Original text: “Navarrus the Casuist”. In the modern column: “Navarrus the casuist”. Navarrus identified by his work on cases of conscience as a source of remedies for despair. Burton reports a ten-remedy list but prints only five items before &c. The compressed chain of Navarrus, Antoninus, Cajetan, Gerson, Sayrus and Rodrigues is his citation, not a fresh collation. The singular professional designation is retained with modern capitalization; Navarrus remains the person named.

cases of conscience

Particular problems of moral or religious judgment, and by extension writings examining those problems; in the Perkins margin it is a cited work title.

Original text: “such as write cases of conscience”. In the modern column: “writers on cases of conscience”. Particular moral and religious questions treated by authors whose authority Burton invokes against magical cures. All qualifies Burton’s invoked group, “our Divines, Schoolmen, and such as write cases of conscience”; the possessive and listed categories must remain visible. This is his claim of consensus, not an independently verified universal tally. It answers the preceding conditional argument that a magician’s aid might be acceptable if it heals. Such as write is nominalized as writers on; cases of conscience retains the field of inquiry.

Original margin: “Perkins cases of conscience. l. 3. c. 4. q. 3.” Supplied note translation or expansion: “William Perkins, Cases of Conscience, book 3, chapter 4, question 3”. The bibliographic title identifies the Perkins work cited for the casuists’ censure, with book, chapter and question locator retained. Only the first quoted reference is original marginal wording. William and the expanded locator are editorial explanation. The supplied editor says the exact Perkins passage remains to be checked; this record does not claim collation. Perkins expands to William Perkins; cases of conscience is the title; l., c. and q. are expanded as book, chapter and question. The full reference is not the translation of cases alone.

Original text: “such as have written cases of conscience amongst our Pontificial Writers”. In the modern column: “others who have written cases of conscience among our Catholic writers”. Works on particular moral and religious difficulties included among sources of pastoral counsel. Azorius, Navarrus and Sayrus are expressly included despite nearby anti-Catholic polemic. Counsel is fitted to the person and cause; God’s word and the following prerequisites remain part of Burton’s historical programme. Cases of conscience is retained; Pontificial is rendered Catholic, and others makes the continuation of the list explicit.