Temperaments

“Now it is possible for some of the powers of the soul to be stronger in one individual than in another, because of their different bodily temperaments.”

–St. Thomas Aquinas (Summa Theologica I-II q. 84, a. 4)

The Temperaments

For thousands of years great thinkers in the Western tradition have used the four classical temperaments to understand an individual’s basic tendencies of mood or state of mind. The Greek doctor, Hippocrates, generally acknowledged as the “Father of Medicine,” first observed these tendencies, associating them with the four “humors,” or fluid substances, in the body: phlegm, black bile, yellow bile, and blood. Both the Roman philosopher, Seneca, and the Roman doctor, Galen, adopted them as the basis of personality and associated them with the four elements of ancient physics: earth, air, fire, and water. Later thinkers, such as Thomas Aquinas, Thomas More, William Shakespeare, and many others, considered them a significant source for understanding a person’s emotional responses and dispositions, calling the temperaments choleric, melancholic, sanguine, and phlegmatic. These basic tendencies are so pervasive, in fact, that respected personality type indicators such as the Myers-Briggs Test use the temperaments as the foundation for their entire account of personality types and differences. The temperaments are by no means the ultimate key to self-knowledge, but they are a helpful starting point. Knowing your own or another’s temperament gives one helpful insight into how someone might respond to certain situations, how to help them master their emotions, and how to motivate them to virtuous action. In addition to Myers-Briggs mentioned above, there are other great resources to help you discover your primary and secondary temperaments. 

A Note on Use

We offer four sections on each temperament: a definition and explanation; examples from Western and American history, literature, and art; advice on specific virtues to seek and vices to avoid; and an examination of temperament. The definitions are based on the speed, intensity, and duration of the person’s reaction, and from those three factors the explanation describes common attributes of each temperament. The examples from history, literature, and art include both heroic and tragic figures. Tragic figures were overcome by their unmastered temperaments, whereas the heroic figures were able to master their temperaments. Because each temperament inclines individuals toward certain virtues and away from others, or toward certain vices and away from others, we identify what virtues and vices each temperament inclines toward for your own self-knowledge and plan for personal growth. Lastly, the examination of temperament, also based on the speed, intensity, and duration of the emotional reaction, seeks to increase one’s temperamental self-knowledge, and help one to master one’s temperament. 

Quotations on the Nature of the Temperaments

“Health consists in a certain balance of humors ordered to the nature of the animal, which is called healthy” –Thomas Aquinas (On the Cardinal Virtues 3.reply)

"Antony: Forsooth, Cousin, I suppose many of them are in this case. The devil, as I said before, seeketh his occasions; for as Saint Peter saith, Ad­versarius vester diabolus quasi leo rugiens circuit quaerens quemdevoret (“Your adversary the devil as a roaring lion goeth about, seeking whom he may devour”). He marketh well therefore the state and condition that every man standeth in, not only concerning these outward things—lands, possessions, goods, authority, fame, favor, or hatred of the world—but also men’s complexions within them: health or sickness, good humors or bad, by which they be lighthearted or lumpish, strong-hearted or faint and feeble of spirit, bold and hardy or timorous and fearful of courage. And after, as these things minister him matter of temptation, so useth he himself in the manner of his temptation." –Thomas More (Dialogue of Comfort Book 2, Chapter 16- The Essential Works of Thomas More)

"The Greeks gave choler its name because it ends in the space of a day; hence it is called ‘cholera,’ that is, ‘little bile,’ being an effusion of bile – for the Greeks call bile χολη. 5. Black bile (melancholia) is so called because it is a large amount of bile mixed with the dregs of black blood, for in Greek black is μελαςand bile is χολη. 6. Blood (sanguis) is so called in Latin because it is sweet (suavis); hence people who are dominated by blood are sweet-tempered and pleasant. 7. They gave phlegm its name because it is cold, for the Greeks call coldness φλεϒμονη. Healthy people are governed by these four humors, and feeble people are afflicted as a result of them, for when they increase beyond their natural course they cause sickness." –St. Isidore of Seville (The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville, Book 4, On Medicine, pp. 109-110)