Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.34075/cs.61.2.1
Gambling Addiction In The Light Of Personalist Anthropology: Passions, Desires, And Formation Of Senses
Mirjana Pinezić
orcid.org/0000-0001-6157-8314
; Catholic Faculty of Theology, University of Split, Split, Croatia
Abstract
This paper examines the phenomenon of gambling addiction from the perspective of personalist anthropology and moral theology. Starting from the understanding of the human person as a unity of soul and body, the paper analyses the relationship between reason, will, passions, and sensible-emotional inclinations in human moral action. Particular attention is given to the role of the passions as a domain that mediates between the spiritual and the sensory life of the person, as well as to the way in which their disorientation can contribute to the development of addictive behavioural patterns, especially in the context of gambling.
The paper also considers the dynamics of human desire and the notion of the “deepest desire of the heart” as a fundamental anthropological category that directs human aspirations toward the ultimate good. In this light, the problem of gambling addiction is interpreted as a disturbance in the integration of the person, in which a separation occurs between reason, will, and sensible-emotional inclinations. Based on these insights, the paper shows how the (re)formation of desires and the senses—grounded in the cultivation of virtues and the renewal of the spiritual dimension of life—can contribute to the reintegration of the person and the restoration of his or her moral freedom.
Keywords
person gambling addiction; passions; desire of the heart; formation of the senses; moral freedom
Hrčak ID:
348418
URI
Publication date:
29.6.2026.
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