Ethics4

ST. AUGUSTINE

• Prof. Moses Aaron T. Angeles, Ph.D.

• College of Arts and Sciences, San Beda University

ST. AUGUSTINE AND MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY

• Considered the greatest of the Fathers of the Western Church.

• One of four major doctors of the Church: Sts. Augustine, Ambrose, Gregory the Great, and Jerome.

• Most influential among Christian Neoplatonists.

• His teachings dominated Christian thought until the rise of Aristotelianism in the early 13th century.

• Augustinianism remained a significant intellectual movement throughout the medieval ages and beyond.

AUGUSTINE AND PHILOSOPHY

• Believed Neoplatonists approached truth but did not fully embody ultimate truths found in Christianity.

• Philosophy serves as a tool for understanding Christianity rather than an independent study.

• Key Quote: "Understand that you may believe; and believe that you may understand."

AUGUSTINE’S SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH

• Theory of knowledge holds a crucial place in Augustine’s philosophy.

• A skeptical view on whether perception alone suffices for knowledge; however, acknowledges some reliable knowledge exists about the physical world.

• Perception involves rational judgments rather than passive sensory input.

• Perception operates with standards and relates to the soul through the body.

THE THEORY OF DIVINE ILLUMINATION: AUGUSTINE’S THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE

• In De Trinitate, Augustine discusses the role of divine light in acquiring knowledge.

• Analogizes God to the sun providing light to the soul, facilitating knowledge.

• Key Concept: "God is the light in, by, and through whom all intelligible things are illumined."

3 IMPORTANT POINTS ON ILLUMINATION

• God illuminates all humans to varying degrees.

• Intelligible truths (rationes aeternae) are made known through divine illumination.

• Human minds access divine truth only as they participate in God’s light; no one is self-sufficient in knowledge.

• All human endeavors require God’s assistance.

GOD AND THE SOUL

• Augustine expresses the desire to understand God and the soul above all else.

• Knowledge of God is obtained through introspection rather than external examination.

• Key Quote: "I may be deceived when I think I know; I still must exist in order to be deceived."

GOD AND TRUTH

• The Confessions reveals that the search for truth ultimately leads to God, the embodiment of truth.

• God acts as the inner teacher of truth.

• Augustine provides arguments for God's existence related to the nature of truth, asserting that human truths indicate a higher, immutable Truth (God).

MAN AND HIS WOUNDED NATURE

• Original Sin illustrates humanity's fall.

• Effects of sin on human nature:

  • Intellect dimmed by ignorance.

  • Will weakened by concupiscence.

  • Subject to death.

• These flaws are inherited from Adam, affecting all humanity.

• God's grace allows for restoration to original justice through the Incarnation.

HUMAN NATURE AND THE INCARNATION

• The mystery of the Incarnation is central to Augustine's thought.

• Addresses the question of freedom: predestination vs. predetermination.

• Post-Fall, man retains choice but lacks the freedom to avoid sin.

• Emphasizes grace and Christian hope.

MAN AND THE OTHER

• Augustine sees man as a social or political animal, with social nature deemed a divine perfection retained after the Fall.

• Humans unite in families and states to seek tranquility and peace.

• Temporal political states cannot yield eternal happiness; true happiness comes only through God's grace despite some temporal justice.

DE CIVITATE DEI

• Longest and most comprehensive work of Augustine.

• Title references Psalm 87:13, focused on Christianity's role in the temporal order.

• Assumes Christians form part of an invisible universal society where salvation is possible.

• Divided into 22 books: refutation of false teachings (books 1-10) and defense of Christian faith (books 11-22).

THE CITY OF GOD

• Represents the heavenly Jerusalem.

• Counterpart: The City of Man (Earthly City), often symbolized by Babylon, or sometimes referred to as the City of the Devil.

• These cities are mystical; citizenship determined by love: "the love of God to the contempt of oneself" vs. "the love of oneself to the contempt of God."

ST. AUGUSTINE’S MORAL IDEAL

• Moral ideal encapsulated in the commandment of love for God and neighbor, linked to Ciceronian natural law:

  • Law preserving natural order and prohibiting its disturbance.

• Calls for subordination of lower faculties to higher faculties within individuals and society to achieve moral life.

• Highlights the difficulty of being a good Christian and a good citizen in unjust societies.

THE LOVE OF GOD AND NEIGHBOR

• Augustine reflects that love for God and neighbor embodies the greatness of divine teachings.

• Key Quote: "My hope in the name of Christ is not sterile... not a single mystery or obscure word of Holy Scripture becomes clear for me, unless I meet these two commandments."