Saint Augustine and Aristotle: Philosophy of Social Order
Saint Augustine: Religion as the Foundation of Social Order
Author
Saint Augustine was a medieval philosopher who lived between the 4th and 5th centuries AD. Born in Tagaste (North Africa), he was one of the early Church Fathers.
Topic
Religion as a foundation of social order.
Main Ideas
- Human justice is based on divine law.
- In ethics, the soul must also obey God’s commandments.
- Without justice, there is no common interest, i.e., a people, and without it, there is no divine policy (society).
Relationship Between Ideas
The text begins with a definition of justice, understanding that it applies both to the field of politics and ethics. This definition specifically identifies justice with God’s commandments. In conclusion, no society without justice would be possible.
Explanation of Saint Augustine’s Text
The City of God is contextualized during the collapse of the Roman Empire (sack of Rome by the Goths in 410 AD). With Christians being accused of causing it, Augustine counters with the theory that the irreligion of pagan culture caused the fall of the Empire. In this context, he defines divine justice and the rule of God over society. It is interesting to note the comparison made in the text between politics, anthropology, and ethics: God rules the social body, as the soul rules the physical body, and as reason rules over defects. These comparisons reflect the Platonism of Saint Augustine, where the spiritual world and the physical world are radically separate. Similarly, also inspired by Plato, Augustine understands that justice is a society of truth, which is no longer the Platonic Idea of Good, but God. Divine justice distinguishes between the earthly city, based on selfishness, and the City of God, based on love for God and neighbor, i.e., on the fundamental principles of the Christian religion. The empire of the earth leads to the disintegration of society. The City of God, however, strengthens the common interest, and with it, the survival of society itself, or the village. In short, Augustine defends a political theory in which the state should be subordinate to the Church.
Aristotle: The Social Nature of Man
Historical Context of the Author
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher of the 4th century BC, a pupil of Plato, and the founder of the Lyceum in Athens.
Topic
The text discusses the need for man to live in society to become rational. Man is a civic animal.
Main Ideas
- Definition of man as a social being by nature.
- Reference to the end (teleological) of nature: the need for society to speak.
- The word should not be confused with the “voice” of animals; the voice transmits emotions (feelings), and the word communicates concepts (ethical and political).
- These concepts underlie social life.
Relationship Between Ideas
The text originates from an initial position in which man is defined as a civic animal, unlike other animals. This distinction is developed by comparing the way they communicate (either by word or by voice). It concludes that the word establishes social life.
Explanation of Ideas
In Aristotle’s Politics, he famously defines man as a “social being by nature” or “civic (or political) animal.” Man needs society because only in it can he acquire the gift of the “word,” or logos, which the Greeks identified with reason. Therefore, that man is a social being is not casual because nature always seeks an end, according to Aristotle’s teleological conception of it. The end, in this case, would be that man may develop his rational soul (which is in potential at birth). For this reason, animals do not need society; their soul is sensitive, and it is enough for them to communicate emotions (feelings). If man has the word, it is to reach an agreement on ethical issues (good and bad) and political issues (right and wrong), with which to live in a good and just society, because only then can he be happy, the ultimate goal of every human being, as he states in his Ethics.