The Philosophy of Saint Augustine: Love, Reason, and Faith
Love is a priority, and the right person can bring full happiness. Love reaches its supreme form. We can love good, but it is inferior to loving the superior. Primroses are a gift from God. Minerals strive for love, but cannot love. Animals have a carnal life, and humans are made to love God. The soul has two parts: reason has less knowledge of sensible objects and truths than what is intelligible, such as the eternal and wisdom. Human and divine prescience and free will coexist; although God knows everything, humans are free.
Context of Life and Thought
At 16 years old, Augustine led a restless life, not adhering to Manichaeism. He opened himself to Rome and Neoplatonism, moving away from Manichaean materialism. Through reading, discussions, reflection, and friends, he gained a better understanding of Christianity, using Neoplatonic philosophy. He became one of the greatest Latin Fathers of the Patristic period, creating a complete formulation of medieval thought. He sought to create a “Christian paideia.” His mental trajectory involved revisiting the same questions. The fruit of his thought is evident in his works, addressing central problems.
The City of God
The City of God was written to defend Christians against pagan critics who blamed the fall of Rome on the abandonment of traditional gods for Christianity. It consists of 22 books; the first 10 refute pagan errors, and the remaining 12 explain Christian doctrine. Part 2 (Book 11 onwards) discusses the origin of the two cities. The work contains a concept of God and a reflection on history. From a moral perspective, there is a universal interpretation of history, developing a linear conception, not cyclic like the Greeks. The earthly city is imperfect, while salvation is found in the City of God, where individuals overcome self-love. The Church is superior, and reason and faith work together to achieve Christian truth. Understanding human activity and philosophy requires faith to achieve true happiness. The collaboration between faith and reason is crucial: reason prepares, faith helps, and reason clarifies the contents of faith.
Antecedents of Faith
- Plato and Neoplatonism: Influenced Augustine’s philosophical dualism and anthropology. He adapted Platonic models, seeing ideas as divine. Personal relationship between humans and divinity is key, but emanationism is seen as abstract. Evil is a deprivation of good, a concept from Neoplatonism.
- Skeptics: Augustine addressed the problem of self-consciousness and truth, fighting skepticism. He used arguments against sophists, emphasizing the intelligible order and purification of the soul. The act of doubting proves existence: “If I am mistaken, I am.” This extends to the whole human trinity.
- Manichaeism: This belief system posits two metaphysical principles: good and evil. Augustine rejected this, defending the central role of consciousness. He saw evil as metaphysical, physical, and moral, leading to a search for reconciliation within oneself.
- Pelagianism: This religious movement opposed the doctrine of original sin. Augustine fought against their ideas, arguing that salvation is a gift from God to the “predestined.” This led to a new concept of the person within Christian thought, identifying sin with servitude and grace with freedom.
- Gnostics: This religious-philosophical current sought to absorb Christian concepts. Gnosis is knowledge related to faith. Gnostics sought unity among cognitive elements, concluding that elements of faith and God emanate in successive degradations. The material world is created by an inferior, evil entity. Salvation requires the intervention of a good entity.
Augustine’s Place in Philosophy
Augustine belongs to medieval philosophy, bridging the gap between antiquity and modernity. He is a key figure in the development of Christian thought. His systematic approach is fundamental. He explored the connection between reason and faith, and the nature of God. The apologists, intellectuals converted to Christianity, are well-known.
Predominant Themes
- Augustinianism: This Platonic orientation, assumed by Augustine, left a mark on the West. Key characteristics include the interplay of faith and reason, where reason serves faith, and faith illuminates reason. Anthropology maintains a Platonic dualism of mind and body. Ethics emphasizes the will’s role in understanding truth and love. Ontology applies hylomorphism to all substances.
- Saint Anselm of Canterbury: His argument states that all humans have an idea of God as the greatest being, and this definition includes existence. This has been denied by Thomas Aquinas but accepted by rationalist philosophers like Descartes and Leibniz.
- Saint Bonaventure: He belonged to the Franciscan order and followed Augustine’s thought.
Repercussions: Reducing evil to the absence of good led to a new concept of the person within Christian thought. Augustine’s philosophy led to Augustinianism, with a renewed interest in Neoplatonism. Descartes’ “cogito ergo sum” has Augustinian antecedents, starting with the idea “I think.”