...St. Augustine’s Criticism on Plato and Platonism St. Augustine is one of the towering figures of medieval philosophy. Augustine had a huge influence on the modern period with people including Descartes and Malebranche. One of the main focal points in his life comes in 387 AD, when his conversion to Christianity takes place. In Augustine’s conversion to Christianity, he evolved a different approach to thinking. When Augustine writes about the Manicheans, he tends to focus on their materialism, substantive dualism, and their identification of the human soul as a particle of the Light. These three key qualifications from Platonism provide Augustine with a philosophical framework for both the medieval and modern periods. In the Confessions, Augustine gives his most extensive discussion of the books of the Platonists. In the Confessions, he makes clear that his previous thinking was dominated by common- sense materialism. It was the books of the Platonists that first made it possible for him to conceive the possibility of a non-physical substance. It did provide him however with a non- Manichean solution to the problem of the origin of evil. In addition, the books of the Platonists provided him with a framework where he plotted the human condition. According to Augustine the framework for Platonists can account for the difficulties with which life brings about to us, in the same aspect it offers a theory that the highest ethical goal is happiness and personal well- being. In...
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...Chapter IV. Doctrine of Knowledge Problems of Epistemology The first philosophical problem confronted by Augustine after his conversion was the problem of knowledge in a twofold perspective. * Whether we know the truth. * How we know the truth. The first response to the first problem is a severe critique of skepticism. His response to the second problem is the doctrine of illumination, which substituted the platonic doctrine of the reminiscence and which the Aristotelian doctrine of abstraction. A. CRITIQUE OF SCEPTICISM: MAN KNOWS TRUTH * Augustine shows that man can know the truths with firmness, such as his principle of non contradiction and of course his own existence. No one can doubt his own existence, because the doubt itself is the proof of existence. Meaning how a person will doubt something that doesn’t exist, everything that is doubted it is existing. When one doubted something meaning he doubts an existing object. * “I am most certain” St. Augustine states, “of my being, knowing and loving; nor do I fear the arguments against these truths of the academics, who say, ‘and what you deceive yourself ‘if I deceive myself that means that I am, I exist. Certainly he who does not exist cannot deceive himself; if I deceive myself then through this very fact I am. Since I exist, from the moment in which I deceive myself, how can I deceive myself about my being when I am certain that I am, through the fact itself that I deceive myself? Therefore...
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...The Confessions of Saint Augustine St. Augustine main conflict was accepting God in his life. He struggle to acknowledge that God has possessed him. His father was a pagan, but his mother was such a devoted Christian woman; she dedicated her life to pray for the conversion of her son. St. Augustine was a teacher and during his youth days he encounters conflicts with Christian morality. He questioned himself many time “who am I” and “who are men?” he was a sinner and lived a very disorderly life. For example, as a child he was not baptized, he was not initiated in the Christian formation and he became afraid to sin after receiving the sacrament. This kept enriching his Manichean beliefs, he was “seduced and he seduced others, deceived and deceiving by various desires” and his doubts about encountering the truth kept increasing. He was too proud, too full of vanities, he had affairs with many women, and even had a son, but he realizes that his vision that happiness cannot be found in worldly pleasures but in the search for truth beyond the material world. “My heart was made dark by sorrow, and whatever I looked upon was death” he refers to the death of his closes friend whom he had perverted, and whose death he felt and wept bitterly. He became very desperate, confused and mad because he...
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...Saint Augustine, also know us Saint Augustine of Hippo, Aurelius Augustinus. he was in Thagaste , Souk Ahras, Algeria Nov. 13, 354, Tagaste , died Aug. 28, 430, Hippo Regius, feast day August 28, bishop of Hippo from 396 to 430, . The father of St. Augustine was a pagan who converted on his death bed and his mother was Saint Monica, a devout Christian. St. Augustine received a Christian upbringing and in 370 went to the University at Carthage to study rhetoric with a view to becoming a lawyer. St. Augustine gave up to be lawyer and to devote himself to literary pursuits and gradually abandoned his Christian faith ,he taking a mistress with whom he lived fifteen years and who bore him a son, Adeodatus, in 372 and afteran investigating...
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...St. Augustine is one of the most important places of the upbringing of modern day America. Founded in 1565 by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés as direct order from King Phillip. They ran into some trouble with nearby Indians of the Timucua tribe. They had to relocate to avoid conflict with this tribe, in these times of relocation he had established 3 forts. Menedez then returned back to Spain in 1567. He later became ill and died on September 17, 1574. In 1568 a French commander by the name of Dominique De Gourges banded together with the local Indians to attack the fort of San Mateo. This was a time where St. Augustine failed to attract newcomers and started to fail. The light of day came when Don Pedro Menendez Marquez the nephew of Pedro came and...
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...The artwork that I had chosen from the President’s Gallery was Kabuki St. Augustine by Maureen Warren. There were only two figures in the foreground mostly in black and white coloring, while the background was black. Even though the whole piece was in black and white since it came from a linocut, the red and blue watercolors were the only colors in the piece. The red and blue colors surround the man’s eyes while woman’s eyes, lips, and a line that is at the left side of her head were painted red. The way that the colors were shaped in geometric shapes almost made them look like Native Americans preparing for a battle. Based on the color’s mass, my eyes mainly directed at the colors of the male figure since there were two colors involved and...
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...Eva Eva was a little girl, and her father, Augustine St. Clare was a rich man. Tom met her when he was transport to New Orleans by ship. Tom saved Eva when she falled into the water. Therefore, Eva earnestly requested her father to buy Tom. Tom became a coachman in Sinclair’s manor. However, Tom’s most of time was with Eva. Eva was very pure. She often talked about love Also, she liked Tom. When she need a servant accompany her, she called Tom. Therefore, the work for Tom was just command other men to work in the stable. The life in Sinclair’s manor was relaxing. However, she died at 8 years old. Augustine St. Clare Augustine St. Clare was Eva’s father. Also, he was a compassionate slave owner. Since Tom saved his daughter, he treated Tom...
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...marches hoping to use violence and fear to continue segregation. On July 2nd 1964 The Civil Rights Act was passed by the senate making segregation at businesses and restaurants illegal. Baseball is Americas pastime and in 1886 it was no different. The start of professional baseball in St. Augustine began with an ad for a game between the black employees who worked at the Ponce de Leon vs Alcazar employees (26). Many of the colored players from the Ponce were born and raised in Lincolnville and played on the semiprofessional negro team the Cuban Giants. There is no evidence that any of the giant players were Cuban or that they even spoke Spanish. The most likely reason for being Cuban was to avoid the discrimination of white fans and players. Who had a problem watching or playing with black players but allowed Cubans or American Indians to play (27). Since the Flagler teams featured both amateurs and professional’s players they would be considered a semiprofessional which not only provided high level entertainment for Flagler’s hotel guests, but also improved employee morale. By 1964 baseball had become part of the culture of St. Augustine and Lincolnville. In 1947 Jackie Robinson became the first black player to play in the major leagues. 17 years later in 1964,...
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...individual. Literally the comprehensions of the sin divine people’s min into two sides. But there is never pro or con side because every person explains according to his own life and private examples. Also it did not pass along our one of the most famous historic of philosophy Socrates and St. Augustine in their latest compositions. They say that the “Sin” is a thing that harms one’s life in abstract way. Basically Socrates in the “Apology” understands Sin just like an abandon during your self-development therefore he used to say “If you ever do not know anything about knowledge and afterwards just forget it and let it go” so this is a sin. On the other hand the Sin in Confessions by Saint Augustine is a new attempt, he proposes as sin, things which makes you proud. Since both characters have their own thoughts on something, and this understanding makes them really different. For example they both say about sins however they understand different things as a sin. These most incredible Greek philosophers such as St. Augustine and Socrates with ambiguous ideas disputed about what the Sin is. Moreover they have different views on how to look to Sin with different directions. St. Augustine’s book which is called Confession is autobiographic since it was written according his life, and after reading the Confession we can deduce that what were his understandings about sin in his different life ages. Moreover we can find out, how a sinful life he had and how could overcome...
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...Augustine Dealing with Death “A Friend’s Death” in the book “Confessions,” written in Hippo in 397, pretty clearly identifies what this portion of the text encompasses. The excerpt begins with Augustine’s recurrence of confusion with God; watching his friend suffer so intensely makes him wonder why God doesn’t divinely intervene to end his misery. This leads to a reflection on his recent dark days and more ambiguity with God’s presence. While unconscious, Augustine’s friend receives a baptism that Augustine is sure he would not have preferred if mentally present. With this in mind, Augustine pokes fun of it when his friend comes to, which is seen as repulsively unforgiveable, and threatens to end their friendship. Not long afterwards, the friend passes, which leaves no time for reconciliation for the two. This leads Augustine descending into a deep depression where constantly reminders of his loss lie and ultimately his only relief is found through weeping. Although this time period was extremely devastating to Augustine in the moment, do you think the reborn St. Augustine looks back on this memory as more of a weight off of his shoulders than a devastating loss while writing the selection? In the beginning sentences of the selection, Augustine goes into detail about the diminishing condition of his ailing friend. He goes into depth when describing his friend’s pain, stating that he was “convulsed with fever, lying insensible in a lethal sweat and given up for lost”...
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...December 10, 2011 Dante and St. Augustine Spiritual Journeys During St. Augustine’s life, there was extreme decline while Christianity was being accepted as an official religion. In this era, there was intense political stress, as well as widespread religious concern. The confessions of St. Augustine reveal things in his formative years. During these years, he tried inexorably in overcoming sensual desires, finding faith and understanding philosophical and religious doctrines. Augustine often experienced confusion, blindness and darkness while seeking to find the truth in the creator. Inside him, he truly knew that after he eventually finds him, there would be redemption of his confused heart. Augustine’s confessions begin as a prayer (Kline Para. 5). In 1300 AD, Dante could have headed to hell together with an ancient Roman poet as a guide. In this case, he required better help to find heaven. Virgil’s Aeneid gives an approximation of the Homeric song. The song borrows extensively from Odyssey and Iliad (Kline Para. 7). However, the politics are anti-Greek while there is also a lack of Homer’s irony and a penetrating observation of violence from humans. May be, Virgil could have successfully achieved all of Homer’s effects if he had tried since he is considered to be a strong imitator. However, the Roman imperialist politics determined his agenda. One of Augustine’s confessions consists of the eternal Rose’s yellow that stretches and slopes while diffusing fragrance of...
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...themselves. “In the normative sense, morality should never be overridden, that is, no one should ever violate a moral prohibition or requirement for non-moral considerations.” I think that the worker was only thinking about himself and he really didn’t care about the job. It was not fair that the other workers had to always pick up his slack. I don’t think that he was considering what others were feeling and that is not a good co-worker. I don’t blame him all the way because the job let him continue to be absent and they continued to give him days off. He should have been fired or replaced. I think that St Augustine would have fired him and let him learn the consequences because Augustine feels that we learn from life lessons. He thinks that we should always be aware of the choices that we make because God set the plans for us through the bible and we should live by them. St Aquinas thinks that we can learn from mistakes. I think that he would have maybe put him on probation and gave him a couple of ultimatums. Aquinas doesn’t think that we should always make one pay or feel guilty about their actions. He...
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...A Brief Look at Happiness If nothing else, one thing can be said about happiness: If individuals are happy and they know they are happy, they should clap their hands. While the intent of this simple statement is merely to amuse children, developing true happiness is thought by many to be very difficult. Also, happiness is often falsely recognized and misinterpreted. Therefore, being truly happy and knowing you are truly happy are very loaded concepts. The object of this paper is to analyze and compare the thoughts of three philosophers’ whose remarks on happiness have been most influential for centuries after their time. They are Aristotle, St. Augustine, and St. Thomas Aquinas. Although I do not have the perfect understanding of happiness and believe no one does, I believe that each of their approaches to happiness hold a common theme that must be inconsistent with true happiness. They base happiness ultimately on self fulfillment. One of the earliest to ask the question ‘what is happiness?’ was Aristotle, who, in a manner typical of philosophers, before providing an answer insisted on making a distinction between two different questions. His first question was what was meant by the word ‘happiness’—or rather, its ancient Greek equivalent eudaimonia. His second question was where happiness was to be found, that is to say, what is it that makes us truly happy? Reasonably enough he thought that it was futile to try to answer the second question without having given thought to...
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...Evil, Christianity, and Saint Augustine Sammy Hoag Philosophy 202 Dr. Ryan Murphy December 2015 What is evil? This ‘problem of evil’ and the existence of evil have plagued the minds of people throughout the centuries. It has been one on the most sought after inquiries and one of the most vexing challenges to Christianity, in explaining the existence of God. Many philosophers and thinkers, both secular and Christian, have endeavored to solve this problem. One of the most notable of whom is Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430). He is perhaps one of the most influential philosophers in the history of the Christian Church. Augustine spent much of his life trying to solve this ‘problem of evil’ and it proved to be quite an undertaking. This paper will explore the problem of evil and argue how Saint Augustine solidified the ways in which philosophy and religion, specifically Christianity, coincide through his work on the concepts of the problem of and the origin of evil. Understanding the problem of evil is essential to everyone because it affects the manner in which life is lived. Whether defending a belief in God or trying to share those beliefs with others everyone will encounter the problem of evil at some point. According to Ed Miller and Jon Jensen, authors of Questions that Matter:...
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...ethics to a more “holistic” way. Nussbaum argues something that many philosophers before her built their philosophies on, the idea of “justice” and how one should go about living a “good” life. For Augustine in particular living a completely just life goes hand in hand with having complete order in your life. Nussbaum argues that the “good life” in a way makes people oblivious and vulnerable to what the world truly has in store and could negate their “human flourishing”. Augustine’s’ philosophy takes account of Nussbaum’s ideas the most because he basically objects to any notions of the good life, Augustine recognized that no object can be good or bad, but our will as humans is what takes a good thing and then makes them bad. He believes that the reason evil even exists is because humans are not perfect. Augustine of Hippo also known as St. Augustine was an early philosopher who’s philosophy paved the way for what is now Western Christianity, one if his most important pieces of work, “City of God” is still read widely today. He influenced Western Christianity greatly because he believed that all Christians should be pacifists but at the same time he also asserted that one should always defend themselves and others especially if authorized by a legitimate authority aka God. Augustine is a strong believer in Natural Theology which is the idea that nature is created by God and all things in nature are good because God only creates good things, but that is when you get the question...
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