Introduction to the Philosophy of Saint Augustine (continued)
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THE PROBLEM OF KNOWLEDGE
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1. first selection, the dialogue Against the Academics, is dedicated to Romanianus the friend of Augustine and was written in the first year of his conversion. One of the most pressing problems at this time for Augustine was his need to be assured of the possibility of attaining certitude and truth, for he had only recently accepted for a time the position of the Academics and their scepticism. Of the importance of this problem of doubt and certitude at this time he writes: "This doubt was the source of my writing three books at the very beginning of my conversion, so that I might not be hindered at the very threshold of faith by this opposing doctrine." 1 The dialogue covers several aspects of the problem of knowledge. The material selected is taken entirely from Book HI. Book I is concerned largely with the identification of the happy life with wisdom, for happiness is a life in conformity with reason. More explicitly, Augustine maintains that happiness consists in the knowledge of truth and not in the mere pursuit of it. In Book II he develops in more detail the various aspects of the sceptical philosophy and aside from certain historical observations the discussion turns upon the problem of truth and its relation to probabilism. The brunt of Augustine's criticism here is that the Academics assert that they follow the "truth-like" or that which resembles the true; they do not know what truth itself is and thus are limited to judgments of probability. Book III returns to a discussion and review of the nature of wisdom. The sceptical position is then summed up in the statement that "nothing is understood and that assent is not to be given to anything." Augustine's refutation of scepticism begins with a review of the various fields of knowledge in which he endeavors to discover truths that may be considered as necessary, immutable, and eternal.
Such truths, he maintains, are to be found in mathematics—''even if the whole human race were fast asleep, it would still be necessarily true that three times three are nine"—and in dialectic.? Concerning dialectic or logic, Augustine notes especially the necessary truth of disjunctive propositions, e.g. that the soul cannot be both mortal and immortal, that there cannot be both one sun and two, that a man cannot be both happy and miserable at the same time. Such truths of dialectic, as well as the truths of mathematics, he terms rationes or veritates aeternae because they are beyond time and change. That such truths exist, he is convinced, is a sufficient answer to the scepticism of the Academics and establishes the validity of human reason. He concludes by noting some of the practical and moral consequences of probabilism and doubt.
The City of God is undoubtedly familiar to most readers and needs little introduction. Probably the most influential book of the middle ages, it ranks with The Trinity and the Confessions as the greatest of Augustine's intellectual achievements. Written between 413 and 426, it is concerned in the first ten book with the refutation of the pagan charge that "Rome fell in Christian days." The more positive achievement of the work is covered in the last twelve books with a defense and exposition of the Christian faith which culminates by contrasting the ideals of the City of God with those of the Earthly City and the wisdom of Christianity over against the most notable philosophies and religions of the pagan world. The brief selection taken from Book XI is illustrative of what may be termed the Augustinian Cogito. The principal theme of the selection is the Sz fallor sum, if I am deceived then I am. This may be compared with Descartes' famous
Cogito, ergo sum; but as we have pointed out in the general introduction there are significant differences in the Augustinian and the Cartesian Cogzto.
The selection from Book XV of The Trinity is directed against the Academic philosophy. It repeats the theme of the previous selection, but expounds it in more detail. More important it reveals the fundamental conviction of Augustine that a certain knowledge does exist. Augustine's position is not one of declaring 'let us see how much we can doubt' but rather "'far be it from us to doubt" as do the Academics.
The selection from Book XI of The Trinity is an analysis of sensation or perception with the objective of developing the three elements in sense knowledge: the object, the sense act, and the activity of mind or attention. The analysis of sensation in this manner affords Augustine the opportunity to utilize the notion of the Trinity in relation to sensation in a manner similar to the exposition of intellectual knowledge as a reflection of the activity of the Trinity. This analysis may also be compared with the treatment of sensation in The Greatness of the Soul, cited in the previous topic on the Psychology of Augustine, and with the selection from The Literal Meaning of Genesis which immediately follows.
The Literal Meaning of Genesis consists of twelve books dealing largely with the explanation of creation as revealed in Genesis. As an account of creation it supplements considerably that given in the Confessions, and is the more comprehensive of the several commentaries that Augustine wrote on Genesis. The work was carried out over a period of fifteen years, from 401 to 415, and it contains, as well as the account of creation, studies on astrology, psychology, and anthropology, an essay on the knowledge of angels, and an exegesis of the statement of St. Paul: "I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows—that he was caught up into paradise and heard secret words that man may not repeat." (II Cor. 12:2-4) It is this exegesis that leads Augustine to the subject of visions, and he proceeds in the selection chosen here to study the three kinds of vision: corporeal, spiritual, and intellectual. Particular attention is given to the meaning of the term "spirit," the nature of spiritual vision, and its relation to the other two forms of vision. An analysis of sensation supplements the account of corporeal vision and shows more specifically the function of spirit in sensation.
The Teacher is another of the earlier philosophical dialogues of Augustine. It was written circa 389, at least two years after his conversion. The participants in the dialogue are Augustine and his son Adeodatus who was to die in that year at the age of 18. The first several chapters of the dialogue are devoted to a study of the symbolism of language, following which Augustine proceeds to the development of his famous paradox nusquam discere—nothing can be learned. In explaining the paradox Augustine observes that in the relation between teacher and student there are three possible alternatives for the communication of ideas: (1) The teacher may fail to convince or persuade the student that what he, the teacher, has said is true, and hence nothing is learned.
(2) The student may be convinced that the teacher is in error and again nothing is learned. (3) Assuming that the student accepts as correct what the teacher has said, there is still nothing learned, for the student has seen for himself that what has been said is true. Learning is a_process of discovering that which already exists within the mind.?' The outcome of the analysis is that in order that we may discover the truth we must look within to the Interior Master. Christ is the Interior Master and only through His Word and by His help can man gain a comprehension of the truth and attain the highest knowledge.
Between 393 and 396, shortly before he became bishop of Hippo, Augustine participated in a series of discussions on a Variety of philosophical and theological questions at Tagaste and Hippo. After he became bishop he arranged all his notes and replies to these questions in the form of a book which he entitled Eighty-three Different Questions. Question 46 is entitled The Ideas and is perhaps the best and most explicit statement of Augustine on the Platonic Ideas. The selection is significant for the status that it gives to such Ideas, namely, that they have an existence as Exemplars in the mind of God, rather than as Plato taught an independent existence in an intelligible world of their own. The selection provides then an essential account of what has been termed Augustine's exemplarism, an integral part of his theory of the Divine [lumination and the role the Ideas play in our knowledge and the divine creativity.
The last three selections are from The Trinity. The selection from Book XII deals fairly explicitly with the theme of the relation between knowledge and wisdom, but out of this discussion several significant statements are made relevant to Augustine's doctrine of the Divine Illumination. The brief selection from Book XIV of The Trinity deals with one aspect of the theory of the Divine Illumination, namely, the existence of the eternal rules and how we may obtain a knowledge of them.
The selection from Book IX of The Trinity is concerned principally with a theme that was of considerable interest to Augustine—the exposition of the existence of different possible