Augustine's Invention of the Inner Self: The Legacy of a Christian PlatonistOxford University Press, 6 juil. 2000 - 232 pages In this book, Phillip Cary argues that Augustine invented the concept of the self as a private inner space-a space into which one can enter and in which one can find God. Although it has often been suggested that Augustine in some way inaugurated the Western tradition of inwardness, this is the first study to pinpoint what was new about Augustine's philosophy of inwardness and situate it within a narrative of his intellectual development and his relationship to the Platonist tradition. Augustine invents the inner self, Cary argues, in order to solve a particular conceptual problem. Augustine is attracted to the Neoplatonist inward turn, which located God within the soul, yet remains loyal to the orthodox Catholic teaching that the soul is not divine. He combines the two emphases by urging us to turn "in then up"--to enter the inner world of the self before gazing at the divine Light above the human mind. Cary situates Augustine's idea of the self historically in both the Platonist and the Christian traditions. The concept of private inner self, he shows, is a development within the history of the Platonist concept of intelligibility or intellectual vision, which establishes a kind of kinship between the human intellect and the divine things it sees. Though not the only Platonist in the Christian tradition, Augustine stands out for his devotion to this concept of intelligibility and his willingness to apply it even to God. This leads him to downplay the doctrine that God is incomprehensible, as he is convinced that it is natural for the mind's eye, when cleansed of sin, to see and understand God. In describing Augustine's invention of the inner self, Cary's fascinating book sheds new light on Augustine's life and thought, and shows how Augustine's position developed into the more orthodox Augustine we know from his later writings. |
Table des matières
Introduction | 3 |
A TRADITION OF DIVINITY WITHIN | 7 |
INVENTING THE INNER SELF | 61 |
The Inner the Outer and the Other | 140 |
Chronology of Augustines Writings | 147 |
Two Key Texts of Augustines Ontology | 149 |
Notes | 151 |
195 | |
207 | |
Autres éditions - Tout afficher
Augustine's Invention of the Inner Self: The Legacy of a Christian Platonist Phillip Cary Aucun aperçu disponible - 2000 |
Expressions et termes fréquents
Alexander of Aphrodisias ancient argument Aristotelian Aristotle Aristotle's Augus Augustine Augustine's Augustinian inwardness Beata Vita beatific vision Cassiciacum dialogues Catholic chapter Christ Christian Christology Cicero Ciceronian concept Conf Confessions contemplation contrast creature dialectic discipline distinction divine Mind doctrine Ennead epistemology eternal evil external things faith flesh Forms Gnostics God’s grace happy Hence hierarchy human Ibid Ideas identity immortality immutable inner world intellectual vision intelligible things intelligible Truth intelligible world invention knowledge later literally located look Manichaean means memory metaphor mortal mutable nature Neoplatonism Neoplatonist non-spatial notion one’s ontological orthodox Phaedo Phaedrus philosophical Platonic Forms Platonism Platonist Plotinian Plotinus Plotinus's precisely private inner space problem question Reason Recollection sense sensible separation Socrates Soliloquies soul soul's soul’s spatial Stoic texts theology thought Timaeus tion treatise true turn Tusc Tusculan Disputations understand unity virtue Wisdom words writings
Fréquemment cités
Page xi - For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers : for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.
Références à ce livre
Misconceptions about the Middle Ages Stephen J. Harris,Bryon Lee Grigsby Aucun aperçu disponible - 2008 |