Augustinian Anthropology: Interior intimo meo

Author: Mathewes, Charles T.

Source: Journal of Religious Ethics, Volume 27, Number 2, Summer 1999 , pp. 195-221(27)

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Abstract:

Our appreciation and appropriation of Augustine's thought is hindered by assumptions which serious engagement with his thought makes both visible and dubious. His account of the dynamics of human knowing seems, at first glance, a jumble of confusions, but, once better understood, it helps transform both the terms and the framework of our epistemology. His account of human agency seems similarly confused, but also works, once rightly understood, to transform our vision of what agency is. Furthermore, Augustine's different anthropological and metaphysical assumptions provide not only a platform for criticizing what modernity takes for granted but also resources for reconstructing three important issues in Christian ethics. A proper appreciation of Augustinian anthropology offers benefits, then, beyond the merely exegetical.

Keywords: Augustine; agency; autonomy; epistemology; freedom; knowledge; sin

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/0384-9694.00015

Publication date: 1999-06-01