augustine Flashcards
Human nature and augustine
Human nature is corrupted by a tendency to do evil. This is due to Adam and Eve disobeying God causing a corruption in their nature which causes an irresistible desire to sin. This corruption has been inherited by every human.
According to Augustine all humans were ‘seminally present in the loins of Adam’. Augustine thought that the biological basis for procreation was “some sort of invisible and intangible power … located in the secrets of nature” yet then goes on to argue that all future generations of people are “in the loins of the father”.
Because of this, it became impossible for anyone to be born without original sin. The result of original sin is that humanity is massa damnata (the mass of the damned).
Cupiditas, caritas and concupiscence
Cupiditas & Caritas. Augustine thought the human will was based on love, of which there are two types. Cupiditas is love of earthly impermanent things, selfishness and love of self. Ignorance and usually unhappiness results from this. Caritas is the Latin version of the Greek word Agape. It means love of others due to virtue as an expression of God’s will.
Concupiscence is a defining feature of original sin. It is when bodily desire overpowers reason. Augustine thought the most obvious case of this is sexual desire. The sexual organs can be active when the mind does not want them to be and not active when the mind does want them to be. PLATOS CHARIOT ANALOGY EXPLAINS THIS- it explains there is this division/internal conflict in the soul, between one’s ability to reason and one’s unbridled primal desires.
WEAKNESS- Scientific evidence against the fall…. Genetic variation, evolution and homunculus theory.
the story of genesis is taken literally. Since there is no scientific evidence that the fall occurred, or that humanity even began descended from two individuals, that collapses augustines whole teaching on the origin of sin and root of human nature. Geneticists claim that the evidence we have of genetic diversity means that it’s not possible for all of humanity to have descended from two people. This, plus the other evidence for evolution, suggests that we evolved and were not created.
Augustine’s biological understanding of reproduction is false. Augustine admits that procreation is a mystery to him, but then on what basis does he continue to his claim that all future generations are “in the loins of the father”. He wrongly thought that reproduction worked by there being little people inside men (homunculus theory), so when Adam sinned all future humanity became infected by it.
defence of science and why it’s not sucessful
Augustine’s account ot
human nature still
remains accurate to humanity’s experience of human nature.
G. K. Chesterton agreed with this point, arguing that you could see evidence for original sin ‘in the street’, as did R. Niebuhr who said it was the one ‘empirically verifiable’ Christian doctrine.
HOWEVER, this still has a reliance in the existence of the soul and, by virtue, a shared universal burden. But, there is no ‘empirically verifiable’ evidence for the soul. once we assume the position of physicalism, the theory fails. humans do not possess an immaterial aspect about them, they are unable to inherit this ‘disharmony’ or ‘broken relationship with god’ from Adam and Eve.
Pelagian controversy and the progression of humanity
every human being is granted free will jn the same way adam and eve were. it is inherently unjust for an omni benevolent god to punish all of humanity for the actions of two individuals, (stronger with the rejection of the homonculous theory)
Pelagius himself accused augustine of integrating manichaean theology (the idea that life is radically evil and we are in need of the grace of god) into christian beliefs.
This argument seems stronger because of augustine’s context. Humans have progressed since Augustine’s time. Martin Luther King said, “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice”.
Steven Pinker attributes to the power of human reason that violence has decreased, even considering the 20th century.
(if you want augustine to win)
Augustine’s argument, overall is coherent and parallel to human nature; it explains the imbalance between human body and reason, and our inclination to irrational and sinful acts. Moreover, pelagius’ disagreement that we can be salvaged from damnation with our own merits is rather unconvincing as it contradicts the teachings of the bible. The bible states that it is only through the grace of god that we can be saved from original sin. Therefore, the inconsistency in Pelagian theology suggests that Augustine’s teaching can be convincing in what we can see that
people have an innate sense to do wrong
Existentialism and the uniqueness of human lives
shared essence can be attributed to biology
Jean-Paul Satre was an existentialist and was particularly interested in the uniqueness of human lives. Sartre reiected such abstract theories as a shared human nature and suggested there is no unifying essence present in
every human being.
Sartre, as well as many existentialists believed that environment and culture affects every human differently and that this ‘essence that humans possess can simply be attributed to biological human instincts.
e.g shared struggle of cupiditas/concupiscence which Augustine believed humans inherited through original sin, can simply be explained by human biological instinct to procreate.
(if you want augustine to win)
this criticism does not take into account other dispositions humanity possesses such as: thinking, acting, having empathy and selfishness. Even Augustine’s view on concupiscence- that due to the fall, marriage can no longer be based solely on friendship- directly aligns with our nature. Therefore, while unable to directly prove humanity shares a single essence which links us all back to Adam and Eve, it is evident that humanity shares characteristics and dispositions that cannot be explained through science; this suggests that humans have a divine, unexplainable aspect to them.
