augustine Flashcards
original sin, men + women, free will
thomas hobbes
the natural state of humans is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short”, humans are naturally morally wrong and selfish creatures
doctrine definition
official teachings from roman catholic church, discussed and amended by theologians
akrasia definition
paradox of choosing to do something against our best interests
what is the optimistic view of human nature?
humans are only immoral as a result of poor education + psychological malfunction e.g. kant
what is the pessimistic view of human nature?
humans are naturally ego-centric + violent for sake of survival e.g. augustine
what do manichees believe?
humans have two souls, one desires god and the other desires evil (not caused by god but a lower power)
what do pelagians believe?
humans can overcome personal sin with free will rather than it being universal guilt only god can remove
prelapsarian/postlapsarian definition
preFall/postFall
cupiditas definition
selfish love
caritas definition
generous love
how did augustine’s faith change over time?
manichee > neoPlatonism > christian
what were human relationships like preFall?
they lived in harmony and equality, were obedient to god and their duties to other creatures, and the human will, body, and reason worked together
what is the will?
god-given, can choose good or evil - synonymous with love, driven by cupiditas (selfish love) or caritas (generous love)
what were augustine’s view on sex and friendship preFall?
adam and eve = married as friends within the friendliness of god, included reproduction and sex
sex is secondary to friendship (highest expression of human existence)
“…woman would have conceived the child when their sexual organs had been aroused by the will… and had not been excited by lust”, augustine, city of god - sex could occur without lust as will is perfectly attuned to the body
on what grounds did augustine disagree with the manichean belief?
believed that god couldn’t create something imperfect
genesis 3:16
“your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you”
what were human relationships like postFall?
adam and eve’s realisation of their sexual bodies (only AFTER disobedience)
will is divided - knows what is good through reason but acts against it (concupiscence), in conflict with itself, cannot obey itself (akrasia)
what effect does concupiscence have on the will?
dominates soul now the will is divided - unmoderated, body craves power, money, food, sex
lack of continence/self-restraint
original sin definition
due to the Fall we cannot achieve our full human potential (eudaimonia) even though we are made imago dei
ontological definition
being or essence of existence
how does sin interact with human existence?
ontological condition of human existence, part of the essence of who we are
may appear virtuous but no one is good, the will is mocked by unmoderated body
what did augustine believe about original sin?
it is seminal, passed on through sexual intercourse, causing human selfishness + a lack of free will and stability, corrupts all human societies
how did the pelagians criticise augustine?
criticised on his suggestion that god would send unbaptised infants to hell
julian, bishop, argued that augustine’s ideas on sexuality were of manichaean influence + his pessimistic view showed hatred of god’s work
why did augustine believe the unbaptised couldn’t go to heaven?
john 3 - “very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit”
what is the argument against his belief in seminal sin?
if it is seminal then sin is transmitted even during sex within marriage (which is encouraged by aquinas’ primary precepts) - it is contradictory to christian doctrine
what did augustine write in ‘on the good of marriage’?
physical impulse of sex should be distinguished from libido, misuse of the impulse
three goods in life - procreation, mutual fidelity, indissolubility (ban of remarriage)
pardonable to enjoy sex without intention of procreation
how did augustine’s view of free will change over time?
book 1 - suggests free will allows us to reason to aspire to the good/eudaimonia by living virtuously, sin/evil = absence of good
book 2+3 - reason cannot overcome punishment of Fall, sin is involuntary + we prefer doing wrong as we are ‘chained’ by sin, not even being chaste/a nun could strengthen the will enough to resist concupiscence
how did the Fall impact the nature of men and women?
men gain pain of work, women gain pain of childbirth
nature of men and women prefall
imago dei, share equally in god’s rational nature
different roles determined by bodies/roles in society
men = active = active in public
women = passive = obedient to husband, helpmate and child bearer
woman made from man’s rib indicates shared spiritual nature not subservience
st paul’s view on women
women should wear a veil, indicated subordination to men
augustine’s criticism of st paul
women are rationally subordinate not spiritually otherwise they could not know god and gain redemption - links to rib
scott richert, contraception
“we acknowledge god’s design by respecting the laws of conception… therefore artificial birth control… [is] to be absolutely excluded”
dawkins (AO2) + eval
augustine = “barking mad”
original sin doesn’t go against biology but still dangerous
literal belief in a+e is senseless as modern science contradicts it w/ evolution
unhealthy obsession with sex + sun, belief in jesus’ salvation is sadomasochistic
eval - argument for evolution is strong, backed by science
ian barbour (AO2) + eval
idea of fall doesn’t make sense but ideas from bible/augustine like friendship should be applied to life
creation story can be understood symbolically
eval - looks at positive ideas, can reinforce faith (too much?), augustine’s view is still too negative on sex
freud (AO2) + eval
sex is important + natural aspect of development
augustine’s seminal sin only makes sense for reproduction (sex can transmit disease, not sin), sin is product of environment
religion perpetuates guilt/sexual repression of the past, primal horde theory
eval - both understand how misuse of sex causes damage to society, upbringing more influential = strong argument supported by science, positive about sex
kant (AO2) + eval
salvation through reason alone (augustine = god’s grace)
human emotions/desire cause us to act selfishly, living moral life seeks to overcome these animal passions
no inherent defects in human nature, sin is absence of reason
eval - optimistic view, agrees w/ hobbes (conflict is in our nature), correctly educated reason can overcome base instincts (but what does this mean? elitist?)
satre (AO2)
not one singular human nature, cannot otherwise we cannot develop freely + free will would be meaningless
sin living according to stereotype of human nature (mauvaise foi, bad faith), nothing to guarantee what is right
neibuhr (AO2)
we must understand the self and its limits to understand sin and save us from it
kant has failed as rationalism has not prevented irrational wars
god’s grace
rebellious will + sin can only be overcome by god’s grace
only then can summum bonum (supreme good) be achieved
election
christian doctrine - salvation is possible because god chose to redeem humans first
had elected those he knows will accept his love + reach paradise
elected are assisted by holy spirit
elected are those who believe in a life of spiritual freedom beyond this one
predestination + eval
greek - divine election based on predetermined merits
augustine - disagreed, god’s election couldn’t be influenced by past/present/future of humanity, we cannot know if we are elected or not
contradicts NT - all saved - god saves across all cultures?
“i made strenuous efforts on…
“…the preservation of the free choice of the human will, but the grace of god defeated me”
augustine, confessions
edward gibbon (AO2)
“his learning is too often borrowed and his arguments too often his own”
isaiah 7:9
“unless you believe, you will not understand”
cicero’s influence
primary values of material + secular world (wealth, honour, sex) cannot lead to happiness in society or individual
humanitarian principle (AO2)
humans get on better when we put the rational interests of others first
post-enlightenment theory
steven pinker (AO2)
supports dawkins
religion responsible for suffering/violence/war
humanitarian principle replaces irrational superstitions of original sin/redemption/grace/fall - god’s grace not needed as actions are rational
autonomous being succeed, not weighed down by god paranoia
