Augustine

Question 1

Describe Augustine’s idea of materialism

Answer 1

Materialism is the idea that only material things are knowable, and therefore the only method of acquiring knowledge is the Scientific Method. To a materialist, morals and the idea of god are both unprovable things.

Question 2

What kind of life did Augustine and his friends live prior to Confessions? What has he realized about this life?

Answer 2

Augustine lived a life of moral materialism. His friends and himself had sex, partied, drank, and listened to pop music.
He realized that he was never truly happy or free. That he was enslaved to the idea that freedom is being able to do anything you want, without restraint

Question 3

What is moral materialism? What is metaphysical materialism?

Answer 3

Moral materialists think that there is no moral truth. This is the idea that we are free to act as we wish as long as any other humans involved give consent.
Metaphysical materialists think that nothing is knowable except matter itself.

Question 4

Why does Augustine think young democrats persist in living unhappy, materialist lives?

Answer 4

1. They hide their own behaviour behind fancy words to make themselves feel better
2. They live artificial experiences (like watching war movies or porn) just to feel something
3. They dabble in foreign religions (“spirituality”) when they realize that their material objects aren’t making them happy

Question 5

What are the consequences of materialist sexuality?

Answer 5

1. You treat other people as material objects
2. You measure the sexual ability of yourself and others, as you are material objects and therefore measureable
3. You enslave yourself to your material, animalistic passions

Question 6

How does Augustine very simply disprove metaphysical materialism?

Answer 6

He employs the principle of self contradiction.

If the scientific method is the only way to acquire knowledge, then how do you know the scientific method is true?

Question 7

What wee the three mistakes augustine made when he first read the bible?

Answer 7

1. He had read it literally, without thinking about whether it is meant to be read that way
2. He made an assumption about that nature of wisdom and intellectual texts
3. Passion. He did not properly take in the bible because of his pride: he was looking for confirmation of the beliefs he already had

Question 8

Describe Augustine’s Manacheism and how it fell in line with his materialist dogma

Answer 8

Manacheism is the belief that there is a good god and a bad god. The good god is the god of light, and, essentially, if you eat light-coloured things you have more good in you and become a better person.
This gave Augustine a material cause for morality.
His materialism manifested itself in his choice of religion

Question 9

Break down the fundamental parts of Augustine’s final argument for the existence of a god, derived from Plotinus

Answer 9

We have ideas in our minds of immaterial, unseeable and unimaginable things (perfection, infinity, etc.). Where do we get these ideas from, if not our material experiences?
If like begets like (effect must bear resemblance to cause), then God must be perfect, infinite, immutable, and logical, and God must also be the cause of these ideas in us.

Therefore, there is a god.

Question 10

Is Augustine’s God the god of Christianity?

Answer 10

No, it is not. He does not prove that this god is merciful, like the one of the great monotheisms. He simply proves the idea of the rational, logical, neo-platonic god

Question 11

What are the two branches of monotheism?

Answer 11

Revealed monotheism - Deity revealed itself to humans (through the Torah, or Jesus, or Muhammed)
Philosophical/Plotinian monotheism - Neo-platonic idea that includes what can be learned about God.