Self and City in the Thought of Saint Augustine
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Beschreibung
Self and City in the Thought of Saint Augustine provides a detailed exegesis of the analogy between the self (as body and soul, always in relation to other such beings) and the city (or political society) in the thought of St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430). The analogy between the individual human being and the ‘state’ is one of the most important themes in the history of political thought. Attempts have been made to understand the state by examining the soul (since Plato and Aristotle), the body (as in medieval theories of the body politic), and the person (most influentially in Hobbes, surviving to this day in such concepts as international legal personality); and yet, the Augustinian part of the story is not at all well known. This is the lacuna that this book aims to fill. It argues that Augustine develops three analogies between the self and the city as a society ordered by love: self-love in the case of the Earthly City; divided but improving love in the Pilgrim City;and love of others and of God in the City of God. Therefore, it supplies an overview of Augustine’s intellectual ‘system’ as it touches upon theology, ecclesiology, psychology and anthropology, as well as politics. The book also provides a new interpretation of Augustine’s important definition of the republic, which is the aspect of his political theory that is most often discussed by contemporary commentators.
Self and City in the Thought of Saint Augustine explores the analogy between the self and political society in the thought of St. Augustine of Hippo. This analogy is an important theme in the history of political thought. Attempts have been made to understand the state by examining the soul (since Plato), the body (as in medieval theories of the body politic) and the person (surviving to this day in such concepts as international legal personality). This book aims to reinstate the Augustinian part of the story. It argues that Augustine develops three analogies between self and city, as a society ordered by love: self-love in the case of the Earthly City; divided but improving love in the Pilgrim City; and love of others and of God in the City of God. It supplies thereby an overview of Augustine’s intellectual ‘system’ as it touches upon theology, psychology and anthropology, as well as politics, and also provides a new interpretation of Augustine’s important definition of the republic.
Offers insights of interest to Augustine scholars across a wide array of disciplines such as political science, theology, philosophy, history, and classics Provides a new interpretation of Augustine’s important definition of the republic Written to be accessible to upper-level undergraduates whilst rigorous scholarship and original interpretations mean that it will also appeal to graduate students and peer researchers
Autor*in
Ben Holland
Themen in »Self and City in the Thought of Saint Augustine«
Pilgrim City theology political society polis soul tertium quid Earthly City Genesis Original Sin Pelagian controversy free will domination Roman Empire Cicero Iris Murdoch
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“This is a thoughtful and informed exploration of the metaphorical relationship of the self to the city developed by Augustine. In exploring this relationship, Holland enlivens Augustine’s concepts by showing how grounded they are in the dynamic, tensional movements of the body: the unnatural swelling of pride; the scattered restlessness of sin; the stretching to something that is at the root of attention and conversion; and ultimately the will to love in which the individual relinquishes the pull of the body to its own past. Self and City is a stimulating contribution to our understanding of Augustine’s thought.” (Dean Hammer, author of Roman Political Thought: From Cicero to Augustine, John W. Wetzel Professor of Classics and Professor of Government, Franklin and Marshall College, USA)
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