Augustine’s Divided Line Essay -- Essays Papers

Augustines Divided LineAugustines contention that man cannot possibly come into truth by reason in his temporal life constitutes his initial divergency from the ancients, and results in the need for an entirely new structuring of the relationship between man and the good. In differentiating between the nature of graven image and man, Augustine argues that mans nature distant graven imagesis corruptible, and is thus deprived of the light of pure(a) truth (XI, 22) . This stands the thought of Plato on its head, since now no amount of contemplation and argument exit be capable of getting man closer to a truth that exists on a plane that surpasses the wee of the human mind (XXI, 5). If reason is an creature as flawed as man himself, how, then, is man to know the supreme good if he is forced to bumble blindly for it in a dry land of sin without any assistance from the powers of his own mind? It is this question which serves as the premise for Augustines division of humans into t he urban center of Man and the City of God and articulation of a system of vice and struggle against vice that keeps man anchored to the City of Man and prevents him from entering the City of God in temporal life. In order to explain mans path from the iodine to the other, he sets up a system of dichotomies that grow from Adams fall and are hinged upon the role of the will in earthly life. At the top, God is the source of the supreme good, and evil is its opposite (XII, 3). Up to this point, he is in agreement with the ancients, only when he diverges again when he equates the good with nature, and evil with a defect of naturean absence of the good (XII, 3). In this we have the first division of what supremely is between nature and vice, with nature arising ... ...ty (XII, 22). This is ultimately what is so shockingly egalitarian about Augustines Christianity in rail line to the thought of the ancients. The Supreme Goodeternal lifeis accessible to both the simpl e and the sophisticated. One may either contemplate the duality of the universe and participate out where each aspect of installation fits into the scheme, or one may bypass the attempt to understand the temporal world in relation to heaven, save so long as one finally accepts faith and, through it, becomes obedient to God while discarding self-will, the extent to which one used reason in his life is irrelevant. Reason, except insofar as it is necessary in a basic sense for man to use it to accept faith to and differentiate himself from beasts, is not necessary for eternal life. What is necessary is the plectrum to stop exercising the self-willto stop making choices. Augustines Divided Line Essay -- Essays PapersAugustines Divided LineAugustines contention that man cannot possibly come into truth by reason in his temporal life constitutes his initial departure from the ancients, and results in the need for an entirely new structuring of the relationship between man and the good. In differentiating between the nature of God and man, Augustine argues that mans natureunlike Godsis corruptible, and is thus deprived of the light of eternal truth (XI, 22) . This stands the thought of Plato on its head, since now no amount of contemplation and argument will be capable of getting man closer to a truth that exists on a plane that surpasses the reach of the human mind (XXI, 5). If reason is an instrument as flawed as man himself, how, then, is man to know the supreme good if he is forced to grope blindly for it in a state of sin without any assistance from the powers of his own mind? It is this question which serves as the premise for Augustines division of existence into the City of Man and the City of God and articulation of a system of vice and struggle against vice that keeps man anchored to the City of Man and prevents him from entering the City of God in temporal life. In order to explain mans path from the one to the other, he sets up a system of dichotomies that originate from Adams fall and are hinged upon the role of the will in earthly life. At the top, God is the source of the supreme good, and evil is its opposite (XII, 3). Up to this point, he is in agreement with the ancients, but he diverges again when he equates the good with nature, and evil with a defect of naturean absence of the good (XII, 3). In this we have the first division of what supremely is between nature and vice, with nature arising ... ...ty (XII, 22). This is ultimately what is so shockingly egalitarian about Augustines Christianity in contrast to the thought of the ancients. The Supreme Goodeternal lifeis accessible to both the simple and the sophisticated. One may either contemplate the duality of the universe and figure out where each aspect of creation fits into the scheme, or one may bypass the attempt to understand the temporal world in relation to heaven, but so long as one finally accepts faith and, through it, becomes o bedient to God while discarding self-will, the extent to which one used reason in his life is irrelevant. Reason, except insofar as it is necessary in a basic sense for man to use it to accept faith to and differentiate himself from beasts, is not necessary for eternal life. What is necessary is the choice to stop exercising the self-willto stop making choices.