St. Augustine and being: A Metaphysical Essay

86 Pages·1965·2.4 MB·English

by  James F. Anderson (auth.)

ST. AUGUSTINE AND BEING
ST. AUGUSTINE AND BEING
A Metaphysical Essay
by
]AMES F. ANDERSON
Professor of Philosophy
VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY
•
MARTINUS NI]HOFF / THE HAGUE / 1965
Copyright 1695 by Martinus Nijhof/. The Hague, Netherlands
SoftCOl'eT reprint ollhe hardco~'er ISI edilion 1695
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PREFACE
The properly metaphysical dimension of Augustine's thought
has received little special attention among scholars - even
"Scholastics." The Thomist metaphysicians - especially we
"Anglo-Saxon" ones - receive first honors for being the most
neglectful of all. Why? I t is a puzzling phenomenon particularly
in the light of the fact (recognized by almost every Thomist)
that the very existence of Thomas the theologian is inconceivable
apart from his pre-eminent Christian mentor in the intellectual
life, the Bishop of Hippo. It is a puzzling phenomenon because,
although the Christian metaphysics of Thomas Aquinas is not
the Christian metaphysics of Augustine, these metaphysics could
not be simply opposed to one another, else the theologies wherein
they exercise the indispensable function of vital rational organs
would themselves be discordant. But what respectable "Scholas
tic" would deny that, in their essential teaching about God and
the things of God, the thought of these two masters is remarkably
congruent?
May I suggest that one of the major reasons for this paradoxical
neglect of Augustinian metaphysics on the part of Thomists
(above all, in the English-speaking world) is their simplistic
assumption that whereas Aquinas was an Aristotelian in phi
losophy, Augustine was a Platonist, despite the fact that in
theology they were substantially at one - as if there could be
theological agreement, formally speaking, even where there is
metaphysical disagreement, formally speaking. In this study we
propose to test that assumption by examining a most eminent
case in the history of Christian metaphysics. Our object is
demonstration. We seek proof in concise terms upon some
VI PREFACE
fundamental issues in Christian ontology - proof of a view
(which we consider basic) concerning St. Augustine's meta
physical doctrine.
Such an undertaking, if successful, should in some measure
contribute to a better understanding not only of Christian
philosophy in general but of Augustinism and Thomism in
particular.
All of us owe so much to so many, both living and dead, that
we could never hope to thank more than a tiny fraction of their
number. Yet there are certain benefactors, contemporaneous
with ourselves, whose names we can gratefully cite. In connection
with the present project, then, it is a pleasure to acknowledge
my indebtedness to Father Roger Hanouille, O.S.A., whose
scholarly researches (not yet published) have been of particular
value; to Father Robert P. Russell, O.S.A., of this University,
who has critically read the manuscript and whose profound and
comprehensive knowledge of St. Augustine have in themselves
provided indispensable support - though, of course, I cheerfully
assume total responsibility for the interpretations proposed.
Allow me also to thank Messrs. Allan Ja nik and George
Parvenski,* graduate students in philosophy at Villanova Uni
versity, for their competent technical assistance, as weIl as
Mrs. Helen Stoughton, Secretary of the Department of Phi
losophy, for her generous typing services.
* Since this was written, Mr. Parvenski has unfortunately died.
ST. AUGUSTINE'S WRITINGS REFERRED
TO IN THIS ESSAY
A LITERAL COMMENTARY ON "GENESIS" (De Genesi ad litteram
- 12 Books)
AGAINST FELIX, THE MANICHEAN (De A ctis cum F elice M anichaeo
- 2 Books)
AGAINST JULIAN, THE PELAGIAN (Contra Julianum haeresis
Pelagianae delensorem - 2 Books)
AGAINST THE ADVERSARY OF THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS
(Contra Adversarium Legis et Prophetarum - 2 Books)
ANSWER TO THE SKEPTICS (Contra Academicos - a Dialogue in 3
Books)
COMMENTARY ON PSALM (s) (Enarratio in Psalmum ... - c. ISO
in no.)
CONCERNING THE NATURE OF THE GOOD (De natura boni contra
M anichaeos - a Dialogue in I Book)
CONCERNING THE TEACHER (De magistro - a Dialogue in I Book)
INcoMPLETE WORK AGAINST jULIAN (Opus imperlectum contra
secundam Juliani responsionem)
ON F AITH AND CREED (De lide et symbolo - I Book)
ON "GENESIS," AGAINST THE MANICHEANS (De Genesi contra
Manichaeos - 2 Books)
ON FREEDOM OF CHOICE (De libero arbitrio - a Dialogue in 3
Books)
ON MUSIC (De musica - a Dialogue in 6 Books)
ON ST. jOHN'S GOSPEL (In Johannis Evangelium - 124 "tracts")
ON CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE (De doctrina Christiana - 4 Books)
ON THE BLESSED LIFE (De beata vita - a Dialogue in I Book)
ON THE GREATNESS OF THE SOUL (De quantitate animae - a
Dialogue in I Book)
VIII ST. AUGUSTINE'S WRITINGS
ON THE CHRISTIAN WAY OF LIFE* (De moribus ecclesiae Cathoticae
- I Book)
ON THE MANICHEAN W AY OF LIFE* (De moribus M anichaeorum
I Book)
ON THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL (De immortalitate animae - a
Dialogue in I Book)
ON THE SOUL AND ITS ORIGIN (De anima et ejus origine - 4 Books)
ON THE TRUE RELIGION (De vera religione - I Book)
RETRACTIONS (Retractationes - 2 Books)
SERMON (s) (Sermo ... - c. 400 in no.)
THE CITY OF GOD (De Civitate Dei - 22 Books)
THE TRINITY (De Trinitate - 15 Books)
THE BOOK OF EIGHT-THREE QUESTIONS (De diversis quaestionibus
83 - I Book)**
THE CONFESSIONS (Confessiones - 13 Books)
UNFINISHED LITERAL COMMENTARY ON "GENESIS" (De Genesi
ad litteram imperjectus liber - I Book)
References include book, chapter, and paragraph number, where
applicable, foIlowed by the volume and column numbers of
Migne's Latin Patrology ("PL"), which includes (in volumes 32-
47) the works of St. Augustine, edited by the Benedictines of
Saint-Maur. Simply in the interest of accuracy of meaning, other
more recent editions of certain individual works, e.g., The Con
fessions and The City oj God, have been consulted, as weIl as the
useful Corpus scriptorum ecclesiasticorum latinorum (eSEL) ,
published in Vienna from 1887 on.
• These two "books" constitute one treatise.
** Question 46 is on thc important topic of the exemplar ideas (De ideis).
CONTENTS
Pretace V
Sources VII
The Existence of Augustinian "Metaphysics" I
Mutability and Immutability 12
Being and Non-Being 19
Self-Identity 26
Creation and Formation
34
Truth
43
Participation 54
Analogy 61
"Essence" and Creatures 66
"Essence" and God 72
CHAPTER I
THE EXISTENCE OF AUGUSTINIAN
'METAPHYSICS'
One might think that the title above raises an idle question. And
indeed in a sense it does. Could a theologian get on with his busi
ness at all without reasoning in universal terms about what
universally is? Lacking general notions on the nature of being-in
general, could he even begin to work out a theory of its Principle?
By what means could he then build a theology?
Setting aside all other issues, then, let it be said by way of a
kind of minimal definition, that the word "metaphysics" signifies
a certain natural manner of viewing all "being" in the light of
reason. To speak of a "metaphysics" in Augustine, therefore,
would at least mean that his thinking involves a universal
rational approach to whatever-in-any-way-is. Such, of course,
is the case. Need it be said that no one can engage in theological
thinking without using some "metaphysics"? In short, if God is
Being (and the principal cause of all other being), then He can
only be known or sought intellectually through "metaphysical"
ideas, however latent or virtual or implicit these may be. So,
since there needs must be a "metaphysics" in Augustine, the
question that remains is merely this: what is the mode of it?
Assuredly, Augustine's ontology is unidentifiable in style or
manner of procedure with all the non-Augustinian ones. The
history of mataphysics, even in the Occident, is replete with
fascinating examples of the latter. Consider a case that
should greatly concern Christian philosophers of the West.
The contrast in mode (I do not say in essential content) of
Augustine's metaphysics with that of Thomas Aquinas is
especially striking. In Augustine, metaphysics is not, as in
Aquinas, a science of being attained in the light of natural reason
2 AUGUSTINIAN 'METAPHYSICS'
without recourse to revelation. On the contrary, it is the love of
God. Since the very word "philosophy" me ans "love of wisdom,"
and since wisdom is God, it follows, Augustine remarks, that the
"philosopher," or at least the "true philosopher," is the lover of
God: 1 verus philosophus est amator Dei. This point is made clear
Augustine observes, not only in the Old Testament (Wisdom
7: 24-27) but also in the New (Hebrews I: 2, 3).2 Moreover,
this "true philosophy" is at one and the same time, though in
different respects, affective and intellectual: in it charity, which
is the love of God, and faith, which is the mind's adherence to
the Truth which is God, go hand-in-hand. Now it is the essence
of love to seek union with the beloved. And nothing is more
personal than love. That is why "philosophy," or at least "true
philosophy," is for Augustine a way toward loving union with
God Himself. What is more, it is the sole path to that end. Why
is this so if not that man's union with God can only be effected
through a kind of knowledge. What knowledge? Not through
any man-made knowledge; the source of true knowledge is supra
human. This knowledge, then, is the wisdom infused in man by
God Himself and possessed by man thanks to his acceptance of it
by faith. This point Augustine expresses in several formulas, the
most famous of which is the crisp: "believe in order that you may
understand: crede ut intelligas." 3 Of course this formula would be
meaningless if the "understanding" in quest ion were "natural"
in the sense of being acquired by our reason. For "belief" in the
sense of divine Faith (and not of any Santayanan "animal
faith") is the supra-natural prerequisite of any "understanding"
that is itself correspondingly supra-natural: the one must accord
with the other. It follows that such "understanding" cannot
1 "Porro si sapientia Deus est, per quem facta sunt omnia, sicut divina auctoritas
veritasque monstravit (Sap. VII, 24-27); et Hebr. I, 2, 3), verus Philosophus est
amator Dei. (The City 01 God, VIII, 1 (PL 41, 224-225); itaIies added.
"Obseero te, non sit honestior philosophia Gentium quam nostra Christiana, quae
una est vera philosophia, quandoquidem studium vel amor sapientiae signilicatur
hoc nomine." (Against Julian the Pelagian, IV, I4.72 (PL 44, 774); itaIies added.
2 See preceding note.
3 Sermon XLIII, 7.9 (PL 38,253). Cf. Epistle CXX, I, 3 (PL 33,453); On St.
John's Gospel, XXXVI, 7 (PL 35,1667).