Augustine 354430ad

1
Augustine(354-430ad)

• Born near Carthage (Algeria) in N. Africa
• Christian mother (Monica)
• Pagan father
• Citizen of the Roman Empire
• Christianity the official religion of the Empire
  since the edit of Constantine (313ad)

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• Educated in Carthage
• masters rhetoric
• rejects Christianity
• embraces sensuality
• Mistress Adeodatus
• Accepts Manichæism
• two opposed fundamental forces for good and evil
  (compare the four forces of contemporary physics
  weak strong electromagnetic gravity)
• conflict manifested in all things, including
  inevitable human moral failing

3

• Becomes noted rhetorician
• Moves to Rome as a teacher in 384
• Meets and studies w. Ambrose in Milan
• rejects Manicheanism accepts (neo) platonism
• after intellectual struggle adopts Christianity
  in 387

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• Returns to N. Africa becomes bishop of Hippo
• Writes extensively in philosophy and theology
• Recognized as a Father of the Church
• Influenced much of medieval philosophy and
  anticipates important ideas in modern philosophy

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Knowledge and Illumination

• Distinguish knowledge of
• sensible particular (contingent) objects
• nonsensible laws of science (or platonic forms)
• universality
• necessity

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• Experience
• limited by space and time
• results in knowledge of the sensible, contingent
  particular
• cannot produce knowledge of the universal and
  necessary
• We do have knowledge of the universal and
  necessary. How?

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An Example of Illumination

• Trickster secretly tells Confederate the answers
  to questions that Confederate could not otherwise
  know
• e.g. What are the four numbers written on the
  paper hidden in my desk?

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• Trickster Confederate publicly perform their
  trick for Witness
• Trickster asks the question
• Confederate miraculously answers correctly and
  amazes Witness
• Witness concludes
• Confederate could not have known the (hidden)
  answers through sensation
• Trickster must have informed (illumined)
  Confederate
• Thats the only way Confederate could have know
  the answers

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Moral of the Story

• Confederate has knowledge beyond the bounds of
  sensation
• Only communication suffices to explain
  Confederates knowledge
• Certainly, Confederates knowledge acquired not
  innate

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Illumination

• Thesis the only way to explain how people have
  knowledge of universal and necessary scientific
  laws/forms is to hypothesize that God informs or
  illuminates them
• The process of illumination is unspecified

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• Illumination is not innate because
• knowledge of laws/forms is differentially
  acquired during the course of life
• different people learn different science/forms at
  different times
• whereas innate knowledge is common to all and
  inherent in all throughout life

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Arguments for Illumination

• Argument from Hierarchy
• The universe is hierarchically organized, with
  forms at the top and above people
• Nothing can act upon anything higher in the
  hierarchy
• So, people cannot act on forms

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• So, people cannot come to know the forms by
  acting upon the forms through study
• Nevertheless, some people do come to know some
  forms
• This knowledge must result from the action of
  something at least as high in the hierarchy as
  the forms
• But nothing is higher than the forms

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• Hence, it is the action of the forms upon people
  that causes knowledge
• Augustine holds that God the forms
• So, knowledge of the forms is the result of Gods
  action illumination

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Argument from Language

• To know a language is to know the meaning of
  words in the language
• Meaning distinguishes between co-extensive
  properties
• contrast triangular trilateral
• A language learner cannot distinguish
  co-extensive properties in experience by
  ostention
• So, meaning language cannot be learned
  experientially

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• Since language is mastered differentially, it is
  not innate but rather taught
• The only possible teacher is God it takes a
  miracle illumination (some nonsensory process)
  to explain the acquisition of language

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Necessity and Universality(redundant)

• Some people learn scientific laws or forms with
  full necessity and universality
• Sensation alone cannot provide such knowledge
  since it pertains only to the particular
• Sensation must be supplemented by the universal
  principle of induction authorizing inference from
  the particular to the general
• Illumination must be the source of such knowledge
  of the principle of induction

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Problems w. Illumination

• If illumination is divine intervention,
• why does learning require our effort and work?
• why does God illumine evil people?
• what is the exact process of illumination?
• how do you know when youve been illumined rather
  than deceived?

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Creation Ex Nihilo

• The universe changes constantly
• To change is to become something from what was
  not
• e.g. if a leaf changes from green to red, it
  becomes red from what was not, i.e. what was not
  red
• So, change requires that something come from
  nothing, i.e. that something comes from what was
  not.

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• It is impossible under purely natural processes
  that something come from nothing.
• So, there must exist something God that never
  changes and miraculously creates each momentary
  stage of the changing universe from what was not
  nothing (ex nihilo).
• To create ex nihilo is to create without using
  matter it is to create simply by decree, command
  or thought.

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• Since God creates the universe ex nihilo, God is
  responsible for everything in the universe both
  good and bad
• In creating the universe, God foresees or knows
  the entire history of the universe in full detail
  
• So God knows everything that each person does
  before he/she does it

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Creation Ex Nihilo and Evil

• (i) By hypothesis, God is perfect benevolent,
  omnipotent, and omniscient
• (ii) Assume Evil exists
• (iii) God created the universe ex nihilo
• So, God is responsible for evil (assuming evil
  exists)

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• But if God is perfect, God could not be
  responsible for evil
• Now we have a contradiction
• God is is not responsible for evil
• Contradictions are never true and arise in
  arguments resulting from one or more false
  assumptions
• Hence, either (i), (ii), or (iii) must be false

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• Augustine rejects (ii) he asserts that what we
  take to be evil is really good
• Evil is illusory
• Recognition of evil is a fallible theoretical
  inference, not observation!
• Recall Is perception top down?
• Suffering is really a good thing
• it appears evil to us as an inference from a
  false theory ignorance of Gods purpose in
  allowing it

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• Immorality results when people freely choose
  what, contrary to appearance, is actually good
  yet not as good as what they might otherwise have
  chosen
• immorality is really the lesser of two goods, not
  the reality of evil

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Freedom, Necessity Volition

• The Problem
• In creating ex nihilo, God knows the entire
  history of the universe
• So, God knows every human action before it occurs
• What God knows shall occur must occur

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• So, every human action that does occur must occur
• What must occur is necessary
• So, every human action is necessary
• What is necessary is not free
• So, no human action is free!

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Fate for Atheists

• All propositions are true or false
• So, all propositions about the future are true or
  false
• Consider all true propositions about the future
• the ones about you your autobiography

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• These propositions now indicate what will happen
• your autobiography indicates all that you will
  ever do
• If the propositions about the future are now
  true, then what they indicate will happen must
  happen
• So, what will happen, must happen
• What must happen is necessary

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• So, whatever will happen is necessary
• Hence everything that will happen according to
  your autobiography is necessary
• Whatever is necessary is not free
• So, nothing in your autobiography is free
• Hence you are not free neither is anyone else
• Human freedom is illusory

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Augustine on Freedom

• Divine providence is compatible with human
  freedom despite the contrary argument
• Providence does imply the necessity of the future
• However, freedom is compatible necessity
• Human freedom is really the result of voluntary
  action

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• Voluntary action is action aimed at what an agent
  wants
• Divine providence does entail that human action
  is necessary, but it may yet be voluntary
• So, since freedom is really voluntary action,
  action may be necessary yet still free
• Hence, divine providence is compatible with
  freedom

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Whats Freedom?

• Augustine holds that freedom is voluntary action,
  even if the action is necessary
• But, assume that youre imprisoned cannot leave
• it is necessary that you stay
• does your staying voluntarily make your staying
  free?

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Necessary Volition

• Augustine holds that freedom is voluntary action,
  even if the action is necessary
• But, voluntary actions require volitions
• Are volitions themselves necessary?
• If volitions are necessary, are voluntary actions
  really free?