[...]... in humans this awa~n~55 of th~ life of th~ soul is, if not the object of sense·perception, an activity of intelligence or mind: duab an 2.2; 3.3 For th~ Stoic conc~pt of self·awa~n~ss in Hi~rocl~s s~~ Long (1982) 46f.; P~mbrok~ 118f , Stt p 69 12 Augustine's Philosophy of Mind immortal For if being alive is the defining characteristic of soul, soul cannot admit the contrary of life and cannot therefore... Augustine's Philosophy of Mind wisdom 24 Knowledge of truth is necessary to the full realization of happiness The God whose beauty is loved is also enjoyed by means of an intuitive, but none the less rational, vision Knowledge of the truth is, however, realized by the Christian against the background of belief or faith For Augustine, the starting-point of knowledge is the authority 2S of divine revelation... remote, into the mystery of the divine Trinity The soul is none other than the coherence of its faculties of memory, understanding and will, whose co-operation is characteristic of all human behaviour The following chapters explore the implications of this principle for Augustine's concepts of soul and mind , See the fundamental study of J Burnaby, ArnOT Dei A Study of the Religion of St Augul/int, London... time (387/90) 4 Augustine's Philosophy of Mind own sake, in isolation from such circumstances, is never the driving force impelling Augustine to write, although it often determines the amount of space which he is prepared to devote to analysis of a particular philosophical problem Thus the investigation of memory in book ten of the Confusions arises out of an examination of conscience in a work intended... incarnation of Christ and the resurrection of the body) comprise a new level of knowledge, in which fear of mortality disappears (ib 76) These two highest levels of pure intellect, that of aspiration (VI) and that of achievement (VII), correspond to the two preceding levels of moral struggle (IV) and success (V), and Augustine also stresses that the moral levels are prerequisites of the success of the intellectual... Augustine can only think of the Trinity by contemplating it in the mirror of the selL' Such contemplation remains an imperfect and inadequate insight into the nature of the Trinity, for the human self cannot be reduced to the absolute being of God Yet it is precisely as a consequence of this inadequacy that Augustine elaborates the most characteristic feature of his philosophy of mind. " For, although he... of alternatives (c) or (d) of de /ibero arbitrio If alternative (d) holds (which Augustine seems to prefer here), the act of will involved is sub-moral, like the life-instinct (ib 7.25.36; 7.27.38).12 In book ten of de Genesi ad litteram Augustine considers the creation of Eve's soul, and hence of those of other humans Three possibilities are named: (a) an extension to all souls of the hypothesis of. .. at civ 9.10 Augustine's use of 4.7 is argued by O'Connell (1968) 135.45 22 Commentaries, resumC;s: see Schwyzer (1951) 508f Reponed Plotinian views: Theiler (1933) 2f = Theiler (1966) 161-3 10 Augustine's Philosophy of Mind is evidently not Plotinian 21 Specific influence of another Neoplatonist, Iamblichus, is hard to determine: the notion of the twofold 'weight (pondus) of the soul' found in conf... apologia pro vila sua and an edifying piece of spiritual reading for those who believed themselves called upon to live a quasi-monastic life as 'servants of God 'Y The discussion of time in the eleventh book of the Confessions is, likewise, an exegetical excursus arising out of the difficulty of interpreting the phrase 'In the beginning' of Genesis 1:1 And what is true of the Confusions applies to other works... for the renewal of my Fellowship in 1984 An earlier version of Chapters 2-5 was presented as a Habilitationsschrift to the Faculty of Classical and Oriental Studies of Heidelberg University in late 1983: the Faculty conferred the title of Dr habililalus on me in February 1984 I have benefited greatly from the criticisms of the assessors, but from none ix x Preface more than those of Professor Albrecht . editor oftha Augustinus-Lexikon. AUGUSTINE'S PHILOSOPHY OF MIND Augustine's Philosophy of Mind Gerard O'Daly Cniversity of California. n. 95. 6 Augustine's Philosophy of Mind wisdom. 24 Knowledge of truth is necessary to the full realization of happiness. The God whose