Augustine and modernity / Michael Hanby.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hanby, Michael, 1966-

Series:

Radical orthodoxy series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Augustine, of Hippo, Saint, 354-430.

Augustine.

Self--Religious aspects--Christianity--History of doctrines--Early church, 30-600.

Self.

Philosophy, Modern.

Self (Philosophy)--History.

Self (Philosophy).

History.

Philosophy and religion--History.

Philosophy and religion.

Self--Religious aspects--Christianity.

Physical Description:

xii, 292 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Routledge, 2003.

Summary:

Augustine and Modernity is a fresh and challenging addition to current debates about the Augustinian origins of modern subjectivity and the Christian genesis of Western nihilism. It firmly rejects the dominant modern view that the modern Cartesian subject, as an archetype of Western nihilism, originates in Augustine's thought. Arguing that most contemporary interpretations misrepresent the complex philosophical relationship between Augustine and modern philosophy, particularly with regard to the work of Descartes, the book examines the much overlooked contribution of Stoicism to the genealogy of modernity, producing a scathing riposte to commonly-held versions of the 'continuity thesis'. Michael Hanby identifies the modern concept of will that emerges in Descartes' work as the product of a notion of self more proper to Stoic theories of immanence than to Augustine's own rigorous understandings of the Trinity, creation, self and will. Though Augustine's encounter with Stoicism ultimately resulted in much of his teaching being transferred to Descartes and other modern thinkers in an adulterated form, Hanby draws critical attention to Augustine's own disillusionment with Stoicism and his interrogation of Stoic philosophy in the name of Christ and the Trinity. Representing a new school of theology willing to engage critically with other disciplines and to challenge their authority, Augustine and Modernity offers a comprehensive new interpretation of De Trinitate and of Augustinian concepts of will and soul. Revealing how much of what is now thought of as 'Augustinian' in fact has its genealogy in Stoic asceticism, it interprets the modern nihilistic Cartesian subject not as a logical consequence of a true Christian Trinitarian theology, but rather as the consequence of its perversion and abandonment.

Contents:

1 A grim paternity? 6

The alleged sins of the father 6

The grand architect and the builders 8

The West that never was: the theological critique 13

Love in the time of avarice: the postmodern critique 18

2 De Trinitate and the aesthetics of salvation 27

The aesthetics of salvation 27

Delight and the beauty of God 47

The Body of Christ and the eros of faith 55

3 Christology, cosmology and the mechanics of grace 72

On the intelligibility of the Pelagian controversy 72

Pelagianism: a problem of trinitarian theology? 74

Creation and the mechanics of grace 82

Augustine's doxological self 90

4 The subtle triumph of Pelagianism 106

On winning the battle and losing the war 106

Duelling cosmologies 109

Pelagianizing Augustine 117

5 An Augustinian parody: Descartes and modern stoicism 134

An overlooked chapter in the story of modern origins 134

Why Augustine is not a Cartesian 144

Why Descartes is not Augustinian 161

Postscript: Modernity in Augustinian hindsight 178.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0415284694

OCLC:

50767765