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CHAPTERI O N E Life and Writings ofAugustine At the age ofnineteen, while studying rhetoric in Carthage, Augustine read the Hortensius, a short introduction to philosophy written by Cicero. It deeply impressed him with a life-long love ofwisdom. As Augustine describes the experience: In the regular course ofstudy, I came upon the book ofa certain Cicero ... that book ofhis contained an exhortation to philosophy . It was called Hortensius. In fact that book changed my mental attitude ... I yearned with unbelievable ardor ofheart for the immortality of wisdom.! The Hortensius is no longer extant in its original format, but we know some of its content from passages quoted by later writers, includingAugustine .2 Among other things, Cicero wrote: "Ifit is necessary to philosophize, then one must philosophize; if it is not necessary to philosophize, one must still philosophize, for it is only by thinking philosophically that one can show that it is possible to go beyond philosophy" (Muller, ed., frag. 12). Further, the Hortensius stressed the importance of a liberal education as a basis for the study of philosophy (frag. 23). Cicero also included a sketch of the history of philosophy; Thales, Socrates, Democritus, Aristotle, Theophrastus, Ariston of Chios, Posidonius, and Nicomachusof Tyre are briefly discussed. The four great ancient virtues (prudence, temperance, fortitude, and justice) are covered (frag. 64). Cicero, writing before the time of Christ, even suggests that the study of philosophy is an ideal preparation for death and a celestial life (frag. 97). Influenced by the dialogue Eudemus attributed to Plato (278c), Cicero popularized the saying, "All men desire to be happy," a conviction that we will frequently encounter in Augustine's writings.3 Thus, long before he was fully converted to Christianity, Augustine learned that the Greeks gave the name philosophia (the love of wisdom) to a special field of study. He was to seek wisdom (sophia, I 3 4 I CHAPTER ONE sapientiaJ throughout his next fifty-seven years, not only through philosophical reasoning but also on the basis ofreligious beliefs. I Biographical Sketch Born in North Africa at Tagaste (modern Souk Ahras in eastern Algeria ) in A.D. 354, Augustine was the son ofnative African parents. His mother, Monica, was a Catholic and his father, Patricius, was only converted to Christianity in his last years. Augustine first attended school in Tagaste; he then studied grammar and the Latin classics at the nearby town of Madaura. With the financial assistance of a wealthy Tagastan businessman, Romanianus, the young Augustine was sent eastward along the north coast ofAfrica to do advanced studies in rhetoric at Carthage. Both his parents saw these studies as a preparation for a possible career as a government official in the Roman province ofNumidia. As far as is known, Augustine never studied under a professor ofphilosophy or theology. After teaching grammar at Tagaste for about a year (374-75/ 76) and rhetoric in Carthage for about seven years, Augustine decided to go to Rome during the summer of 383. He taught rhetoric there for a year, and then, after an audition with the imperial official Symmachus, he was sent north to Milan as a public professor of rhetoric in the schools ofthe imperial city. In 385 his mother, with a group from Africa (his brother Navigius; Augustine's common-law wife and his son, Adeodatus; his cousins Rusticus and Lastidianus; and Licentius, the son ofRomanianus), joined Augustine in Milan. Not yet a baptized Catholic, Augustine had become interested in Manicheism while living in cosmopolitan Carthage. This religion was started by the Persian prophet, Mani (ob. 277), who viewed all events, either cosmic or psychic, as a constant struggle between the forces ofgood and evil. When first at Rome, Augustine resided with a fellow Manichean auditor, and during their talks Augustine became increasingly convinced that the religion ofMani did not show the way to the wisdom that he sought. His disillusionment resulted in a short period of skepticism, during which he resolved to refrain from positive judgments on any ofthe basic questions ofphilosophy. In Milan he met some learned Christians and scholars, notably the Catholic Bishop Ambrose and the priest Simplicianus. They belonged to a local group that discussed the philosophy ofPlotinus and Porphyry, a type oflater Platonism developed chiefly in the schools at Alexandria-one of the main cities on the estuaries of the Nile river in Egypt. This Neoplatonism was to have a permanent effect on Augustine's philosophy. [18.224.0.25] Project MUSE (2024-04-25 10:23 GMT...

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