Read Ch. 11 & 12 (Book Ten)- Click HERE.
1. How is Plato/Plotinus influencing Augustine's epistemology? What is the focus for Augustine in these passages when it comes to knowing?
Read Ch. 9 & 10 (Book 7)- Click HERE
2. Describe and explain the relationship between God and the soul? What role does God play in humans acquiring knowledge?
3. Why is Augustine using the theme of light/darkness in describing the soul's relationship with God? What does light have to do with epistemology?
Read Ch. 1 & 2 (Book 2)- Click HERE
4. How does Augustine's description of his younger years match up with Plato/Plotinus type language? What causes his soul to be disordered and in disarray? How can Augustine restore order to his soul?
1. St. Augustine is being influenced by Plato/ Plotinus because he also discusses the idea of physical and non- physical things. He discusses such things as: languages not really owning anything, or numbers not really what we are used to thinking they are, and even this topic of the mind, or memory, comes back up from what Plato originally believed. He says that the mind can not have characteristics or senses because it is internal rather than external.
ReplyDelete2. The relationship between God and the soul is that, God created everything, including us humans, therefore our souls were created by him. Also, when God revealed himself in the flesh he himself had a soul within him. St. Augustine described the "eye of his soul", which seems like he was able to see something no other normal being could, and what he could see was the light of God. God is the higher being that allows us to know what we know, and see the things we see.
3. St. Augustine uses the light, not as a physical bright light, but an inner light that only the enlightened people that God allowed could see. Light relates to epistemology because God is the light and he allows us to learn the things that we now say we know.
4. Augustine in his younger years says that his soul was wicked and corrupt and Plato was trying to avoid the children from having corrupted youths. Augustine's speaks of "love for them", even though he he wishes to love God. He attempts to restore his soul by turning toward a new path of knowledge and love for not the matrial things, but God and restoring our youth's corrupted minds.
1. Plato and Platinus influenced Augustine's epistemology when he talks about how everything we need to know is already stored into our minds which was similar to Plato's theory of everything we need to know being stored in the soul. His focus when it comes to knowing is that we already know it we just need something to remind us of it.
ReplyDelete2. In the passage Augustine talks about the "eye of my soul" it allowed his to see a light that no other man could see. God allows humans to acquire knowledge by giving them a mind to help them aquire the knowledge that they need.
3. Augustine uses light and darkness in describing the soul's relationship with God because the light represents good and the bad represents evil. Light has to do with epistemology because epistemology is the process which we aquire knowledge and if light is good most people want to acquire the good.
4. Augustine says that when he was young he had a corrupt soul which would match up with Plato because he was trying to prevent the youth from having corrupt souls. He said that "the fleeting beauties" around him corrupted him. Augustine can restore order to his soul by teaching the youth and praying to God to help him.
1. Augustine shares the same ideas as Plato's forms in how we can remember things and objects in memory but not through senses. Augustine talks about the remembering of numbers since you can't smell,taste, or touch numbers.
ReplyDelete2. God,from Augustine's stand point, is the one how made and brought light into this world shinning away darkness. In turn we are born from light and from that we men wish to know its mean but the only one who knows it is God.
3. Light might represent the good in the world reaveling all that is made for us to prosper while darkness is that what will undo us. Darkness being everything that is hidden for reason we don't and can't know yet.
1. St. Augustine is influenced by Plato and Plotinus' epistemology in the areas of recollection. Augustine was saying that humans take in information then store it, and senses do not affect how we know things. We cannot attach knowledge to material things because they cannot be connected that way. There is a dimension specified for numerical and I numerical intellect.
ReplyDelete2. The relationship between God and the soul is both divine and worldly or materialistic. God developed everything within the soul and puts that into human bodies, he even put himself into a human body to relate his soul to humanity. The role God plays in humans Aquino knowledge is giving us awareness, which enables us to reflect on ourselves. Augustine talks about the "eye of the soul" which is human reflection of depth in theirselves.
3. Augustine uses the comparison of light and darkness to describe the soul with God. The eye of soul sees light as the greater being above humans. The soul cannot touch the light but only see it because the body restricts humans from acquiring too much knowledge. We can only conceptualize the light as an enlightenment.
4. Augustine in his younger years of his life reflected his abnormal love for love. This is similar to Plato because they both had acknowledgment of education in the youth. God was an answer for Augustine in finding himself and Plato related but maybe never found himself fully.
1. Augustine shares the same ideas as Plato with respect to knowledge. St. Augustine believes that knowledge is stored within us, as well as Plato does, but they only believe it is stored in different places, Plato's being the Soul, and Augustine's being the mind.
ReplyDelete2. The relationship between God and the soul is that God has developed our soul and embodied us with one in order to guide us through our life. God is the Unmoved Mover and has moved humans through the soul, just as God moves everything else. just not always with a soul.
3. Augustine is using the theme of light/darkness in describing the relationship with the Soul is that light represents the good while darkness represents the bad. Humans can only know so much and at some point, once they have learned enough, will then experience darkness, and no more light. Light deals with epistemology because light is caused from God which is how humans acquire knowledge.
4. Augustine in his younger years had a corrupt soul. Augustine lost who he was and was caught up in the crowd. Augustine had wished that there was someone around him at his early years in life to help him and show him the good things. Augustine can restore order into his soul by paying closer attention to God by when he states "I might have given more vigilant heed to the voice from the clouds," and "O lord-- save thee, who dost teach us by sorrow, who woundest us to heal us, and dost kill us that we may not die apart from thee."
1. We can see the influence from Plato/Plotinus in the this piece, especially when Augustine speaks on the idea that things that are external like the sense are misleading, and lead us to a "confused manner." Also the idea the things like words and sounds are also misleading. Another similarity we can see is the point that our minds have stored information, and we can recall that information, from which we already knew.
ReplyDelete2. The idea in the passage stated about the relation between God and the Soul, is that God created everything therefore he created the Soul. God's purpose of giving the Soul is so that it may be used as a tool to guide us.
3. In the epistemology-aspect we can see that God gave us this light aspect to represent that it is good, and gives us the ability to learn different things. As said before the light represents the good like knowledge, and can be seen through the Soul and how we live our lives, and when we do bad it is the dark area of human creation.
4. St. Augustine realized that he lived in younger life in the wrong way, and he knew he wanted to change himself. He also saw the potential that the youth had, and along the path of education the youth he did not want them to go astray and live a bad life. Other people led him astray to the party, and he figured that to get away from this he would have to change. Therefore he found his thirst for knowledge, and studied various philosophers to become who he was. He may restore his soul by using God, and the youth.
1.When reading Augustine, one can see many influences from Plato and Plotinus. The first and most prevalent being Augustine's view of the senses. Much like Plato and Plotinus, Augustine does not trust the senses as he perceives them as misleading. Again Augustine is heavily influenced by Plato and Plotinus. This can be seen as Augustine adopts the Theory of Recollection.
ReplyDelete2. The relationship between God and the Soul is that of a creator and his creation. Stated by Augustine, God gave us our souls as a means to spur us into wanting to return to him. This is very similar to Aristotle and his Unmoved Mover theory. Between God and humans, he plays the role as a magnet which draws humanity to him. Essentially, God is the Unmoved Mover.
3. Epistemology wise, Augustine uses the term "light" as a symbol for goodness. Augustine uses light/dark to symbolize the soul and its relationship with God as a ways to deem things good or bad. This all relates to how things can help or hinder our path back to God.
4.In the earlier years of Augustine's life, he deems that period as when he lost himself. This is due to Augustine being caught up in the natural world and not focusing on God. This screams Plato as it pertains to the evils of the natural world. Augustine believes his soul from earlier in his life to be in disorder because of his preoccupation with the natural world. Augustine fixes this by making this inward turn in which he focuses on God and shuns the natural world.
1. Augustine shares the same ideas as Plato in that our senses mislead us. Also, Augustine believes that we were already born with the knowledge of everything, but he does not know how it got there or how he comes to realize the knowledge.
ReplyDelete2. Augustine says that God created everything, including humans. Our souls are a part of our human nature therefore God created our souls. God created our souls because it is supposed to show us right from wrong and lead us down he right path.
3.Augustine is using light and dark in a sense of good and bad. The light represents things that are good such as knowledge and our souls. The dark represents things that are bad such as our senses that decieve us.
4. In his younger years, Augustine shows a love for knowledge, much like Plato. But Augustine also says how he did not take advantage of it or just mis used it. He talks about how he was lost and he found his way with the help of God.
1. Augustine has the same ideas of knowledge with Plato. St. Augustine believes knowledge in found within much like Plato believes we are born with all the knowledge we will ever have. The only different is that Plato believes it comes from the Soul, while Augustine believes it comes from the mind.
ReplyDelete2. God is the Unmoved Mover and moves humans through the soul. Which God have provided to humans in to a guide for us.
3. Augustine used the theme of light and darkness to describe both sides of the soul, light as the good and dark as bad. Humans will only be able to know so much which will then lead to darkness. God gives humans the light through knowledge.
4. Augustine in his youth was the life of the party, thus causing him to have corrupted soul. Augustine feels that he will only be saved by turning his focus to God. "O lord-- save thee, who dost teach us by sorrow, who woundest us to heal us, and dost kill us that we may not die apart from thee."
1. Plato/Plotinus influenced Augustine's epistemology by the way of everyone being born with all of their knowledge. Augustine's belief on knowing was that our minds knew all.
ReplyDelete2. The relationship with God and the soul relates to him guiding everyone to the answers they seek in life. His role in people acquiring information is that he is our guide in life who leads us to our end or our beginning.
3. The light/darkness theme describes the soul's relationship with God shows us that we will all have our moments in life but they will not happen all the time. Light has to do with epistemology because the light is the all knowing.
4. Augustine's description of his younger life match up with Plato/Plotinus' language because he lived a fruitful life at first to later find his way in life.
1) Plato/Plotinus are influencing Augustine's thinking by talking about different laws/dimensions that exist, much like the Forms. The focus in these passages is knowing and knowledge
ReplyDelete2) God lets the souls exist. Sometimes God will allow people to reach a higher knowledge.
3) he uses the light/dark to describe experiences. Light represents the soul acquiring knowledge in epistemology.
4) when he was young he was ignorant, but reached a better way of thinking. Worley things. Friendship.
1. St Augustine shows that he take influence from plato and plotonious.He talks about physical and non physical things as separate bodies.He talks of things we have already come known and how we already have some things in our minds.Augustine believed that knowledge comes directly from the mind.
ReplyDelete2.The relationship betwen God and the Soul is the worldly.,It is interesting because God first created the physical world such as humans and other animals. God then gave us a soul for knowledge and and for guidance among each other.
3. Light was created by god in order to enlighten us. Darkness is bad , and light is good. He is saying that humans can know too much and that is what can lead them to darkness.St. Augustine described the "eye of his soul", which seems like he was able to see something no other normal being could, and what he could see was the light of God.
4.St Augustine recognized the errors of his past ways.He knew that he had a corrupted soul due to his ignorance and desires.He believed that he could put his soul in a proper place by putting his faith in god..
1) Plato influences St. Augustine's epistemology because of his belief in the Forms compared to St. Augustine's belief of God. The forms and God are eternal , perfect , and both teaches that humans need to seek the knowledge to do what is good.
Delete2) The relationship between God and the soul is that God created everything, which automatically infers humans. God gave us a soul which is a piece of his spirit in us. Our souls gives us knowledge and the judgment to do what is right (the light) .
3) St. Augustine uses the theme of light and darkness to represent the good and evil in each of us. Light relates to epistemology because God is the all knowing source that enables us to "KNOW" (the light)
4) St. Augustine acknowledges that his soul was corrupt and evil at a young age also that he didn't have a positive role model around him . This is Plato's language because it referred to the evil of the natural world. St. Augustine then restored his life with an Inward Turn devoting his life to God.
1. Plato and Augustine shared the idea of knowledge being stored. This idea that we just have to remember things because we theoretically know everything can be seen in both their writings. Plato believed knowledge was stored in the soul while Augustine believed it was stored in the mind.
ReplyDelete2. The soul is a product of God. The soul is guided by God as the soul guides the human mind. The soul is sometimes mistaken as the main source of light or truth but in actuality God is this main source of truth. The soul acts as a gateway in better understanding universal truth and God.
3. The light acts as the holder of truth and goodness while the darkness acts as the lack there of which can not comprehend the truth and goodness. We find knowledge and truth by going towards the light while going towards the darkness leads to ignorance.
4. While he was younger, Augustine had a corrupt soul. Augustine wished that there was someone who could help him find the light while he stumbled in the darkness. The cause of Augustine's soul to be in darkness is because of his lack of care for knowledge and his constant party animal lifestyle. The way his soul would be able to find the light was by seeking the truth by understanding God more fully.
1.Plato and Polinus influenced Augustine's philosophy with their similar theories of how everything we learn and think is already within our souls and minds from birth and that we are just remembering everything we know,which is what Augustine is focusing on in the terms of knowledge that we just need to be reminded of everything.
ReplyDelete2.God sets us into motion by pushing our souls to work. He uses humans to teach us all that we have forgotten.
3.The body restricts the soul from experiencing the light being bound to the human body which cannot experience the light.
4. Augustine describes his youth as Bacaric and corrupt while one of Platos main goals was to prevent corruption in youth which could be the reason that Augustine's theories are so simular.in his path of knowledge and peace you could say he is just trying to cleanse his soul.
1. St Augustine shows that he was influenced by plato. He speaks of the physical and non physical as separate entities.He talks about things we have already come to know and how we already have some things in our minds. Augustine believed that knowledge comes directly from the mind.
ReplyDelete2.The relationship between God and the Soul is worldly. It is interesting because God first created the physical world including humans and animals. God then gave us a soul for knowledge and guidance.
3. Light was created by God in order to enlighten us. Darkness has always been symbolized as bad , and light is good. He says that humans can know too much and that is what can sometimes lead them to darkness. St. Augustine described the "eye of his soul", which seems to see something no normal being could, and what he could see was the light of God.
4.St. Augustine recognized the errors of his old ways.He knew that he had a corrupted soul due to his ignorance and lustful desires.He believed that he could put his soul in a proper place by putting his faith in God.
1. Augustine states in this passage an idea shared with Plato’s idea that the senses are not reliable for knowledge. To know comes from within. Knowing for Augustine does not come from the senses. It comes from “intuit[ion] within ourselves”.
ReplyDelete2. The soul bears witness to God but is not God itself. God created the soul but does not act within the soul to control people. God helps us to gain knowledge by entering into our inward souls through His guidance.
3. This part of the passage shows that even in the darkest of people there is a soul within them. A soul can be seen in every living thing no matter how dark it is. Light represents knowledge. When light is around, people are able to gain knowledge from within.
4. Plato states that we turn inward to the soul to find desire. The younger Augustine turned inward to find his desires and ended up committing sins because of this. Worldly passion led Augustine’s soul to be disordered and in disarray. Augustine restores order to his soul through confessions.
1. Augustine is influenced when he talks about our experiences stored in our mind . Our experiences alter our judgement . We already know it , but we just need something to kick start our memory to remember it.
ReplyDelete2. The "eye of the soul" allowed Augustine to see things no one else could see. We were given a mind to access knowledge from human experiences.
3. Augustine uses darkness and light to describe the soul's relationship with God. The light represents good , while darkness represents evil. Epistemology is the acquiring of knowledge . By the light and knowledge being good , people would want to acquire the good.
4. Augustine says when he was young , his soul was corrupt. This matches him up with Plato , because he also was trying to prevent the youth from having corrupt souls. Augustine said "the fleeting beauties" around him corrupted him. Order can be restored by Augustine by him teaching the youth and praying to God to save him.