Middlesex University Research Repository An open access repository of Middlesex University research http://eprints.mdx.ac.uk Prince, Jonathan Glenn (2019) Augustine’s incarnational hermeneutics and postmodernity. Masters thesis, Middlesex University / London School of Theology. [Thesis] Final accepted version (with author’s formatting) This version is available at: https://eprints.mdx.ac.uk/28739/ Copyright: Middlesex University Research Repository makes the University’s research available electronically. Copyright and moral rights to this work are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners unless otherwise stated. The work is supplied on the understanding that any use for commercial gain is strictly forbidden. A copy may be downloaded for personal, non-commercial, research or study without prior permission and without charge. 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See also repository copyright: re-use policy: http://eprints.mdx.ac.uk/policies.html#copy AUGUSTINE’S INCARNATIONAL HERMENEUTICS AND POSTMODERNITY A Thesis submitted to Middlesex University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Theology by Jonathan Glenn Prince Middlesex University Supervised at London School of Theology September 2018 ii Abstract This thesis focuses on the hermeneutic framework of St. Augustine of Hippo. Study of this topic has been suggested by patrologists such as Frances Young, and garnered occasional glances in contemporary scholarship. Little has been done as far as a systematic treatment of Augustine’s theory of hermeneutics in favor of theological/doctrinal issues. This thesis begins with a contextualization of the hermeneutic of late antiquity, then follows Augustine’s analysis of the three-fold schema of language: res, verbum, and dicibile. Primary texts for these topics are On Christian Doctrine, Against the Academic Skeptics, and The Teacher. Secondary literature specifically on this topic and texts is sparse, though a few scholars have addressed papers to the query. This thesis is written in dialogue with contemporary theological hermeneutics, with the view that a pre-modern hermeneutic schema can be a valuable interlocutor in the continuing development of post-modern thought. Additionally, the human need to identify, interpret, and apply meaning is a perennial struggle, and an influential thinker/writer of late antiquity can aid in the contemporary development of a holistic interpretive/epistemological framework without falling to false dichotomies and deterministic methodologies. iii Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... ii Contents ......................................................................................................................................... iii Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 1. Augustine’s Hermeneutic Context .......................................................................................... 7 Alexandrian School ..................................................................................................................... 9 Antiochene School .................................................................................................................... 18 2. Relationship Between Ontology and Language .................................................................... 25 Establishing Boundaries Between Language and World .......................................................... 25 Heidegger’s Ontology of Dasein .............................................................................................. 34 Gadamer’s Horizons and Possibilities ...................................................................................... 39 Augustine Word and Referent .................................................................................................. 46 3. Possibility of Knowledge for Hermeneutics ......................................................................... 58 Modern Skepticism ................................................................................................................... 59 Augustine’s Skeptical Context .................................................................................................. 64 Survey of Contra Academicos .................................................................................................. 71 4. Reliability of Signs ............................................................................................................... 98 Signification and Knowledge .................................................................................................. 106 iv The Reliability of Given Signs ............................................................................................... 112 5. Ethics of Hermeneutics ....................................................................................................... 113 Re-establishing the Author as ‘Other’ .................................................................................... 114 Ordinary Language as Action ................................................................................................. 125 Ethics of Authorship ............................................................................................................... 130 Ethics of Readership ............................................................................................................... 134 Love as Horizon of Meaning .................................................................................................. 138 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 140 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................... 147 1 Introduction In St. Augustine’s writings, it is difficult to stray very far from his conception of sign and semantics. Later authors have rarely explored his work on signification, though it is an essential foundation of his thought. Chief among these is Augustine’s discussion of the meanings of Scripture, but the concept enters into such diverse fields of his interests as his theory of language, his discussion of miracles, of the relation of the world to God, and of Man’s way of acquiring knowledge, not least knowledge of himself.1 Though not always explicitly stated, language itself is essential to the philosophical thought and theological development of his works. For Augustine, language is not simply a pragmatic tool for social interaction – but rather a foundational aspect of being human in the world. It is the function that enables humanity to understand themselves, the exterior world, and ultimately, for Augustine, humanity’s Creator. It is not only a semantic field, but an epistemological one; the key to the ego, inter-subjectivity, and the metaphysical alike. The field of hermeneutics has overlooked the possible contribution that pre-modern interpreters can make to the field. Thiselton writes “...the pre-history of [semiotics] throws up none of the most sensitive issues.”2 He mentions, however, that “Augustine noted the capacity of 1 R. A. Markus, “St. Augustine on Signs,” Phronesis 2, no. 1 (1957): 1. 2Anthony C. Thiselton, New Horizons in Hermeneutics (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1992), 83. 2 signs to point beyond themselves, and like Locke, viewed linguistic signs as identifying markers of thoughts or ideas.”3 Hermeneutics considers its birth as part of the modern era; typically, it is attributed to Schleiermacher. While that may be true of interpretation as a study guided by scientific methodology, the study and critical reflection of human interpretation and understanding of texts (or utterances in general) has been a regular occurrence long before Aristotle penned his ‘Poetics’. For the field of theological hermeneutics there are two primary concerns; the first is interpretation of scripture, and the second is apologia to the wider field of philosophy. Before Schleiermacher, the role of hermeneutics was “to support, secure, and clarify an already accepted understanding”4 of traditional church interpretation and teaching. For modern philosophical hermeneutics, tradition cannot be a valid arbiter of interpretation, understanding or truth; as a result, large swaths of historical theology and hermeneutics have been necessarily marginalized.