University of South Florida Scholar Commons Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 11-12-2018 Augustine's Confessiones: The Battle between Two Conversions Robert Hunter Craig University of South Florida, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd Part of the Philosophy of Science Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Scholar Commons Citation Craig, Robert Hunter, "Augustine's Confessiones: The Battle between Two Conversions" (2018). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/8109 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Augustine’s Confessiones: The Battle between Two Conversions by Robert Hunter Craig A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Philosophy with a concentration in Philosophy and Religion College of Arts and Sciences University of South Florida Co-Major Professor: Thomas Williams, Ph.D. Co-Major Professor: Michael DeJonge, Ph.D. William Goodwin, Ph.D. Alexander Levine, Ph.D. Date of Approval: November 2, 2018 Keywords: Autopsychographical, Theo-Ratiocination, Conversion, Consciousness, Pedagogic-Apologetic Copyright © 2018, Robert Hunter Craig DEDICATED TO: God To my wife Terry Lee Craig To my professor and pastor James F. Strange PREFACE I can recall reading the Confessiones of Augustine in 1988 for the first time when I was a sophomore at Stetson University in my Introduction to Philosophy class. I was a young ministerial student who had never read any philosophy – only theology. How relieved I was when Dr. Robert Perkins finally got to this primary source because it really was so theological in nature- so I thought. To my surprise, I found it somewhat confusing with all of its different investigations and prayers. The fact that it was in the first person made it more personal; but I had no contextual grasp of Augustine’s method or purpose in writing it. Moreover, I read it many more times in the course of my graduate studies at Emory University and eventually my first dissertation on Reinhold Niebuhr’s practical theology and the influence of Augustine on his “Christian Realism”. Finally, I had the wonderful opportunity to study with Dr. Thomas Williams, my mentor and co- director, at the University of South Florida in an Augustine Seminar in the Fall of 2013. It was during this seminar that I researched and discovered a thesis concerning this momentous writing of Augustine. It is my hope that this thesis will be a real and vital contribution to Augustinian scholarship. I would like to thank Dr. Thomas Williams for his wisdom and incredible philosophical mind. I also thank him for his mentorship and editorial expertise in guiding me through this dissertation to its completion. He was the whole reason I came to the University of South Florida to study and has been a lasting inspiration and example for scholastic and pastoral care of his students. Finally, I wish to thank Dr. James Strange for both supporting this project and any and all editorial assistance. Unfortunately, Dr. Strange, my other co-director, passed away before I was able to finish writing this treatise. From 2013 to his passing this past March 2018, Dr. Strange was the epitome of professional and pastoral guidance in my research and writing on Augustine – but more than that – he married my wife and I, allowed me to stay in his home when in Tampa, and had countless lunches and dinners together. We discussed both ministry and scholarship over those same occasions. His humility and love were exactly the qualities that I wish to carry on in my research and work with students moving forward in my career endeavors. May he always know how much I love him and honor him in this life until we meet again in the other dimension beyond space/time. Also, I would like to thank other members of my committee Alexander Levine, William Goodwin for their willingness to be on my dissertation committee and for the opportunity to study under their wisdom and guidance. Finally, let me thank my beautiful wife for working on my bibliography and putting it into a proper order. All quotations from Augustine’s Confessiones were made from Henry Chadwick’s translation. All Latin quotations were from Loeb Classical Library Harvard University Press. R. H. Craig University of South Florida August 25, 2018 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract............................................................................................................................... iii Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter One: Structure and Meaning Analysis of the Confessiones ................................. 15 Problem .................................................................................................................. 16 Ancient Philosophical and Theological Structures ................................................ 18 Literary Structures ................................................................................................. 30 Autobiographical/Philosophical Structures .......................................................... 45 Scriptural Philosophical Stucture .......................................................................... 55 Chapter Two: Sitz Im Leben: The Setting in Life of the Confessiones ............................. 58 Date and Place ........................................................................................................ 60 Socio-Political Context ........................................................................................... 67 “Loquacity” or Contemporary Pagan Culture ........................................................ 74 Carthage Socio-Religious and Philosophical Context ........................................... 83 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 97 Chapter Three: Socratism: Ratiocination and Happiness ................................................ 98 Confessiones Book VII as Keystone to Understanding ....................................... 100 Socratic Ratiocination and Philosophy as a Way of Life ...................................... 113 Plato’s Forms, Allegory of the Cave, and Theory of Education ............................ 118 Neo-Platonic Allegorical Pedagogy ....................................................................... 127 Motive for Writing: Pagan Criticisms Against Christians ....................................133 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 143 Chapter Four: “Autopsychographical” Augustine: Allegory of the Cave Structure ....... 144 Overview of Methods ........................................................................................... 146 Plato’s Influence on Augustinian Method in Earlier Writings ............................. 156 Pedagogic-Apologetic Method for Theo-Ratiocination ....................................... 162 Allegory of the Cave Structure in the Confessiones .............................................. 174 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 184 Chapter Five: “Analytic” Augustine: Synchronic-Synthetic-Triunism as Meaning ....... 185 Book X: Scriptural Philosophy of Consciousness and Memory .......................... 186 Book XI: Scriptural Philosophy of Consciousness and Time .............................. 202 Theo-Ratiocination: Superior Conversion in Books XII and XIII ...................... 209 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 219 i Chapter Six: Confession-al Influence on Philosophy of Mind and Metaphysics ........... 220 Thomas Aquinas: Apprehension and Understanding in the Mind ..................... 221 Gottfreid Leibniz: Motion and the Metaphysics of Consciousness ..................... 230 Augustinian Metaphysics and Analytic Philosophy ............................................ 237 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 241 Chapter Seven: Conclusion – The Cave and God Consciousness Understanding ......... 242 Findings ................................................................................................................ 242 Implications.......................................................................................................... 244 Future Scholarship ............................................................................................... 249 References ....................................................................................................................... 250 ii ABSTRACT There are four aspects of Augustine’s thought in the Confessiones that have been challenged and redefined in this dissertation: the full contextual matrix as to place, setting, and motivation for writing in Carthage North Africa 397C.E.; the genre and structural framework utilized by Augustine in framing this treatise using Plato’s Allegory of the Cave in Book VII of the