The second half of City of God (Books XI through XXII) deal with the origins and ends of the two cities. Here Augustine shifts from his cultural criticism to a more exegetical, historical, and political focus. Augustine begins to develop his allegorical hermeneutic of the church in these chapters, reflects on human history as contained … Continue reading Augustine’s City of God, VII: The City of Man
Roger Scruton’s Lebenswelt: A Review of “The Soul of the World”
Roger Scruton is one of the most eminent English-speaking philosophers; a scholar in aesthetics, political philosophy, Spinoza, and Kant (and subsequently Kantianism and post-Kantianism), he is a well-known conservative in the proper sense and use of the term. A skeptic toward market fundamentalism, a critic of the faux virtue and “care” pretentiously claimed in socialism, … Continue reading Roger Scruton’s Lebenswelt: A Review of “The Soul of the World”
Augustine’s City of God, VI: The Fall of Man
The City of God represents the fullest maturation of Augustine’s thoughts concerning Original Sin and the Fall of Man. Sin and the Fall are concepts so disparate now in the state of contemporary Christianity largely due to ignorance of tradition, confessions, doctrines, and patristic sources. Augustine’s reading of the Fall is not necessarily unique, St. … Continue reading Augustine’s City of God, VI: The Fall of Man
Augustine’s City of God, V: Appraisal and Critique of Philosophy (Part II)
Augustine’s foremost interlocutor in the final books of Part I of City of God is the Neoplatonist (and in Augustine’s mind, neo-sophist) Porphyry. Porphyry was already dead by the time Augustine wrote City of God, but Porphyry was one of the last intellectual critics of Christianity in the world of Late Antiquity. Christian tradition held … Continue reading Augustine’s City of God, V: Appraisal and Critique of Philosophy (Part II)
Augustine’s City of God, IV: Appraisal and Critique of Philosophy (Part I)
Augustine not only deals with cultural criticism in examining the history of Rome and Roman culture, he also engages in intellectual criticism as well—taking up a critique of Roman religion and Hellenic philosophy (namely Platonism and Stoicism, the two great intellectual influences over him). Augustine is well known for having been influenced by Platonism (specifically … Continue reading Augustine’s City of God, IV: Appraisal and Critique of Philosophy (Part I)
Economics 101: Game Theory, Prisoner’s Dilemma, and the Myth of “Rational Man”
Game Theory is a specific subset of economics that deals with strategic decision-making and seeks to understand decision-making in decision-making animals under the presumption of man being a rational economic agent. In economics, at least classical economic theory, homo economicus is the presuppositional starting anthropology. Homo economicus, derived from Locke, Smith, and Ricardo, is the … Continue reading Economics 101: Game Theory, Prisoner’s Dilemma, and the Myth of “Rational Man”
Augustine’s City of God, III: What was the Cause of Rome’s “Greatness” (Part II)
The Roman philosopher Cicero was the Plato and Aristotle of Rome. He was the foremost orator of his day and an important political philosopher who was cherished among Christians (and Augustine). Augustine even credits the writings of Cicero to helping him believe in God in Confessions. However, the warm remarks he gives to Cicero in … Continue reading Augustine’s City of God, III: What was the Cause of Rome’s “Greatness” (Part II)
Augustine’s City of God, II: What was the Cause of Rome’s “Greatness” (Part I)
The sack of Rome prompted pagan critics of Christianity to charge that it was the adoption of Christianity which led to Rome’s upheaval and tragic sacking at the hands of Alaric. These critics charged that if Rome had stayed true to their old gods then those gods would have looked over Rome and sparred her … Continue reading Augustine’s City of God, II: What was the Cause of Rome’s “Greatness” (Part I)
Augustine’s City of God, I: Origins and Cultural Critique
Saint Augustine of Hippo is arguably the most influential Christian philosopher and theologian who ever lived. This is not to say he is unique among Christians; several of his writings reaffirmed already prevailing orthodoxy from the first through fourth century church fathers. However, his reading of the Scriptures—especially Saint Paul—his theological anthropology (concerning the human … Continue reading Augustine’s City of God, I: Origins and Cultural Critique
Athens, Jerusalem, and Leftwing Politics
Leo Strauss was famous for his reading of Western culture, history, and politics as a division between Athens and Jerusalem. Borrowing from the Christian philosopher and theologian Tertullian, who famously bemused “What has Athens got to do with Jerusalem?”, Strauss recontextualized the question and thesis of Tertullian as one of oppositional antagonism which, nevertheless, is … Continue reading Athens, Jerusalem, and Leftwing Politics
