The impetus of love: towards a theology of the affections in Augustine

Thesis

Three characteristics are shared by many of the recent studies of Augustine’s thoughts on affectivity: they are works of philosophy; their concerns are ethically orientated; and they argue for Augustine’s close resemblance to the Stoics’ rationalist understanding of emotion. This thesis adopts an approach that differs from the existing literature in all these aspects. Against the temptation to relegate theology to a subordinate position, I demonstrate that Augustine’s conception of affectivity takes a Trinitarian shape, as defined by the Christian idea of love obtained from biblical exegesis, especially the Psalms. Instead of being driven by the kind of ethical concerns which treat human beings as if they were of little worth apart from their rational nature, I employ an aesthetic approach, wherein human affectivity is closely connected to the senses which human beings have in common with the animals. Rather than emphasising the role of reason to control the wayward emotions, I argue that neither the strategy of eradication nor moderation is relevant in Augustine, who considers the only adequate response to be the conversion of the affections. In the face of the equivocal character of affectivity and its ubiquitous occurrence in Augustine’s corpus, a study is better served by depicting the phenomenon in broad strokes rather than confining the focus on some particular works or subject areas. By imitating the contours of Book 1 of Soliloquia, my account will proceed from the standpoints of prayer, Scripture, anthropology, epistemology, and ethics. Focusing mainly on works written before 400, I will show that Augustine’s understanding of the duality of affectivity—a philosophical commonplace of the time—is informed by the Christian notion of love, such that his conception of affectivity can be summarised by the notions of ineffable love, mandated love, the bond of love, simple love, and reordering love respectively.

Authors: Wong, A

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-ozzejbrgr
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: epistemology; affections; prayer; anthropology; aesthetics; Augustine; love; ethics; Scripture
• Subjects: Theology; Fathers of the Church