Thursday, January 28, 2010
The invention of the inner self (Book 1.2 (ii))
Philip Cary, a philosophy professor of mine at Eastern University, argued in his dissertation that Augustine was the first writer in western civilization to "invent the concept of the self as an inner space." In other words the idea of an inner world within a human being comes from the pen of Augustine. His book was 90 bucks so I didn't get it and read exactly how he argued his thesis. But in your knowledge of other ancient writers do you think this is the case? Pay close attention to the way he speaks in book 1.2 (ii). Maybe we can keep our ears open to see if this language arises again in the book. Perhaps someone (ehem Pete) who really knows Latin can help us here with the intricacies of translating that passage.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I've noticed reading further in this book, how unlike an autobiography, or a biography the book is. The reason I think it lakes specific details in many cases that a historian or biographer would include is because Augustine is writing from the inside. In a sense it is between his heart and God.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting question. Again, with my limited knowledge in this area I don't have a very academic response to this, but my instinct tells me this doesn't seem right. I almost was going to refute your professor's argument off the cuff, but then noticed that he included the term "in western civilization" as a limitation. There are many clear examples of the self as an inner space in many Eastern religions and philosophies hundreds, maybe even thousands of years before Augustine wrote Confessions. I don't know, I'll have to give this one more thought.
ReplyDeleteHis argument is that it is conceived of as a space, a world. I'm gonna try to find some notes on the subject that I took from him.
ReplyDelete