Augustine of Hippo, Struggles in the Church, and Rome's Fall - Philosophers in the Midst of History

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In this tenth installment of our quarterly series, Philosophers in the Midst of History, I discuss the life, thought, and importance of Augustine of Hippo in his historical context. Augustine left behind a lasting legacy of Latin writings, including treatises, dialogues, letters, and speeches. These would survive and play a major role in Christian thought and practice in the West.

In this lecture, we discuss the times and the religious and political conflicts within the Roman Empire that Augustine was born into and then took up his own position within. The Roman Empire had developed into a veritable civilization spanning parts of three continents, encompassing multiple peoples, cultures, ways of life, philosophies, and religions.

There was considerable strife not only within the empire itself but also in neighboring countries and empires between different religious groups. In the Roman empire, traditional pagan religion, Judaism, Manichaeism, and Christianity of various sorts competed with, and at times persecuted or tolerated each other. This was complicated further by the adherence by political authorities to one or another of these groups. Within Christianity, orthodoxy or catholicism struggled against various "heresies", including Arianism, Donatism, and Pelagianism.

Augustine himself had to make his way in relation to these, as well as rhetoric and greek philosophy, seeking out for himself a way of life that would realize what he considered the greatest good. We discuss his own development and biography, and how he ended up becoming a bishop and influential theologian.

Other talks in this series focused upon Plato, Aristotle, Boethius, Anselm of Canterbury, Rene Descartes, Thomas Hobbes, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Hannah Arendt. You can watch all the talks in this ongoing series here:    • Philosophers in the Midst of History | A Q...  

The series has been renewed for this year, and we will discuss Cicero for the ancient period, Augustine of Hippo for the medieval period, John Locke for the early modern period, and Albert Camus for the late modern period.

For the longer playlist containing over 70 of my recent talks, click here:    • Presentations and Invited Lectures  

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