The Self Before God? Rethinking Augustine's Trinitarian Thought

What is often termed the modern crisis of the Western self—the problems associated with the proto-Cartesian and proto-Kantian conceptions of the self—has given rise to attempts not only to confront the crisis constructively, but also to trace its origin. In one philosophical reading of the developme...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Drever, Matthew (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: Cambridge Univ. Press 2007
In: Harvard theological review
Year: 2007, Volume: 100, Issue: 2, Pages: 233-242
Online Access: Volltext (JSTOR)
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Parallel Edition:Non-electronic
Description
Summary:What is often termed the modern crisis of the Western self—the problems associated with the proto-Cartesian and proto-Kantian conceptions of the self—has given rise to attempts not only to confront the crisis constructively, but also to trace its origin. In one philosophical reading of the development of the crisis in the Western self, Augustine stands as one of its forefathers. In this reading, Augustine's anthropology is anchored firmly within Platonism and is viewed as a key precursor of the tradition leading to the modern, autonomous self of Descartes and Kant. Such a reading often focuses on Augustine's somewhat idiosyncratic self-analysis in Confessionum libri [Conf.] XIII, and points to his so-called psychological model of the Trinity found in De Trinitate [Trin.]. It is argued that his method of inward movement, which involves the utilization of the structures of individual consciousness as an analogy to the immanent Trinity, in conjunction with his analysis of the individual self in Conf., becomes a basic foundation for the modern private, autonomous self.
ISSN:1475-4517
Contains:Enthalten in: Harvard theological review
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1017/S0017816007001563