St. Augustine & St. Thomas

Thomas Aquinas: 3 factors that determine whether an action is morally good or evil:

1. The object of the action 2. The circumstances 3. The end that is sought

St. Augustine: Central issues that lie at the heart of his philosophy:

1. The primacy of the will, as opposed to reason. Moral problem is not in the intellect, but in the will. 2. The fact that love motivates all actions, both human and divine.

Cynics:

5th century BC to 5th century AD. Cynics= "Disciples of the dog": got the name from the way they lived- unconventionally; or from the fact that Antisthenes (founder) taught in the gymnasium known as "Kynosrges" (reserved for those who were not of pure Athenian blood). Healthy cynicism: questions institution/ culture and seeks truth. Unhealthy cynicism: does not seek truth. Man's true happiness: lies in right and intelligent living; the virtuous life: virtues= mastery over ones desires and wants. Liberating man from bondage to custom, convention and institutions by reducing desires to the bare minimum. Become self-sufficient. Self-mastery. Pleasure is evil.

St. Thomas Aquinas: Monotheistic God:

A supreme being who is an unchanging, and uncaused, intrinsically necessary being, and who is an absolute perfect, purposeful cause. One criticism of his proves is that why couldn't we conclude that each of the preceding five properties apply to different beings? Thomas answers that different beings are distinguished by the fact that they have different properties. All the proofs. To me being who is absolutely perfect and unlimited. If two beings were perfect in every respect, they would have identical properties it would really be the same. Furthermore, there cannot be two Unlimited beings, for then they would limit each other and with no longer be Unlimited. Hence, there's only one God.

Christianity: first centuries- leading up to saint augustine:

AD 29: crucifixion of Jesus, 34-64: missionary activity of St. Paul, 66-70: Gospel of Mark written, 250-216: decade of brutal persecution of Christians by Romans, 313: Constantine grants toleration to Christianity: 325: council of Nicaea rules that God and Christ are of the same substance, coequal and eternal, 391-392: Theodosius makes Christianity state religion. Jesus of Nazareth: for BC-29 AD. Born in Bethlehem; childhood and Nazareth; and churches a blast to me and sedition he was tried and executed on the authority of Rome; Christian teaching: Jesus of Nazareth is the second person of the Trinity and assumes a human form: Holy trinity three people, separate and divine persons with reason and will united into the one being, making it still a monotheistic religion. Teachings: center on the kingdom of God; life is to be lived in the light of an absolute perfection which requires of person they similar, but proportional perfection; they are to live with utter perfection: purity of heart; excluding pride of any kind because pride is a vice; sensitive to others (to their sufferings, hopes, and needs); sensing the oneness of oneself and others; ministering to human needs; Establishing a new form of human community: such behavior will not only be pleasing to God and right, but also~; Turning the other cheek: one must ignore human actions and responses motivated in any other manner; one must except persecution; and love ones enemy. Do unto others as you would have others do unto you: in so acting one denies the authority, and in a sense the reality of the false forms of community. Spiritual order over lies, and is a part of the physical order: the spiritual order is to gain full sway over the world. God is The center of this spiritual reality: his providential care controls the world in any case; the appropriate name forgot his father; we must love God more than ourselves and more than anything; the approach that God is through the values of the deepest and most spiritual family life. Sin is the parking these high standards of thought, word, Deed: we pay for sin balls in the judgments contained in the natural law (through the winnowing of life); and in the final judgment, at the coming of the kingdom. Human soul is immortal. Resurrection of the human body. Politics: had little interest in politics; his doctrine was designed to save souls, not to create states and governmental to provide instruction in how those secular institutions should function; "Render for unto Caesar the things which are Caesars; and unto God the things that are gods" (Matt 22:21). "My kingdom is not of this world" (john 18:36). These statements are not of a man with a deep and abiding interest in things political.

Major figure of Cynics:

ANTISTHENES (445-365 BC): Pupil of Gorgia's; later, adherent of Socrates; Admired Socrates's character: independence in thinking and action; Man of convictions, no matter the cost. But independence and Self-sufficiency he took as the end, where with Socrates this was but the means to: the greater Good of True Wisdom, which is good for the Soul, man's noblest possession; Virtue= became sufficient by itself for happiness; not a means to an end. Antisthenes said: he would rather fall a victim to madness than desire; On Law: wise man stands beyond laws and conventions: (at least those which do not respect true virtue). Socrates: was convinced of rightness of states authority; On religions: denounced traditional religion- only a convention; virtue is the only service of God; DIOGENES OF SINOPE: (413-327 BC): Called himself the "dog"; had a very poor estimation of people; he thought that everyone was corrupted and dishonest; on politics: citizen of the world; indifference to external goods of civilization is not enough: need positive asceticism for freedom: flouting of convention; being shameless and public; he lived in a tub as a way to convey his disregard for the ways of civilization. CRATES OF THEBES: (365-285) BC Pupil of Diogenes; far more agreeable type of Cynic; gave away all his fortune to the city; was very kind; admired by all; wrote about the cynical ideal of life, the happiness of poverty; happiness= self sufficiency

Christianity: apostles and fathers of the church:

Accepted, perhaps unconsciously, a number of tenants of stoic philosophy: natural law; equality of man; the role of government; property; Natural Law: there is a natural law which is neither the written law of the state; word of God which may be apprehended by the region of Christian and Gentile a like; this is God's law; this idea is also stoic. Cosmopolitanism: St. Paul: "is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ". Property: Jesus was concerned that preoccupation with the gathering of material wealth would interfere with the infinitely more valuable goal of saving one soul. Did not endorse communism: I am admonishment to be generous does not entail that Jesus and his apostles advocated the abolition of the institution of private property itself; poverty, in God's view, is a more blessed state than affluence; and we ought not to love material things;

St. Augustine: on pagan theology: problem of civil religion:

All pagan theology falls into 3 basic forms: 1. Mythical: polytheistic; theology of poets. 2. Natural or philosophical: monotheistic; rests on true notion of God; but accessible only to a few talented individuals. 3. Civil or political: polytheistic; concerned with good of soul rather than that of body, but still imposes cult of false gods. Chief objection against pagan philosophy-on and happiness of man: Again philosophers all agree about eminent desirability of perfect justice; but they all assert that it is practically impossible to achieve; therefore, philosophy discloses its own inherent limitations; Real problem: Original sin: original harmony was disrupted by original sin, which resulted in: inordinate lust; desire to a certain dominion over his fellow man; disharmony between parts of the soul; disharmony between people; place in one selfish interests above common good of society. Answers to man's unhappiness: Man's salvation: accrues not from philosophy; but from God; divine grace is needed, not human justice; Church: is transmitter of this grace in the actual state; State: and maintain relative peace among men by repressive action; but cannot extend to the hidden motive of acts; therefore, state cannot instill virtue. Eternal Law- the source of virtue: therefore, source of happiness for man. Justice: and love, love in God, and loving others as ourselves; all ethics is based on this love, and this kind of love requires gods grace. All Objects are objects worthy of love because God would not create any non-good, non-beautiful etc.

St. Thomas Aquinas: beginning of world?:

Although Aquinas thinks the eternity of the world is consistent with his theistic arguments, he does not think we can prove the world existed. And we then prove the world must have had a beginning in time? He does not find such arguments persuasive either. And, this issue is not something reason can't resolve. However he does not believe the world had a beginning, but says the only way we can know this is that the book of Genesis in the Bible tells us so. It is an issue to be resolved by revelation, not by philosophy.

Saint Augustine: disordered love:

Although each thing is good in itself, we must not expect

St. Augustine: disordered love:

Although each thing is good in itself, we must not expect from it more than it can provide. Objects below man can't provide for needs which only fellow human beings can satisfy. Other humans can't satisfy the spiritual needs we have which only God can satisfy. We were made to Love God, who is infinite. Our happiness can only come through God, rather than through his creatures.

Augustine

Always seeked spiritiual and intelectual fufilment Souls are good and light, at war with our bodies which are products of evil. In his later writings he insits steongly that reason is subordanate to faith His ohilosophy is close to neoplatonic and platonic He is passionate about god and soul Our souls and human race inherits sin in everday life, our wills bent away from god, and the weight of our love is pulled in the wrong direction. We tend toward self love and love of a currupt and passing world Which prevents us from finding fulfillment ( this is called human predicament ) Why do we keep acting sinful if god is incontrol, answer: free will Souls journey is to god. Truth would equal the happy life Clarified vision also leads us closer to the author of truth Agustine diagreed with skeptics ( they believed you can only find happiness PURSUING the truth) and said that we can only find happiness by knowing truth, which makes us wise, which is achieveing truth and will make us happy. 1) skeptics claim we cannot know anything to be true 2) to deny that, truth requires a definition of truth 3) this definition is either true or false 4) if the defenition is true, then the skeptics must know some truth ( refusing their own claim ) 5) if the definition is false, then it is usless in the defence of skeptics, their claim is meaningless Believes sense experience is true as long as we dont surpass the data given to us or presented Oar in water ( appears bent, but reason can justifiy the sense experience make the conclusion that its not bent ) Sense experience is an instrument for the inner person ( mind and soul ) Sense experience cannot give us knowledge The mind must: Interpret Classify Correlate Judge the sense data And does this with a nonphyisical and eternal reason Divine illumination Agrees with Plato ( platonic view ) but disagrees ( due to his theology ) that the mind retains knowledge from a previous life He doesn't think these truths are programmed into us Instead, we discover intelligible realities, eternal truths, forms, divine ideas through divine light Faith and reason are not different independent routes to the truth 1) this eliminates the need for faith 2) this assumes the total self sufficiency of human race 3) this assumes the intellect is purely neutral that takes in data and processes it Reason is a function of the whole person and is effected by the orientation of the heart of the person, our passions, and faith God creation, freedom and evil God exists Creation 1) god created it of nothing 2) creation was an act of divine freedom 3) the world is made of form and matter 4) biological world is made of form and matter 5) god created time itself The problem of evil Evils are ways of achieving good Evil is not an independent reality but a type of privation, a lack of something Ex shadows aren't true form of a physical thing Or evil is just human perversions Are only apparently evil; the only thing close to genuine evil is moral evil It's impossible for us not to sin God gives us the freedom and gift of grace to some not to others If ten men owe me money and I cancel two of the debts, still leaves the remaining 8

St. Thomas Aquinas: Science and theology:

Aquinas's Oakus on the physical world and the value of natural explanations raise the question of the relationship between science and theology. On the one hand, science explains events in terms of physical causes. On the other hand he view nature is governed by divine providence. His teleological argument for God, found in the fifth Way, emphasizes that events in nature can only be explained if we see them as fulfilling gods purposes. To answer these questions, Aquinas developed a theory of dual causality, going on Aristotle's theory that different sorts of causes explain a particular event: "it is ... clear that the same effect is a scribe to a natural causing to God, not is the part where affected by God and part by the natural agent; but the whole effect proceeds from each, yet in different ways, just as the old one in the same effect is ascribed to the instrument, again the whole is ascribed to the principal agent. A question can be answered scientifically or teleologically, example: if someone walked into my kitchen and asks why is the water boiling? I can't explain it scientifically why the water is boiling, or I can tell them I'm about to cook some pasta. The two answers appeal to different principles and serve different purposes, but they are completely complementary. In the same way saint believes we can explain natural events in charge of natural causes, without having to abandon our belief in God's providence in governments of the world. Although science causes natural events to occur, it is God who has orchestrated this order of nature to carry out his will.

St. Thomas Aquinas: political philosophy:

Aquinas's political philosophy focuses on the nature of political laws. He defines law as "an ordinance of reason for the common good, promulgated by him who has care of the community". The laws concerned with elaborating and enforcing the natural law (laws against murder and theft) should be the same everywhere. However, other details left open by the natural law and are instituted for the sake of uniformity in a particular society. All civil laws receive their validity from the principles of the natural law. Any human law that violates natural law is not a genuine law at all and does not require our obedience. Generally, wash it be concerned only with major evils, namely those that harm others and undermine and ordered human society. Human law is restricted to the fear of people in their mutual relations. Political legislation is to concern itself only with justice, and should refrain from issues that concern of the spiritual community and private individual morality. Evil society is natural and requires no justification. Any society always require some system of governance and some one to look after the common good, so human nature necessitates the institution of government. Even in the state of innocence humans would have led a social life. But any particular form of government or the authority of any particular leader does need some warrant. The ideal state combines different elements. It has one ruler, whose powers balance by other governing bodies, all of whom are selected by the will of the people.

Thomas Aquinas: moral theory differences from Aristotle's:

Aristotle has a purely naturalistic ethics. Although Aristotle believe humans are unique from other animals in that they are rational, he has no sense that we have a spiritual nature in a special relationship to God. His ethics contains no notion of obedience to divine command. Humans as natural creatures their final end of our life is the happiness and self fulfillment found in the appropriate development of all categories of human excellence, particularly that of intellectual virtue. St. Thomas Aquinas believed Aristotle's naturalistic ethics did not go far enough. Humans yearn for the good in its full list form. But any good found in the natural realm can only be a particular and imperfect, finite good. Nature does not provide the means to fulfill our spiritual nature, but points beyond itself to what does fulfill us. If the purpose of our life is possession of supreme good, this can only found in God himself; Not found in your knowledge about God, but through acquaintance with God, achieved in the vision of the divine essence. Since knowledge of God attainable in this life is always imperfect, our natural desire for ultimate fulfillment points to the the necessity of an afterlife.

Saint Augustine: faith:

Augustine believe the reason cannot function without faith. Faith seeks understanding.

Saint Augustine: knowledge:

Augustine believed knowledge does not provide goodness; philosophical reason only find the light of truth if led by a heart that cherishes the light. Knowledge is inward.

Stoics: (4th century BC - 2nd century AD):

Sought to control attitudes to inevitable events. Do not get attached to things out of your control to avoid grief. Only actions and virtues are under our control, so we must cultivate these. Hold that virtue is man's last end. Despises pleasure. Controls emotion by apathy and resigned. Cultivates resignation to inexorable fate and a pantheistic universe. Pantheism: world and God are one. World is God, self is God, no differences. Things happen for a reason, except things in place that part; accept what reason says (pantheism). Stoicism: the Hellenistic philosophy which sought to make personal and political lives of men as orderly as the cosmos. Although the schools doctrines cover logic, physics, and ethics, it is best known by its ethics. It's ethic: the stoic resignation, or apathia, which encourages people to except their situation in the world, and to view such a judgment of reason as a reflection of the ultimate reason of things. The basic inJunction laid on man: follow the law of nature, example: universal reason. STOA: the word "stoa" part of "stoa poikile" which means painted porch: Zeno, founder of stoicism, lectured at the Stoa. Early stoa: only virtue is good, only vice is bad. Middle stoa: softened some of the themes: ethics became more pragmatic, less concerned with idealized stage. Late stoa: Roman: Made stoicism more Open to platonic and Aristotlean ideas. Reviving Plato's inclusion of irrational components in the soul. Continued trend set by middle stoa: with a strong primary focus on practical and personal ethics. Made the stoic a more tranquil, useful member of society than a scientist or an ascetic. More congenial to the thinking of the state and ordinary people. Human soul and the universe: - A. God is soul of the world: true piety is to be encouraged. Atheism is condemned. B. Materialistic and pantheistic universe: only matter exist, but it is in doubt with an active powerful force which orders its parts into a rational universe. Stoics said that this force is fire. Pantheism: the belief that everything is God. C. Human soul: human soul= contains part of the substance of God. And soul is higher than the body. Man is a microcosm of the macrocosm; the little universe. D. Fate and providence: events occur as they do because all things and persons are under the control of the Logos, or God. Stoics ethics: A. All men have a capacity for virtue: B. Stoic ethics based on natural law: Not based on the needs of the individual; but on the man's of the supreme law, that of the universe as a whole. Happiness is to agree and cooperate with the law of the universe. Unhappiness is she getting our happiness and good switch do not depend entirely on ourselves for attainment or continued position. Also, not accepting things out of our control. C. Virtue and vice: since humans participate in the supreme law by virtue of having a rational faculty, asian becomes the path to happiness. For to become supremely important and still work ethics. The only good is a goodwill. Basically life according to nature, not convention. Vice is the only evil. Sin: involves a perverted will. Cosmopolitanism: One of the most important outgrowths of stoic teaching: cosmopolitanism and love of humanity: idea that we are all citizens of the world. We are all children of the one God. God gives each of us a part of his divine reason. Transcendence of narrow patriotism: all humans have God for their father; all are brothers and sisters by nature. The stoic it is world-wide; a cosmpolis; Health together enough by force, but by Goodwill. We must regarding ourselves as members, not of a clan or a city, but of a worldwide society. All distinctions of race, caste, and class are to be subordinated to the sense of kinship and brotherhood. All human beings are capable of attaining to virtue; or natural born citizens of the Cosmopolis.

Four minor schools:

CYNICS: 5th century BC to 5th century AD. Who is the only good. Mastery over one's wants and desires. Happiness is virtue. It is sufficient itself for happiness. Independent simplicity and self-control. I'm happiness and evil our desire/print. Conventions are ignored or our despised. They did nouns traditional religion, because religion is only a convention. SKEPTICS: fourth century BC to second century A.D.. Impossible to know sure of anything. The only thing we know are our impressions (subjectivism/probabilism). Kept his resume is a virtue. Happiness is skeptical attitude leads to happiness. Suspending judgment will lead to Tranquility. The idea of God possesses inconsistencies. No divine providence. Argued against God's existence. EPICUREANS: fourth century BC to third century A.D.. reality: Atomism/materialism. Truth/knowledge: empiricism. Do you is good as a means to pleasure. Selfishness is a virtue. Happiness is pleasure (hedonism), Absence of pain, and mental disturbance, Not to multiply needs (multiplying sources of pain). Unhappiness/evil is unlimited vain desires; fear of God; fear of death. God; no God; therefore, no obedience to God as required. STOICS: fourth century BC to second century A.D.. Reality: pantheism and materialism. True/knowledge: all truth derives from nature, knowledge of natural order is essential to moral life. Virtue: Man's last end, cosmopolitanism (universalism: people begin to think of themselves as members of a world community, the one city of humanity ), victory over sin, self-control. Virtue is sufficient for happiness. Stoics despised pleasure; Apathy; resignation, resignation to inexorable fate, follow to agree and cooperate with the law of the universe. Unhappiness/ evil: catchments to think it's not in our power: body, honor, wealth, death. Conventions: must live according to nature, not convention. Religion/God: pantheism, universal reason, fate and Providence.

Medieval philosophy: medieval world view

Church: dominant institution in the middle ages; Gained power and importance during 12-14th century It's membership and organization grew stronger; People came to know that salvation passed through the church; Monks help build up foundation of medieval civilization; Intellectual life was advanced in the monasteries; Hey distinctive world view; Based essentially on Christianity, evolve during the middle ages; Church domination: All aspects of life: Political: holy Roman empire; Beginning with Charlemagne, lasting until renunciation of the crown by Francis the second in 1806 Philosophical: utilization of ancient wisdom and understanding the faith; Theological This outlook differed from both: Greco Roman and the modern scientific and secular views of the world; in the Christian view: Reason: when not illuminated by revelation, was either wrong or in adequate; Social life and ethics: God had revealed the proper rules for the regulation of individual and social life; Good life: the creator, not the individual, determined that constituted the good life; the good life was not of this world but came from a union with God and a higher world Primary aim of life = salvation; Life and death = purposeful and intelligible: this Christian belief, as formulated by the church, made life and death purposeful and intelligible Universe,: higher and lower worlds; Sharply differentiated between spiritual and matter Between a room of grace and earthly realm Between a higher world of perfection and a lower world of imperfection; Moral values,: derive from the hire world; Hire world: destination for the faithful; heaven Hierarchy of being: God at the summit; Human beings occupying the position between the animal kingdom and the angelic kingdom; Lifeless stones; Animals: motion and sensation Plants: reproduction and growth; Human beings: could reason and grass part of universal truth Angels: apprehended truth without difficulty God: pure being; without limitations; source of all existence Thus all things in universe occupied a place peculiar to their nature; Were linked by God and a great unbroken chain God's revelation: Passed on to angels; then to men and women: through profits, apostles, multitude; Earth center of the universe: (From Aristotle and put Ptolemy ( Second century A.D.-lived in Alexandria; astronomical system excepted until Copernicus and 16th century) God created the universe for men and women; Because God Created people in his image, they deserved his central position in the universe Individual; Sinful but redeemable The idea of a perfect god and a wretched and sinful human being Rebellion and presumptuousness Use freedom to disobey God In doing so, made evil and intrinsic part of human personality; But God, who had not stopped loving human beings, showed them a way out: God became man and died so that they might be saved; Gods grace Men and women were week, egocentric, sinful With gods grace, they could overcome their sinful nature and gain salvation; without Grace-utterly helpless Unique dignity of human being: Each human soul = was precious and commanded respect; human capacity to think, to act freely,= Reflected the image of God within each individual it enabled men and women Offered them promise of. Association with God in heaven human nobility derive from intellect and free will; but if they use these attributes to disobey God, they bring misery on themselves; Knowledge: Knowledge of spiritual things surpass all worldly knowledge, all human sciences; God = source and end of all knowledge Medieval philosophy or scholasticism -Applied reason to Revelation. It explain and clarify Christian teachings by means of concepts and principles of logic derived from Greek philosophy Scholasticism tried to show: teachings of faith; not derived from reason; But not contradicting reason; Tried to prove through reason what they already knew via faith Existence of God; Immorality of soul Harmonizing faith and reason Constructed extraordinary synthesis of Christian revelation and Greek rationalism Science of nature: Does not obstruct pursuit of Grace; Philosophy-could assist the devout in contemplating God Did not reject Christian beliefs that were beyond the grasp of human reason and therefore could not be deducted by rational argument Such truths rested entirely on revelation To be accepted on faith Reason: Does not have an independent existence; It ultimately had to egg knowledge a supernatural common superhuman standard of truth; Faith: Must have the final word; Faith being served by reason for Christian ends guided scriptural and ecclesiastical Authority Reason: enemy of faith??? Some medieval thinkers reject reasons application to Christian revelation; Enemy of faith; Fabricator of heresies Obstacle to achieving communion of soul with God Conservatives were right: Reason both enabled and underminded the medieval world view: Medieval philosophy: Nurtured a powerful force that would eventually shatter the mid evil concepts of nature and society and weaken Christianity; What changed in the century before Saint Thomas live: The novel art forms, the Crusades, the new interest in natural science, the rise of universities, Thomases problem: to reconcile the Christian notion of God and what it implied about man and nature with the old classical world view

Thomases method of argument:

Consisted in setting out arguments, derived from various authoritative sources, for and against certain important theses. His standard procedure: Raise a question; List, one after another, a number of answers to it that he held to be mistaken but for which some authority or other could be cited He then stated in summary form, the argument in support of each of these answers. The next stage of the discussion was introduced by the phrase "on the contrary"after which a counter authority was cited in support of the answer that Thomas himself propose to defend. The citation of a counter authority was Was followed by an argument for Thomases on answer, and this, in turn, was followed by separate replies to each of the rejected answers; he aimed at showing that the conflict among authorities was only a parent and that, when rightly understood, they all supported the position he had reached by rational argument; this was and exhaustive method of examining and either refuting or affirming the various alternatives under each thesis

Saint Augustine: God

Creation gives evidence of a creator. Plato's "good" is equated to God in Saint Augustine's philosophy. Saint Augustine's reasons that supported God created heaven and earth: 1. God created out of nothing. 2. Creation was an act of divine freedom. 3. The world is composed of form and matter. 4. Biological species emerge from seminal forms. 5. God created time itself. A perfect being would not change.

Scholasticism

Derives from the term doctores scholastici A ninth century term for a teacher of the arts. The name of a method and system of thought which in braces all the intellectual artistic philosophical and theological activities carried on in the universities of the middle ages. A system taken from the Greek and adapted through recognition of revelation and tradition. Recognized the superiority of theology. A method marked by emphasis on logic deduction system and the form of syllogistic argumentation, subordination to theology, and the disputation formula whereby a thesis or doctrine is defended by a Syllogistic presentation against objects

Plotinus:

Emanation: Things emanate; flow from God, the way light emanates from the sun; Sun = never exhausted; This happens by necessity-no freedom in God Sun does not do anything Hierarchical view of nature: Just as the light closest to the sun is the brightest, so also the highest form of being = first emanation; Light emanates from the sun in every-diminishing intensityMike: likewise, the graduations of being, which emanate From God, represent a decline in the degrees of perfection One: God, goal and source of everything; Alpha and Omega True being; simple - no complexity; absolute unity Nous: Thought as universal intelligence; spiritual world, the intellectual world; contains the ideas of all particular things World soul: Has two aspects: 1.)Looking upward-contemplation of the eternal ideas of all things 2.)Looking down word-it emanates by reasoning one thing at a time Human soul: emanation from the world soul; two aspects: 1. Looking forward, eight years in the universal reason or nous; 2. Looking down the word, the soul becomes connected, but not identical with the body; The world of matter: Lowest level in the hierarchy of being; this is the world of material objects; -Organize into a mechanical order; -Who is operation or movement is the work of reason; -governed by cause and effect

St. Thomas Aquinas: Teleological ethics:

Every event in the universe occurs because there is some end toward which it is directed. As with the rest of nature, humans have their own natural ends and inclinations. However, we are the only earthly creatures that can consciously choose if and how we will for fill a given end. Ethics concerns what ends are worthy for humans to pursue. Moral good is not something alien to us, but is the fulfillment of our natural end. Evil is a kind of deficiency or probation; It prevents us from achieving fulfillment. Every voluntary, deliberate action (human actions) is either good or bad, none are morally indifferent. Acts of humans (unconscious or in voluntary behaviors) are neither morally good nor bad. The will naturally desires what is good, but it needs reason to tell it would genuinely is good and the appropriate means for achieving the good.

Saint Thomas Aquinas: metaphysics: from the world to God:

Following Aristotle, Aquinas believed that the natural world consists of a collection of concrete individual substances. Every material substance must be understood in terms of two principles: First is the substantial form, (form is the universal aspect of the thing), that which all members of a species have in common. He answers this problem by saying if there is continuity, there must be a more fundamental kind of matter that persist through any sort of substantial change: this is what he calls prime matter. Prime matter is pure matter, without any form whatsoever, and that it does not have any distinctive characteristics of its own, but has the potential to take on any possible form. It can be described as pure potentiality. The Second principle is matter, which includes two problems that a rise from our common sense understanding of experience: first is the problem of continuity (since one kind of substance can change into a Nother substance, what accounts for our experience of continuity?). Second is that of individuation (how can two substances have identical qualities and still be two different substances?). Two substances with the same qualities are different because their matter is different. However, when we look about the world, we will not find any examples of prime matter. This is because all matter we encounter is already formed matter and is only in this or that particular substance, whether it is a rock, a plant, or an animal. Of course in Aquina's Aristolean universe there are no pure, independently existing forms either, for all forms are only found embodied in substances. Does distinction between form and matter and physical substances is one example of a more general distinction between actuality and potentiality.

Aquinas: The existence of God: the five ways:

General outline of the Five Ways: 1. If the world has a feature X, and there is a God. 2. The world has feature X. 3. Therefore, there is a God. First and more manifest way: MOTION For motion is nothing else than the reduction of something from potentiality to actuality. But nothing can be reduced from potentiality to actuality, except by something in a state of actuality. What ever is in motion must be put in motion by another. If that by which it is put in motion be itself put in motion, then there's also must needs be put in motion by another, and that by another again. It is necessary to arrive at a first mover, put in motion by no other; - everyone understands this to be God. Second way: EFFICIENT CAUSE: In the world of sense we find there is an order of efficient causes. No cases known where a thing is an efficient cause of itself. Therefore it is necessary to admit a first efficient cause, to which everyone gives the name God. Third way: POSSIBILITY & NECESSITY if everything is possible not to be, then at one time there could have been nothing in existence. Now if this were true, even now there would be nothing in existence, because nothing thing was in existence, it would have been impossible for anything to have begun to exist; and that's even now nothing would be in existence-which is absurd. Therefore, not all beings are merely possible, but there must exist something that assistance of which is necessary. Therefore we cannot but postulate the existence of some being having of itself it's own necessity, And not receiving it from another, but rather causing in others their necessity-this all men speak of as God. Forth way: the GRADUATION TO BE FOUND IN THINGS Among beings there are some more and some less good, true, noble, etc. But more or less are predicated on different things, according as they resemble in there different ways something which is the maximum (best, hottest, coldest, etc.). For there must also be something which is to all beings the cause of their being, goodness, and every other perfection; and this we call God. Fifth way: the GOVERNANCE OF THE WORLD Whatever lacks intelligence cannot move towards an end, unless it be directed by some other being endowed with knowledge intelligence; is the arrogation to do with Marc by the archer. Therefore some intelligent being exists by whom all natural things are directed to their end; and this being we call God.

Saint Augustine: the body:

God created the body, so it cannot be bad. The soul is still greater than the body, but do not depreciate it. The soul and body is one substance, and will resurrect.

Saint Augustine: free will:

God has foreknowledge and foreordains our actions. He uses knowledge of our inner motives without violating our freedom. Moral Evil is the product of the human mind. It is impossible for us not to sin. We achieve moral freedom only when God gives us the gift of grace. God grants grace to some and not others.

Saint Augustine: mono theism:

God transcends the universe he created.

St. Thomas Aquinas: problem of religious language:

How can we speak about an infinite and perfect Being if the language we speak is drawn from the world of finite and imperfect creatures? A humans goodness is not the same as God's goodness, there for the positive terms are used to talk about humans cannot be used with the same meaning to talk about God. But if all our knowledge begins with experience as Saint Thomas believes, then the meaning of our terms, even those that apply to God, must have some origin in the realm of human experience. Therefore we cannot use turns unique to God because we lack the direct experience of gods essence that would be necessary to give these terms their special meaning. Second, he does want to see that there is some similarity between human and divine goodness, even if they are not exactly the same, for humans are created in the image of God. Aquinas's first solution is the negative way; negative way claims we can speak of God's properties by negating the properties coming to finite creatures. But we cannot only use terms about what it is not, we need some positive ones. Therefore his second approach is the way of analogy. This method let us start from an object A that is directly known and then go on to infer information about an object B that is not directly known. Hence, if we know what it is like for a friend to be good, wise, and intelligent with the limitations of human nature, and if such human properties are diminished approximations of God's attributes, then we can have some knowledge of what goodness, wisdom, and intelligence would mean one attribute it to an infinite being.

Saint Augustine: the two cities/ history:

Human history is an ongoing conflict between two kingdoms: the city of the world and the city of God. History as purpose. Eternal truths can not originate in humans minds because we are not eternal. Love of God: is the central principle of morality. It is by the character of their wills, or by their dominant love that humans are distinguished; if the principle of morality is love of God, the essence of evil is a falling away from God, then the human race can be divided into the following two great camps: 1. City of God: (city of Jerusalem): those who love God, in preference to self; the virtuous; godly men; pious acquiescence in the world of God; true justice reigns. 2. City of the world: (city of Babylon): those who love themselves, pleasure, and the world in preference in God; the wicked; the "flesh"; actions which are not ordered to God as to their supreme end.

St. Augustine: happiness:

Is when the will embraces the immutable Good; blessed life. To live well is nothing else but to love God. We desire the infinite, and only God can satisfy the desire.

Saint Augustine: Love, happiness, and disordered love:

Love of God: is the central principle of morality. It is by character of their wills, or by their dominant love that humans are distinguished; Happiness: enjoyment of a humans beings chief good. Chief good: can't be below man, the levels of inanimate nature and brute animals; can't be on same level as man: the enjoyment of a Good than which nothing is better. Human nature: made of soul and body; and good of soul is higher than the good of the body. Morals deal with matters relating to the soul. Chief good: is the chief good of the soul. But the soul is not the chief good of man. It must be higher than the soul. God: is the chief good of man. Love: and we must love God with all our heart, soul, mind. Our perfect good is in God. Objects of love: physical objects; other persons; oneself. All objects are legitimate objects of love; (recall evil= privation of good). Moral problem: occurs when we have misdirected love; disordered love.

St. Augustine: solution:

Must love God first before loving his creatures, including ourselves. This is the. Eat defense against the destructive tendencies of pride.

St. Augustine:

Name: Aurelius Augustine. Produced 118 treatises on various theological topics. Wrote "confessions", and the "city of God", noted for being the first philosophy of history. He was born in 354 CE, North Africa. He studied in Carthage in 370 CE at 16 years old. Joined Manichaean cult, who gave explanation as to why there is evil in the world: there is a Lord of light (God), and a lord of darkness (Satan) who were always fighting for power. He taught rhetorical and literature. Left Manichaean thought, then became a skeptic for a while. Eventually he became inspired by Neoplatonics. Does not reject philosophy; God enjoins the use of reason to acquire knowledge; reason permits fuller and deepened understanding of inspired truth; and only by philosophy is the believer able to make his position intelligible to outsiders.

Saint Augustine: evil:

St. Augustine disagreed with Plato and Manichaeans, because Plato said the cause of evil is simply ignorance, and Manichaeans said Bill is the work of the principle of darkness permeating the body; Saint Augustine says that evil or sin is a product of the will. In spite of original sin, we still possess freedom of the will. But this freedom of the will is not the same as spiritual freedom: spiritual liberty is no longer possible and it's from this in this life, we do not have the spiritual power to do the good we have chosen: we must have the help of God's grace. Evil is caused by acts of free will, virtue is a product of God's grace. Evil is a defect, corruption, perversion of what was created good. Bad/ evil is necessary to achieve spiritual health. Evil is a privation, a lack of something. It is the lack of perfect goodness. Moral evil is the product of the human will. It is impossible for us not to sin. Natural evil represents the absence or probation and something that is otherwise good in itself; example: blindness in absence of sight. Moral evil is the suffering caused by will for human choices-also involves an absence, and is thus not a positive thing. What is absent is in order or harmony between the parts of our nature in the relationship we have with others and with God himself.

St. Thomas Aquinas: Natural Law:

Natural law: natural guidelines that will helps us actualize are human potentials; precepts of the natural law are universal and self evident to reason. The good is what is in accordance with reason, and this is defined as being in conformity to the natural law of morality. Following his hierarchy from the lowest forms of life on through the higher animals and up to human life, Thomas Aquinas seeks to show that by reflecting on what is in accord with nature in our natural inclinations, we can derive moral principles. 1. "Life is to be preserved": don't murder/suicide. 2. All animals seek to persevere their species and care for their offspring; must biologically/ emotionally nurture young and educate children to reach their fullest potential. 3. Since we are higher than beasts we have an inclination to fully realize all our rational, human capacities. Must pursue truth (including knowledge of God) and to follow all the precepts necessary to live harmoniously in society. People who don't agree with universal natural law are blinded by passion, bad habits, and ignorance. Person has limited capacities and cannot perceive reality normally. Natural law is not programmed into out conscious; the conscious is not a source of knowledge as much as it is the rational activity of applying moral knowledge to particular cases. "Every will at variance with reason, whether right or erring, is always evil". The most that can be asked of people is that they follow their informed conscious to the best of their ability. If our conscious is objectively mistaken, we are still judged by how we follow the moral light as we perceived it.

St. Thomas Aquinas: The rejection of platonic dualism:

Nature is a unified and continuous spectrum of beings from are the lowest things, to those creatures capable of reason, free choice, moral decisions, and spiritual life, mainly humans and angels. Physical nature is not alien to the spiritual dimension, for this entire chain of being pointed to it and found its final end in God. This metaphysical vision enabled Aquinas to give more weight to the biblical doctrine of the goodness of creation. Aquinas did not view the body as an unfortunate present in which the store resides. Instead, the body is important for knowledge, and it is what makes us the unique individuals we are. Not only are we spiritual beings with an E ternal destiny, but we are a part of nature as well. Gave more important to do the physical world and our here and Now earthly existence, provides a better foundation for the works of human culture such as science politics more in the arts them was possible in and Augustinian picture of the world.

Saint Augustine: Memoria

Non-sensory contents of the mind.

St. Augustine: human misery:

Occurs when we think we can achieve true happiness by loving only things other than God: objects, persons, ourselves.

Sceptics: major figures:

PYRRHO (361-270 BC): His central thesis: it is impossible to know the nature of anything; every statement can be countered by it's contradictory; therefore, the logical stance on the part of mankind should be noncommittal silence, and a suspension of judgment; early skepticism is known as Pyrrhonism; and as academics (after Arcesilaus- 316-241 BC- Who became head of Plato's Academy in third century BC, and who rejected plato's metaphysics, developing instead of a doctrine of probabilism). CARNEADES (214-129 BC): The most powerful of the skeptics; stood in opposition to stoic philosophy, especially it's theory of knowledge; thesis: we are not aware of things, but only of our impression; and there is no way to tell which of our impressions are true; however, there are degrees of probability: 1. Probable in itself; 2. Probable and uncontradicted; 3. Probable, uncontradicted and confirmed; On God: no divine providence; idea of God possesses inconsistencies. SEXTUS EMPIRICUS (150-225 AD): Sense experience is unreliable; reason itself can't be judged, since it too will need support from other reasons, and this is a vicious regress; in syllogisms, The conclusion is already implicit in the major premise; example: "Socrates is mortal" is implicit in the premise, all men are mortal. On God: it is impossible for God to be either finite or infinite; and evil in the world speaks against God's perfection;

St Augustine: natural law:

Stoics: The diffusion of the principle of reason throughout all of nature: this reason rules everything; Nous, principal reason, constituted the laws of nature; but these laws of nature are the workings of an impersonal force of rational principles in universe; Augustine: interpreted the eternal law as the reason and will of the personal Christian God; natural law: a persons intellectual grasp of the eternal principles;

Aquinas: A hierarchical universe:

Prime matter is pure potentiality. It is the capacity to take on different substantial forms. Forms are on the side of actuality, for they create a particular object. Because God is perfect, he alone is fully actualized, for to be imperfect means to have potentialities that are not actualized, hence god is unchanging. However, the rest of the universe is dynamic. Every created being is somewhere between pure potentiality and complete actualization and has a natural tendency toward further self development. I'm trying to for fill our potential and be all that we can be, we are imitating or coming closer (within the bounds of our finiteness) to the full list of the divine actuality and perfection. Aquinas's Picture of the universe is of a continuous hierarchy that some have called the "great chain of being". It ranges from inorganic substances at the bottom all the way up to God at the pinnacle. There is such an animal or miss variety of substances because God's own creation was made to express his fullness. Since each species has a form, the world is orderly and intelligible and our minds can know it. Furthermore, the world is purposeful, for each sort of thing is in the process of fulfilling it's divinely ordained essence. Objective value judgments are possible because the excellence of any natural creature can be graded in terms of how fully it realizes the potential inherent in its essence. Finally, creatures can be ranked as higher or lower depending on how close they are to god on the scale of being. Because there is this objective hierarchy, all of physical nature reflects the divine nature and is important, but humans more fully exhibit the image of God and, there by have more dignity and worth compared to something like a snail.

Aquinas's epistemology:

Reason must work from the materials given to it by since experience.

Plotinus:

Reincarnations/transmigration. The "good" is the one. Forms: first is Nous/intelligence, below it is the world soul, then the human soul, then physical objects, and lastly is matter. He depreciates the body more so than Plato did. He uses the sun analogy: the one is at the center therefore is the brightest and hottest spot; as the rays get further away from the center, they lose heat and brightness. This is to describe how the forms come from Nous/intelligence to world soul to human soul to physical objects and to matter. There is no freedom in will. He believes in pantheism: everything is one, continuations. Things emanate; flow from God, the way light emanates from the sun; Sun = never exhausted; This happens by necessity-no freedom in God Sun does not do anything Just as the light closest to the sun is the brightest, so also the highest form of being = first emanation; Light emanates from the sun in every-diminishing intensityMike: likewise, the graduations of being, which emanate From God, represent a decline in the degrees of perfection God, goal and source of everything; Alpha and Omega True being; simple - no complexity; absolute unity Thought as universal intelligence; spiritual world, the intellectual world; contains the ideas of all particular things Has two aspects: 1.)Looking upward-contemplation of the eternal ideas of all things 2.)Looking down word-it emanates by reasoning one thing at a time Lowest level in the hierarchy of being; this is the world of material objects; -Organize into a mechanical order; -Who is operation or movement is the work of reason; -governed by cause and effect

Saint Augustine: the fall of Rome:

Rome fell not because of its turn to Christianity, but because it did not turn quickly enough to Christianity.

Aquinas: Five Ways: clarified points, answer to critiques:

Saint Thomas never says that everything must have a cost, because then people would ask what caused God. However this is like asking what other light caused the light of a flashlight you just turned on. Saint Thomas is actually claiming that everything which is merely potential in that is dependent and not self-sufficient must be caused by some other actuality. This principle shows why everything in nature requires an ultimate first cause, but it is not include God in its scope. Other critics assume that his points are seeking to prove that the world had a beginning in time. However Aristotle both believe that the world was eternal and that you required and unmoved mover. Although Saint Thomas does not believe the arguments given for the eternity of the world or conclusive, he does think this is logically possible. Because then why would an always existing universe require a first cause. When Aquinas says God is the first cars, he does not mean that God is necessarily a temporally pause. He's not talking about a horizontal causal series stretching through time, but about a vertical column series, operating right here and now with God at the apex. In other words, his picture of God's causal relationship to the world is really not like that of the colliding pool balls, but his vision of the universe is better illustrated by the example of the hanging chain where the series of dependent causes and effects or contemporary with one another and we are each moment of their existence, they continuously depend on some self sufficient cause to support them. For this reason, God is primarily a continuously sustaining cause and not necessarily an initiating causes.

Sceptics: 4th century BC to 2nd century AD:

Skepticism= from Greek work meaning "seekers" or "inquirers". Skepticism is the doctrine that absolute and moral knowledge is impossible to attain by region. Did not question facts of our experience, but only our interpretations of experience; distinguished between evident and non-evident matters: senses are receptive: moral rules raise doubt; but morality is possible without intellectual certainty: all that is needed, not certainty, but reasonable assurance; probability= happiness; customs, laws of land, our basic appetites are reliable guides. They are skeptical because there is no consensus, therefore there is no moral truth.

Aquinas: 5 ways: broken down:

The first three arguments are similar, in that they depend on the principle that in infinite regress of causes is inconceivable. These three ways to God are various forms of what is known in modern times as the cosmological argument. First: Motion: Must be first a unmoved mover to cause change. Second: Efficient Causation: In nature we see that one event is caused by another event that was itself caused by yet another event. There cannot be an infinite series of such causes, because unless there is a first cause there is sufficient unto itself, the whole series of dependent causes and effects is unaccounted for. The first cause for all the intermediate causes in the world is God. Third: Possibility and necessity: Nature we find things that come into existence and pass out of existence. Their existence and nonexistence are both possible. That which does not exist can only begin to exist through something that already has existence. There cannot be an Infiniti of me really possible beings who depend for their existence and something else. Therefore, there must be some being who exists by it's own necessity and is not dependent on anything but who can impart existence to everything else. This necessary being is what all people speak of as God. Fourth: degrees of perfection: It starts from the existence of degrees of value or perfection and claims that they imply the existence of a supremely perfect being as their source. The most degree of value is necessarily associated with the most degree of reality. Since degrees of value imply an ultimate source of value, there is a supreme being in which all perfections are realized. Fifth: Evidence of design in the world: Most of nature is blind and unintelligent, yet it seems to be orderly and to achieve purposeful ends. He believes the world is a teleological system. However, an end that does not yet exist cannot direct it's on realization. Only if the final goal is contained in the mind of an intelligent architect who go the process can we account for the existence of a well-designed system. So Saint Thomas Aquinas concludes that some intelligent being exist by whom all natural things are directed to their end.

St. Thomas Aquinas: The Four Laws:

The moral law written into our nature is an expression of God's eternal laws. The moral law is not based on the arbitrary decision of God's will but is an expression of the divine reason, rooted in God's nature. So moral law isn't arbitrary either. 4 Laws (or Ways) that God's Law is manifested: 1. Eternal Law: rational order that the ruler of the universe established for his creation. All things are subject to the eternal law. "Laws of nature". 2. Natural Law: the law available to reason that governs human moral behavior. The natural law guides us insofar as we are natural and social creatures. Leads us to virtues of temperance, courage, justice, and wisdom. 3. Divine Law: given to us in revelation. The divine law goes beyond natural law and guides us in achieving eternal happiness. In following this law, natural virtues are surpassed by the theological virtues of faith, hope, and love. These can only be attained through the workings of God's grace. 4. Human Law: instituted by governments. If such a law is legitimate, it is rooted in God's eternal law. Then, in obeying a legitimate law, we are obeying God. "In temporal law there is nothing just and lawful but what man has drawn from the eternal law" (quoted from St. Augustine).

St. Thomas Aquinas: Personal God:

The other Criticism of his five ways is the fact that each argument and with different variations on the phrase "everyone understands to be God". Critics say that the abstract metaphysical cause talked of by these arguments is a far cry from the personal, loving God of the Bible. However Saint Thomas does not claim the proves gave us a complete picture of God. This is what he believes revelation must supplement reason. But he would insist that they do give us some of the more important qualities of God, for example, the fourth prove shows that God is ultimate perfection. Since, by his definition, a perfect being must be perfect and goodness and love, this suggests that the iltimate being is a personal Being.

St. Thomas Aquinas: essence and existence:

The potentiality-actuality distinction is exhibited another station, the relation between essence and existence. Essence accounts for what a thing is, similar to dictionary definition. However (1) the nature or essence of something differs from (2) the fact that it exists. With respect to all finite beings, their accents is something independent of their existence. But this distinction is not present in God, for God's essence implies his existence. Nothing greater than God can be thought. If there is a God, his nature is such that he would exist necessarily. Even though we can't understand the term God, we do not have a direct apprehension of the divine essence. If we did, we would see that his essence is identical to his existence.

Early christians:

The time of Christ and his apostles until the reign of Galerius some 300 years later was one of hardship for the Christians; deprived of property and citizenship; the Christianity flourished; between the time of Constantine until the fall of Rome: The power of the church increased while that of the state declined. Becomes the center of a new and powerful empire: more ecclesiastical than secular; vertical thought: centers in great measure on the church-state problem; both church and state where necessary to the good life and each should contribute to that and in its appropriate manner; but problems arose: church property and the taxes that were imposed on it.

Saint Augustine: eternal forms and creation/time:

The world of particular's is based on the eternal forms. Eternal forms do not autonomously exist on their own, but reside within God's mind. Eternal forms can not originate in humans minds because we are not eternal. Saint Augustine rejected Plato's view that the creator of the world (Demiurge) functions like an architect who imposes the forms on a pre-existing matter. God placed rational seeds or seminal reasons (rationes seminales) in the world, from which future created beings will emerge. God is the cause of everything. When new forms of life emerge, it is all part of God's original creation: whole developmental scheme is there in the beginning. God created the world and time together. God exists not in time, but in eternity.

Epicureans (4th century BC- 3rd century AD):

They pick egoistic pleasure as man's last end. Epicureans: greatest amount of pleasure, least amount of pain. Pleasure is good, pain is evil. Friendship, morality, politics are all based on hedonist principles. Hedonism: oldest and simplest of ethical theories: it holds that pleasure is the end of life and the highest good. EPICURUS (342-270 BC): Founded a school in Athens at the end of fourth century BC. Followed the atomism of Democritus: no God, only collision of atoms. Citizenship is not prerequisite for individual happiness (contrary to Aristotle's conception). Epicurean Ethic: fundamentally selfish or egocentric: based on individuals pleasure; but in practice, not so selfish: but kindness brings pleasure. The only ethic consistent with mechanistic materialism. Goal of Life: happiness, understood as a state of pleasure enjoyed in tranquility, free from mental or physical disturb. END: not intense pleasures; not virtue; not positive enlightenment due to contemplative activity; not to contemplation of ideas/form; but abiding peace of mind; state of cheerful tranquility; 3 kinds of desire: must be restricted with inbounds which will enable us to satisfy them: 1. Natural but necessary desires: desire for food and shelter. 2. Natural but not necessary: desire for sexual gratification. 3. Neither natural nor necessary to satisfy. Desire for wealth or fame. Pleasant life best achieved by neglecting to the third, never prudent to try to satisfy third. And long run, disappointment, dissatisfaction, discomfort, poor health. satisfying only desires of the first kind. Satisfying second kind, only if this doesn't lead to discomfort or pain. PLEASURE: every pleasure is intrinsically good. No pleasure is intrinsically bad. PAIN: every pain is intrinsically evil. Unhappiness: results from 1. Unlimited vain desires. 2. Fear of (death, afterlife, god (s). If he can bridal these, Manwell secure himself the blessings of reason. The goal becomes left of eliminating these sources: eliminating vain desires, eliminate fear. DEATH: Illuminate fear by: Epicurus sought to liberate man from fear of death and from gods: material list: Epicurus was an atomist: no God, or immortality of the soul. Reduced all knowledge to sensation or perception. God: no place for god's in his theory; oh hire intelligence, but only collision of atoms. Followed the atomism of Democritus. No creator, therefore, no obedience to God is required. Does not intrude into peoples lives. Atheistic. There is no fear of God, either now or after, since they do not interfere in human life.

St. Augustine: defection of the will:

This becomes contrary to the order of nature; the fault is in man, not in things. We simply love things more than we ought to, or we don't love them enough. Ex: in advance, the fault is not in money, but in our inordinate love of money. Ex: in lust, the fault is not in beautiful and desirable objects, but in the love of sensuality. Ex: in boasting, the fault is not in the accomplishment, but in our excessive self-love.

St. Augustine: the moral equation:

We must love in the measure in which there is a correlation steer. Ou