1. Report in
Philosophy of
Human PersonPresented by:
Cristina Joy Reyes

2. “Augustine of Hippo”

3. Born: November 13,
354 AD, Tagaste
Numidia
Died: August 28, 430
AD, Hippo Regius,
Algeria
Full name: Aurelius
Augustinus
Hipponensis
Nationality: Algerian
Parents: Saint
Monica, Patricius
Aurelius

4. Augustine of Hippo, also known
as Saint Augustine or Saint Austin,
was one of the foremost philosopher
– theologians of early Christianity
and the leading figure in the
church of North Africa .

5. As a child , he was schooled
in Latin literature and at the age of
16, went to Cartage to study
rhetoric .It was in Cartage where
he became a teacher.

6. He lived for years with a woman
who was not his legal wife and bore him a
child whom he named Adeodatus
(meaning “God-given”)
At the age of twenty , after his father
died, Augustine turned to teaching to
support his family.

7. At Cartage, he became enthusiastic
about philosophy after reading cicero’s
Hortenius.This work of Cicero led Augustine
to have a passion for learning
However , he was left with uncertainty
as to where to find intellectual satisfaction
.His Christian ideas became all the more
unsatisfactory because he was not
completely satisfied with the answers
provided for him by his Christian belief as to
the problem of moral evil.

8. Marcus Tullius Cicero

9. With the belief of the
Christians that God is creator of all
things , how can it be possible for a
moral evil to arise in the world that
is created by a God , who is a
Summum Bonum?

10. Who is a Summum Bonum?
Summum bonum is a Latin
expression meaning "the highest
good", which was introduced by
Cicero, to correspond to the Idea of
the Good in Greek philosophy.

12. Manicheans, a
Gnostic religion of
late antiquity, founded
and spread by the
Persian Mani .

13. This conflict was
reflected in human life in the
conflict between the soul ,
which is connected to light ,
and the body , which is
connected to darkness .

14. This group believed that
there are two basic principles in the
universe .
 The principle of light or
goodness.
 The principle of darkness or
evil.

15. However , as a
philosopher , he continued
asking questions like ‘ why
are there two conflicting
principles in nature?

16. Skepticism is the
philosophy , which believed that
we ought to doubt everything ,
and no truth can be
comprehended by human beings
. It is a manner of doubting as to
whether it is possible for human
being to attain perfect certainty
of knowledge

17. Afterwards, he moved to Milan
where he became a municipal professor
of rhetoric in 384 CE .
During his stay in Milan ,he met
and was tremendously influenced by
Ambrose , who was then the bishop of
Milan .

18. ST. AMBROSE OF MILAN
Aurelius Ambrosius, better
known in English as Saint Ambrose (c.
340 – 4 April 397), was an archbishop
of Milan who became one of the most
influential ecclesiastical figures of the
4th century. He was one of the four
original doctors of the Church. He is
patron saint of Milan. He is notable for
his influence on St. Augustine.

19. Plotinus was a major
philosopher of the ancient world.
Through Plotinus, he was able
to learn that evil is not actually a
positive entity but rather a matter of
privation , i..e., the absence of good .
It seemed that Neo- Platonism
provided for him a certain form of
intellectual
Satisfaction . However , his moral
problem remained unsolved.

20. Through the sermons of
Ambrose , he saw Platonism and
Christianity as virtually one, seeing in
Neo- Platonism the philosophical
expression of Christianity . In 386, he
was converted to Christianity , giving
up hi profession of rhetoric and giving
his life totally to the pursuit of
philosophy , which he considered as a
pursuit towards his knowledge of god
. He later on become a prolific writer ,
a leader in the Catholic Church and a
defender against heresy .

21. In 396 CE, he became bishop of
Hippo . Later on, he fought himself in
fighting against the opponents of the
Church , one of which was Pelagius ,
who denied the doctrine of the
original sin. At the age of 75 ,
Augustine died in the posture of
reciting the Penitential Psalm during
that time when the Vandals were
besieging Hippo.

23. ST. AUGUSTINE’S VIEW
On the Human Person

24. ST. AUGUSTINE'S
PHILOSOPHY
An attempt to reconcile and bring together an
admirable synthesis the wisdom of Greek philosophy and
the divine truths contained in the scriptures.

25. His philosophy is said to be eudaimonistic,
means that the highest ethical goal is happiness
and personal well-being.

26. According to him, God is the living personal
God, the creator of all things, and the supreme
ruler of the universe.

27. ACCORDING TO HIM GOD IS:
 An Absolute Spirit
 The Absolute Will
 The Absolute Intelligence
 The Absolute Freedom
 The Absolute Good
 The Absolute Holiness

28. IMAGO-DEI-RELATIONSHIP
human person bears the image of God and the
human person’s crowning glory resides in his being an
imago Dei.

29. SOCIETAL DIMENSION
everyone should give due respect and love to
everyone because the others too are images of God.

30. For Augustine, God created the world out of nothing
with love and the human person is part of his creation.

31. Life, for Augustine, is a dialectic movement towards
love.
Virtue, is the order of love.

32. All created things are good. Nothing is evil in
itself.

35. Augustine’s Philosophy
• Evil is not an existing reality
(deprivation)
• Harmony of things
• Summum Bonum created the world
of matter and it cannot be evil.
-awareness of a person on what
is good or who God is.

36. • Turning to God or not is a voluntary
act.
• Evil or Sin is the the product of the
will.
• All humanity possesses freedom of
the will.
• Virtue is the product of God’s grace.

37. • Human person is not self-
sufficient.
• Human person’s pride leads him
away from God’s grace.
• Human person is in a constant
struggle for happiness.
• Subordinating to the Divine
Order by seeking eternal peace.

38. • Love of God is the means to find
real satisfaction.
• The purpose of human existence
is to find happiness in God but not
go beyond or defeat his purpose
for us.

40. The Human person's desire
towards the good may also lead him to
the possibility that he may choose to
turn away from the good, and cling
instead to the goods of this earth;
thereby, losing his real end or purpose
of existence.

41. Doctrine of Disordered Love
From this doctrine, Augustine held that the
human society can be divided between those who
love themselves and the world.
 The society who loves God, Augustine called the
Civitas Dei, the City of God.
 The society who loves self and the world, he
called Civitas Mundi, the City of the World.

42. Augustine believed that all men, so long
as they are mortal, must of necessity be
miserable. Everyone should, therefore, make a
choice as to where he would like to be with.
Every human person should, therefore, seek
for God's grace in order to be led to his proper
end. Hence, human beings should cling to the
law of conscience, which will admonish them
to do good and to avoid evil, the ultimate
norm of morality.

43. Thank
you for
listening