Assess the view that Augustine’s teachings on human nature are too
pessimistic. [40 marks].
Some might argue that Augustine's view of human nature can be seen as highly
pessimistic. This may be because of his focus on 'the fall' and the original sin,
stories which portray humanity as selfish and un-loyal beings. Augustine puts
emphasis on how helpless we are to sin and how we can only be saved through
the grace of God. This is a bold statement made by Augustine however it fails
to take into account the solution put forward by him. In this essay I will look at
both theistic and non theistic views on Augustine’s teachings on human nature
and attempt to come to an unbiased conclusion on whether they may be
regarded as ‘pessimistic’.
Augustine's interpretation of the human race is mostly derived from the story
of creation, his take on Genesis is literal and far from reality. Looking at the
sins of Adam and Eve, the post-lapsarian world shows the effects of the
original sin such as the divided and rebellious state of will. The main
characteristics of the original sin are passed down to all generations. Augustine
argued that as a result of this the soul became distorted. Although rational
enough to know what is morally right, the damage done to it in the fall meant
that even if the soul desires to do good, it's weakened by desires and so does
the opposite. This paradoxical state was caused by Adam at the fall and affects
all of humanity today. He states the will is at war with itself and unable to obey
its own orders, due to this it is impossible for humans to ever be truly good.
We may be under the illusion that we have free will, however we are deeply
influenced and controlled by concupiscence. This is a pessimistic view of our
nature as it makes one wonder if we are truly free or chained down, Augustine
rejects the view that we could change our nature and ignore our desires.
People with a more optimistic outlook of human nature state that there can be
many underlying reason for why a human behaves badly including
psychological factors and poor education. It can also be argued that our brutish
nature comes from biological factors needed for survival. Famous philosopher
Thomas Hobbes argued that by nature, humans are brutish and non-co-
operative. The one aspect we have that separates us from animals is the ability
, to reason. He also argued that the purpose of life was to conquer the brutish
animal side of our human nature and create fair societies to live in. This is a
close to realistic description of human nature as it's only through the power of
reason that we know that a better outcome comes from getting along with one
another. This would paint Augustine as more of a realist than a pessimist as
even scientific and atheist sources can agree that we have an animal-like
nature. However, as humans are more emotionally complex than any other
species, our morals discovered through reason are more likely to overcome
our biological nature.
Augustine's views on human pride are that it caused humans to reject their
perfect relationship with the world and God. In Genesis, pride corrupted
human nature in Adam and Eve and as a result they developed a desire to be
like God, knowing good and evil. This is shown through their decision to eat
from the forbidden tree of knowledge. As a result of their pride, cupiditas has
been separated from caritas and they can no longer enjoy a harmonious
relationship with God. Augustine argues that it was Satan that originally
planted the idea of disobedience into Eve's mind, however the act of rebellion
was entirely the result of human free will. He argues that 'evil will precedes evil
act', meaning that it is not the body that is corrupt but the will, he resisted this
Manichean idea that the body was somehow evil. On the contrary, Augustine
argued later in life that sex drive, ignorance and death were punishment for
human rebellion which no amount of reasoning could ever overcome. This
strongly implies that free will is yet again an illusion. When revising his books
on free will, Augustine moved away from his Platonist views on free will and
then argued that human beings do not voluntarily choose to sin but are
inevitably prone to sin whether they will it or not. He stated that humans
prefer falsehoods such as the so called 'free will' because their souls are
fettered and tied down by sin. This view further highlights the pessimism
embedded in Augustine's as by saying whether our will desires it or not we will
sin largely paints a picture that our nature is set in stone and such things such
as free will don't exist to prevent us from the ultimate action of sin.
It can be argued however that Augustine's contradictions between his earlier
and later teachings on free will and how it is tied in to our nature show that
humans being set up to sin is too bold of a statement to make. French
philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau argued that humans are essentially
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