Augustine's Theory Of Seminal Reason

In this chapter of Frederick Copleston’s A History of Philosophy, he analyzes the teachings of St. Augustine and his thinking of the soul’s relation to God. St.Augustine was interested in the material world, thus his philosophies focus on the thought of the soul’s relation to God. However, Augustine’s theories also included the doctrine of free creation out of nothing, which cannot be compared to Plato’s doctrine of the same. First, Copleston discusses St. Augustine’s doctrine that the creation of the world was done out of nothing by God’s free act (Copleston, 74). He notes that the doctrine of free creation is unlike like the neo-Platonic doctrine of the same, but Augustine notes that he doctrine of free creation out of nothing is essential
He notes that this theory details the germs of those things which were to develop in the course of time (Copleston, 76). The theory of seminal reasons can be described as God creating in the world in the form of seeds. According to Augustine, rationes seminales meant the seeds, or causes of the potential developments in the physical order after God’s creation. Augustine believed that the ‘seminal reasons’ are invisible, and that they possess an inchoate form or a potentiality to the development of form according to the divine plan (Copleston, 76). Therefore, the idea of rationes seminalis is comparable to the growth of a plant, due to the belief that God created all beings. Copleston further mentions, “Seminal reasons are not purely passive, but ten to self-development, through the absence of the requisite conditions and circumstances and of other external agencies may hinder or prevent their development(76). Essentially, seminal reasons are described as the potential for the way things are made which have yet come to
The soul is superior to the body and therefore cannot be acted on by the body, however Augustine asserts that the soul can become aware of the changes in the body as a result of external stimulus. Due to Augustine’s belief that the soul is immaterial, its immateriality and substantiality enable the soul to be immortal. He also believed that the soul is the principle of life and as two contraries are incompatible, the soul cannot die. Copleston notes, “Augustine distinguishes the souls of beasts, which possess the power of sensation but not that of reasoning and knowing, from human souls, which posses both”(79). Ultimately, Augustine firmly believed that the soul was created by God. Although he was influenced by Plato on the origin of the soul, he was determined to figure out whether God creates each soul separately or if it is created by all other