Plato vs. St. Augustine of Hippo
Yebeman Asseged
Core 140 Roots of World Views and Culture
Professor Mark McCarthy
November 8, 2012
Compare and Contrast Plato vs. St. Augustine of Hippo
Our world has developed and flourished by the thoughts and contributions of many leaders. Among those leaders were Saint Augustine and Pluto. For many historians, Plato’s Allegory of the Cave and Augustine’s The City of God, are historical pieces that point out what had happened during ancient times. These pieces are significant because they shed some light on different thoughts and beliefs of people. Even though these works do not have similar world views, they attempt to show guidance to human life and to their beliefs. In Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, he teaches a world view with an example of a cave filled with darkness that people inside should get out by finding the truth and seeing the light. On the other hand, in Augustine’s The City of God, a Christian author, perceived this world as a place where the heavens and the earth coexist. Even though they both showed some similarities on the concept of dualism, these two philosophers had quite different principles and foundational beliefs.
Augustine lived in the time around the fourth century. He was born in Tagaste, a Roman province in northern Africa. During his life time, the Roman Empire was on the verge of weakening and later collapsed for good. And according to Brian Levack, one of the main reason for the collapse of the once great empire was due to invasion from many sides in addition to the “unwise decisions, weak leadership, and Military Failure” in the empire (Levack 190). During this time, Constantine (AD 272-337) strived to Christianize the Roman Empire and thus Christianity was spreading all over the empire; however, there were debates and disagreements in the doctrine of Christianity and thus there existed splits among Christians that gave rise to the division in the Roman Empire. It was during this time the idea of Monasticism and
Core 140 Roots of World Views and Culture
Professor Mark McCarthy
November 8, 2012
Compare and Contrast Plato vs. St. Augustine of Hippo
Our world has developed and flourished by the thoughts and contributions of many leaders. Among those leaders were Saint Augustine and Pluto. For many historians, Plato’s Allegory of the Cave and Augustine’s The City of God, are historical pieces that point out what had happened during ancient times. These pieces are significant because they shed some light on different thoughts and beliefs of people. Even though these works do not have similar world views, they attempt to show guidance to human life and to their beliefs. In Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, he teaches a world view with an example of a cave filled with darkness that people inside should get out by finding the truth and seeing the light. On the other hand, in Augustine’s The City of God, a Christian author, perceived this world as a place where the heavens and the earth coexist. Even though they both showed some similarities on the concept of dualism, these two philosophers had quite different principles and foundational beliefs.
Augustine lived in the time around the fourth century. He was born in Tagaste, a Roman province in northern Africa. During his life time, the Roman Empire was on the verge of weakening and later collapsed for good. And according to Brian Levack, one of the main reason for the collapse of the once great empire was due to invasion from many sides in addition to the “unwise decisions, weak leadership, and Military Failure” in the empire (Levack 190). During this time, Constantine (AD 272-337) strived to Christianize the Roman Empire and thus Christianity was spreading all over the empire; however, there were debates and disagreements in the doctrine of Christianity and thus there existed splits among Christians that gave rise to the division in the Roman Empire. It was during this time the idea of Monasticism and
Cited: Augustine. "The City of God-excerpts on the Two Cities", Medieval Sourcebook, July 1998. Stephen, Cooper. Augustine for Armchair Theologians, 2002. Print. Plato. “The Allegory of the cave”, The History Guide, May 2004. Goheen, Michael W., and Craig G. Bartholomew. Living at the Crossroads. Grand Rapids: Baker Publishing Group, 2008. Print. Gonalez, Justo L. The Story of Christianity. Peabody: Prince Press, 2007. Print. Levack, Brian, Edward Muir, Meredith Veldman, and Michael Mass. The West. N.p.: Pearson Education, 2007. Print. Walsh, Brian J., and Richard Middleton. The Transforming Vision. Downers Grove: Inter Varsity Press, 1984. Print.