Contact person: Religious Interpretation: Augustine's Human Condition

Phone:Show

Email:Show

Location: Sneads Ferry, United States

Budget: Recommended by industry experts

Time to start: As soon as possible

Project description:
"Your aim is to weigh in with your own thoughts and reasoned perspective in response to Augustine’s view of what it means to be a human being and the various implications thereof. The big picture is this: we are creatures made in the image of God and our true happiness lies in knowing and loving that creator. Obviously, this is what makes Augustine “religious.” You could actually write an essay on this overall picture itself. Do you even agree with it? If not, what is your alternative view? Is there a better, more accurate way to think about ourselves and therefore account for those aspects of human experience that Augustine finds so puzzling and anxiety-inducing, such as restlessness, guilt, and death?

If you do think the overall picture is basically accurate, there are still all kinds of problematic implications. Most of our lives are lived according to a variety of other preoccupations. Our “pursuit of happiness” (to quote Thomas Jefferson) often seems detached from knowing and appreciating a loving Creator. So what are we doing with our lives and why? What is our raison d'être? This is where Augustine’s list of worldly desires is particularly helpful. By Augustine’s own admission, we are created human, and therefore all the things that make our lives recognizably human seem to be good and enjoyable. Yet he assesses them very negatively, describing them as traps, distractions, and potential “sins.” Why does he say these things, and do you agree? Note too that although we are made in such a way that our hearts and minds remain restless until we find the true, divine object of our longing, these very hearts and minds draw us away from God towards other things, largely because we are temporal, embodied creatures. Does this make us fundamentally flawed, destined for the whole of our lives never to know fully what exactly we are pursuing? Situated as we are in the Great Chain of Being, it looks like the only freedom we have (as Augustine vividly puts it) is the freedom of a runaway (p. 32). Far from the greatest gift, that makes human existence sound like a curse under which we are destined to be a self that is divided against itself as we try and sort out what is truly meaningful/valuable (pp. 144-7).

In one way or another, your essay will be a response to this portrait of the human condition. However, there is a variety of ways to approach it in the light of concrete topics: friendship, grief, education, food, music, worldly careers, theatrical arts, marriage, curiosity, public recognition, etc. And of course evil itself, the status of “human nature,” or his various accounts of “ascending” the ladder/chain of being. In telling his story, Augustine covers many topics and concerns that presumably factor into your own self-understanding and pursuit of happiness.

Firstly, pick a topic and note what is puzzling and controversial about it; secondly, attend to what Augustine actually (or seemingly) says; and then thirdly, weigh in with your own thoughts and experiences. Five pages, double spaced, 12-point New Times Roman, one-inch margins. When you quote or paraphrase Augustine, simply provide a page number. No outside, secondary sources. This is not a research assignment. You should use only what Augustine has written and the (re)sources that are already a part of your own self.

Expectations: Here is what I am looking for:

Clear, engaging, and grammatically correct sentences.
When critical, a fair reading of Augustine, and/or when charitable, a critical reading of the same. (Two sides of the same coin.)
At least 50% of your essay should directly reflect what you make of the matter.
NO DETECTABLE AI.
Use Saint Augustine Confessions, A new translation by Henry Chadwick, Oxford World's Classics" (client-provided description)