Book contents
- Augustine on the Nature of Virtue and Sin
- Augustine on the Nature of Virtue and Sin
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- A Note on Translations and Abbreviations
- 1 Introducing the Issues
- 2 Political Virtues?
- 3 Political Vices?
- 4 Augustine’s Definitions of Virtue
- 5 Augustine’s Place within the Eudaimonist Tradition
- 6 The Life in Accordance with Nature
- 7 Self-Love and Neighbour-Love
- 8 The Nature of Sin
- 9 Weakness, Ignorance, and Pride
- Bibliography
- Index
3 - Political Vices?
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 January 2024
- Augustine on the Nature of Virtue and Sin
- Augustine on the Nature of Virtue and Sin
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- A Note on Translations and Abbreviations
- 1 Introducing the Issues
- 2 Political Virtues?
- 3 Political Vices?
- 4 Augustine’s Definitions of Virtue
- 5 Augustine’s Place within the Eudaimonist Tradition
- 6 The Life in Accordance with Nature
- 7 Self-Love and Neighbour-Love
- 8 The Nature of Sin
- 9 Weakness, Ignorance, and Pride
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
This chapter asks whether Robert Dodaro and John Milbank are correct in their claim that Augustine thought that the earthly city was necessarily a place of political vice. To this end, this chapter examines Augustine’s idea of the love of material possessions, the love of glory, and the love of domination, and finds that while he looked on these loves as always sinful, he held that they did not necessarily lead people to commit politically vicious actions, but could in fact act as a restraint on people’s actions, ensuring that people conformed their lives to the highest political and social standards.
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- Augustine on the Nature of Virtue and Sin , pp. 82 - 118Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023