Human Nature

Augustine on Human Nature

In this course Professor Lewis Ayres (Durham University) explores St. Augustine of Hippo’s views on human nature. In the first module, we introduce Augustine’s views on the experience of human nature, as told through his major works ‘The City of God’ and his ‘Confessions’. After that, we look at Augustinian ideas about the freedom of the will, and the effects of the Fall on the desires of the will. In the third module, we delve deeper into the story of the Fall of Adam and Eve, and look at how original sin shapes Augustine’s views on humanity after the Fall. We then move on to examine the power of God’s grace, to restore true human nature in an ongoing process. In the fifth module, we look at how we might interpret Augustine today, in a secular world, with a new scientific understanding of the evolutionary origins of humanity. Finally, we explore a bit beyond the curriculum, and think about Augustine’s views on desire and human relationships.

Human Nature

In this module, we examine Augustine’s views on the experience of human nature, focusing in particular on (i) individuals experiencing confusion and weakness, resulting from ignorance, and inability to control their desires (ii) society mirroring the experience of this confusion and weakness of individuals (iii) Augustine’s views on what individual and societal human nature should be: harmonious (iv) distinctive features of Augustine’s account of human nature: the clarity with which he articulates what is absent from our current nature, and his very personal phenomenological account of what it is like to be a fallen person.