Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud is known as the ‘Father of Psychology’. His understanding of sexuality differs vastly from Augustine. Augustine links sex to sin, as in every sexual intercourse lust (concupiscence) is involved; therefore sexual intercourse should only be for the purpose of reproduction. Augustine once said that ‘men should go to their task with reluctance’. While Freud agrees that many human disorders can be traced down to sexual problems, Freud argues that sex is an important and pleasurable part of the natural relationship men and women enjoy in a marriage and so it is not a sin. In fact, Freud believes that Augustine’s repressive teaching on sex can lead to grave outcomes such as mental imbalance, neurotic behaviours and other illnesses, especially if people feel guilty after enjoying a sexual intercourse, instead of making one a better person. “Unexpressed emotions will never die. They are buried alive and will come forth later in uglier ways.” Freud also believes that the Original Sin is not passed down the generation through sexual intercourse, but rather the result of environment, such as family and education.
Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant believes that salvation can be achieved by human reason alone. In other words, God’s grace is not necessary. This is quite the opposite of what Augustine’s ideas, as he believes that salvation can only be achieved through God’s grace, in particular the death of Jesus. Kant believes that if one can break away from powerful human emotions and desires, act altruistically and rise about animal level of existence, an authentic, happy and free life can be lived, since Kant does not believe in the idea of Original Sin. “It is not God’s will merely that we should be happy, but that we should make ourselves happy.” Kant has quite an optimistic view on human nature, which is another way he differs from Augustine, who has a rather pessimistic view, believing that humans are weak-willed and are constantly doing what is wrong. Kant believes that humans have innate good will, which is what distinguishes us from animals. ‘Sin’ (not a term used by Kant) is therefore the lack of reason and the inability to live according to the good will. Kant continues to argue that if everyone can treat others as they would like to be treated (i.e. following the innate good will) then unpleasant events such as wars and conflicts would be very unlikely, especially when states, as a whole, behave morally and uses individual morality as a benchmark. “Live your life as though your every act were to become universal law.” This, however, does not come naturally as humans have to overcome powerful desires and instincts such as greed. This is where education comes in as it helps to establish a higher level of civilized existence. His thoughts are in fact quite similar to Irenaeus’, who believes that we are made in the ‘likeness of God’ therefore we have to potential for moral perfection and in order to become real ‘children of God’ we have to spend our lives learning to choose God instead of following our baser instincts.
Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Sartre is an atheist existentialist philosopher. While Augustine believes that the will and the sinful body are constantly at battle, Sartre believes that battle is between the body, a fixed existence and the will, which has the power to overcome it. He famously said that we are ‘condemned to be free’ because we have free will. He believes that we should live authentic lives and develop our own personalities, since there is no ‘original sin’ hindering us. ‘Sin’ is therefore the failure to do so by becoming a stereotyped person. This state is known as ‘bad faith’. Clearly his definition of ‘free will’ is very different from Augustine’s. While Augustine believes that free will is God-given and given so that we can choose to do good, Sartre believes that free will is innate and we should use it to engage fully with life. One reason why Sartre does not believe in the Original Sin is that this means that we can never freely develop our own personalities.
Reinhold Niebuhr
Reinhold Niebuhr stand somewhere in between Augustine’s pessimistic view and some contemporary philosopher, e.g. Immanuel Kant’s optimistic view on human nature. Niebuhr does not believe in innate good will, as terrible events such as wars and slavery happen too often for it to be true. “Evil is not to be traced back to individual but to the collective behavior of humanity.” This quote also demonstrates his belief that at an individual level good people may do good but collectively they do not. He does not believe that a just society can be established solely by reason and belief in moral goodness- this belief is too naïve. Niebuhr, however, is not a fatalist either. He does not believe that there is nothing we can do by ourselves to remedy the human condition as Augustine does. He believed the solution is for human ego to understand its own nature by having a proper relationship with God so that the ego can understand its limitations and possibilities. “Original Sin is that thing about man which makes him capable of conceiving his own perfection but incapable of achieving it. “ He agrees with Augustine to a certain degree, however, on sin. Augustine argues that the root of sin is pride, and Niebuhr agrees with that. He believes that sin is apparent in evil as well as good acts, as the good person’s ego desires self-affirmation, which stems from pride.
Colin Gunton
Colin Gunton’s ideas are quite similar to Augustine’s and some of his work aims to correct/ improve Augustine’s ideas. Gunton believes that the biblical story of the Fall reveals God’s purpose of everyone of us. In respect to Augustine, Gunton believes that he misunderstood what St Paul meant when he said that his body and soul are at war because Augustine came from a platonic background and therefore used platonic distinction between body and soul. Gunton believes that the whole human personality has fallen short of perfection and the spirit is the aspect of our personality that desires redemption. Another example which Gunton believes that Augustine has misinterpreted the Bible is that Augustine believes that there will be an actual eschatological (end) moment when creation achieves perfection, whereas Gunton believes that it is really the time when we each achieve a state of wholeness. It is the moment when each of us finishes our own religious journey, ending in God’s redemptive love. Gunton also disagrees with Augustine’s view that women are more defective than men. He believes that Eve was created complementary to Adam, rather than superior or inferior to him. Gunton also believed in the God-given free will, as Augustine did; however, while Augustine believed that human has a natural tendency to do evil due to the presence of concupiscence, Gunton believes that the possibilities of humans doing good and the possibilities of humans doing evil are equally great. “That the possibilities for its corruption and pollution are equally great follows from this, for it remains and indisputable principle of life that the very worst derives from the corruption of the very best.”
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perlie (student)
