'As I was reading Chapter 9 and 10 my ears perked up as I recognized some familiar language that reminded me of the philosophical works we covered last semester. In Chapter 9, Augustine introduces the metaphor of a "blind man in the sun, whom it profits nothing that the splendour of its light, so clear and near, is poured into his very eyeballs." He continues with this analogy saying that the man "who sees but shrinks from this truth, is weak in his mental vision from dwelling long among the shadows of the flesh." At this point my mind immediately drifted into Plato's "Cave."
In the allegory of the Cave there are prisoners that have always lived in the cave in shackles and shadows. Once freed from these chains, they are exposed to the light and immediately blinded by the sun, as their eyes have been conditioned to live in darkness. While Plato was hinting that the sunlight is a higher "Truth" or " Good" that man must slowly be exposed to, Augustine knows that The Highest Truth and the Highest Good has a Name.
Like Plato, Augustine believes that man is meant to discover greater truth, except that Augustine knows this truth to be God. In Chapter 10 he states that "the soul must be purified that it may have power to perceive that light, and to rest in it when it is perceived."
I loved the parallels that could be drawn from these works. To me, whether he meant to or not, Augustine took the ambiguous cave analogy and created a metaphor that reflects salvation and reveals the truth that God is the real "Light" that man is to be exposed to.
P.S. I commented on Sydni's blog.
I also saw that, especially with Augustine's metaphor of the sunlight pouring in to blind people. Also, with the weak of mind not fully grasping what is needed to be learned from their experiences.
ReplyDeleteI love that you pointed that out. I have seen so many parallels between Augustine and the philosophy we have studied. Augustine was able to paint such a beautiful picture of repentance! Great thoughts by the way!
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