Outward Signs

The Powerlessness of External Things in Augustine's Thought
Erscheinungsjahr 2008
ISBN: 978-0-19-533649-8
Verlag: Oxford University Press

Buch, Englisch, 384 Seiten, Print PDF, Format (B × H): 161 mm x 240 mm, Gewicht: 787 g

We are used to thinking of words as signs of inner thoughts. In Outward Signs, Philip Cary argues that Augustine invented this expressionist semiotics, where words are outward signs expressing an inward will to communicate, in an epochal departure from ancient philosopical semiotics, where signs are means of inference, as smoke is a sign of fire. Augustine uses his new theory of signs to give an account of Biblical authority, explaining why an authoritative external teaching is needed in addition to the inward teaching of Christ as divine Wisdom, which is conceived in terms drawn from Platonist epistemology. In fact for Augustine we literally learn nothing from words or any other outward sign, because the truest form of knowledge is a kind of Platonist vision, seeing what is inwardly present to the mind. Nevertheless, because our mind's eye is diseased by sin we need the help of external signs as admonitions or reminders pointing us in the right direction, so that we may look and see for ourselves. Even our knowledge of other persons is ultimately a matter not of trusting their words but of seeing their minds with our minds. Thus Cary argues here that, for Augustine, outward signs are useful but ultimately powerless because no bodily thing has power to convey something inward to the soul. This means that there can be no such thing as an efficacious external means of grace. The sacraments, which Augustine was the first to describe as outward signs of inner grace, signify what is necessary for salvation but do not confer it. Baptism, for example, is necessary for salvation, but its power is found not in water or word but in the inner unity, charity and peace of the church. Even the flesh of Christ is necessary but not efficacious, an external sign to use without clinging to it.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Cary, Phillip

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Christliche Kirchen, Konfessionen, Denominationen Katholizismus, Römisch-Katholische Kirche
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Religionsphilosophie, Philosophische Theologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Religion & Wissenschaft
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften Interdisziplinär Religion & Wissenschaft
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Kirchengeschichte Frühes Christentum, Patristik, Christliche Archäologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Systematische Theologie Christliche Theologie und die Wissenschaften
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Religionsphilosophie, Philosophische Theologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

- Introduction: Expressionist Semiotics and the Powerlessness of the External

- Part I: Words from Which We Learn Nothing

- 1: Before Words were Signs: Semiotics in Greek Philosophy

- 2: From Skepticism to Platonism: The Concept of Sign in Augustine's Earliest Writings

- 3: How Words Became Signs: The Development of Augustine's Expressionist Semiotics

- 4: Why We Learn Nothing from Words: The Epistemology of Augustine's Semiotics

- 5: Believing Persons: Theological Implications of Augustine's Semiotics

- Part II: Powerless Sacraments

- 6: Sacred Signs of Inner Unity: Augustine and Medieval Sacramental Theology

- 7: The Efficacy of the Church's Baptism: Against Donatists and Pelagians

- 8: New Testament Sacraments and the Flesh of Christ

- Conclusion

Über Autor(innen)

Phillip Cary is Professor of Philosophy at Eastern University in St. Davids, PA, where he is also Scholar-in-Residence at the Templeton Honors College. He is author of Augustines Invention of the Inner Self (Oxford University Press, 2000) as well as lecture series on Augustine, on Luther and on Philosophy of Religion published by The Teaching Company.