I reluctantly present to you the first paragraph of one of my final papers. This happens to be the 4th time i've written on or around this subject. Evidently, i am obssessed with sorrow in the Confessions. What will seem to most Modern and contemporary readers the strangest bit of theological dogma, seems to me a disastrous gap in Church education. What Augustine says about sorrow is principably applicable to all emotional states. We may perhaps be able to take Ecclesiastes more seriously than we'd ever imagined. There is indeed a time for everything. I hope you enjoy; i can tell you with the most sincere honesty that around 10 p.m. the last 5 nights, i have not :) p.s. obviously i have removed all footnoting
Pre-Passions and Sorrow in Augustine's Confessions:
Near the end of Confessions Bk 9, Augustine asks his readers to decide whether weeping over the death of Monica (his mother) is a sin, and if it is, to consider in turn weeping over his culpability. This is a rhetorical devise for Augustine, a move which exploits Stoic thought to the purpose of educating his audience concerning ordinate, affective states. Throughout Confessions, Augustine builds an ordinate conception of sorrow, one which partially adopts and partially extends beyond the Stoic model of sorrow. Augustine starts by citing examples of inordinate sorrow--most notably 1.) the tragedy of Aeneas and Dido and 2.) the death of his friends,--and finishes with an ordinate example of sorrow, viz. the death of Monica. My aim is to supply the philosophical framework which will allow us to conclude, along with Augustine, that the tears spilt over Monica's death are ordinate. Of particular interest here are the pre-passionate (propathetic) states of sorrow and their relationship to the saintly life.
the K.H.
p.s. I am looking for editors. Don't be shy. If ever there was a chance to hate on a brother, when he asks you to hate on him is the best time.
2 comments:
Can you put "to" before supply in your second to last sentence? Also you do have me interested in Confessions...I have 2 weeks of free time...whatcha readin?
Fortunately, "to" exists in the actual paper. But i repaired the problem here anyway:)I'm reading nothing for fun. I wrote that paper all this week, and i have another, longer one to write this week. Have you ever read Confessions? If not, then that's the book you need to read right now! That's like, the book, the one, like, the doodadididdle. And i could talk to about it for hours on end. Hours and hours. Read it now! I've read it...oh....4 or 5 times and i am only beginning to understand all the nuances.
Post a Comment