QUESTION FIVE

5. Augustine and Sartre may seem like radically different philosophers. Highlight these differences (explain the main ideas of each separately and them contrast them) but also point out in what way they might be similar. What would Sarte find disgusting about Augustine's philosophy and what might he find acceptable, if any.

augustine's philosophy stems from his belief on god. he claims that for one who seeks truth, the concept of god must be incorporated, for only in god can one find the truth. however, in seeking truth, one must also have faith, for without faith, one cannot obtain the true knowledge. augustine claims that human beings are predetermined to go into salvation or damnation, and since the first man, adam, chose evil, we are all bound to damnation. however, this is before jesus sacrifices himself for the forgiveness of that sin. since then, one can escape damnation if one has faith and follows the examples of jesus. the wisdom of god, augustine claims, is beyond human reasoning, and thus, human beings cannot rely on worldly knowledge only, to understand god. this idea is similar to what dante tries to express in his divine comedy; that unexpected people show up in inferno and in paradiso also gives a clear indication that wisdom of god cannot be understood with only human reasoning.

for sartre, who does not believe in the existence of a divine being, his ethical theory stems from the concept of existentialism. he claims that in reality, imposing rational categories does not help one better understand humanity. the main idea of sartre's ethical theory is that one has to bear the responsibility and consequences of one's action. this is why sartre finds it difficult to accept religion, because sartre thinks that in religion, people look for excuses to justify their actions and find escapes from being held responsible for their actions.

the most obvious difference between these two philosophers is their understanding on the concept of god. while augustine maintains that god is the only way to the truth, sartre sees god as an excuse for one's action. now, augustine never mentions directly that one does not have to be responsible for the action one commits because there is god, but nevertheless the claim that faith is required to understand the wisdom of god leads existentialist like sartre to think that faith is nothing but a sorry excuse. there is a similarity between these two, however. both sartre and augustine ADMIT to the existence of free will, only the defintion differs. augustine sees free will as a gift from god; free will lets human beings choose between good and evil. sartre on the other hand, sees free will as a CONDITION of human existence, not a characteristic, for he claims that if free will were to be a characteristic, then human beings are not exactly free because they cannot choose to NOT be free, which is a contradiction. since every aspect of augustine's theory is based on god, i doubt there is any part of his theory that is acceptable to sartre, since sartre maintains that god is merely an excuse used by people who do not want to be responsible for their actions.