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Chapter 3:
The Augustinian Tradition
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Today, as the scholarship on Augustine keeps piling, partial appreciations of his
precepts also occasion from time to time. As Elshtain earnestly suggests that
“[i]mportantly, one must rescue Augustine from those who would appropriate him to a version of political limits or „realism‟ that downplay his insistence on the great virtue of hope and the call to enact projects of caritas” (Elshtain, 2009, p. 130). A note of
caution concerning how Augustine‟s accounts have been misapprehended by some
Political Realists is revealed with the hope that Augustine would not “be enlisted on behalf of the depredators of humankind” (Elshtain, 2009, p. 130).
Augustine‟s biblical orientation of his philosophy has often put him into a
position where scholars link his name with the pessimistic and tragic aspect of Political Realism. In 426 (Merton, 2000, p. vi) Augustine completed his masterpiece The City of God. Kimberly Hutchings attributes Augustine as one of the canonic
forefathers of the Political Realism and traces the tragic aspect of Political Realist most obviously to Augustine22 (Hutchings, 1999, p. 15). Jonathan Haslam even
defines a Realist as such: “A realist can generally be counted on to take a pessimistic or “Augustinian” view of the behaviour of man or society or both in the conduct of international relations” (Haslam, 2002, p. 12). Obviously, an Augustinian Realist is
recognized as a Realist who perceives international relations pessimistically.
22 and Machiavelli (Hutchings, 1999, p. 15).
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However, scholars such as Jean Bethke Elshtain (2009) and Eric Patterson
(2008) refuse to accept such a cursory generalization concerning Augustine‟s philosophy. Elshtain envisions from Augustine‟s emphasis on the hope of redeption
and the appeal to caritas (Elshtain, 2009, p. 130). On the other hand, Patterson believes that what “made the Christian realists feel that their perspective on human nature and political phenomena was “realistic” was not pessimism23, but faith in the
biblical doctrines of sin and the Fall” (Patterson, 2008, p. 3). Furthermore, although Alastair Murray acknowledges the pessimistic tint in Augustine‟s philosophy, he does
not limit himself in such a narrow blanket generalization. As Murray says,
“Augustine‟s conception contains a pessimistic account of human nature, but it also includes a great deal more” (Murray, 1997, p. 49).
Kenneth Thompson points out that Augustine was, and is also often called
(Thompson, 1994, p. 44), the first Political Realist (Thompson, 1994, p. 52). Alastair Murray also signifies the importance of Augustine‟s philosophy for Political Realism by saying that “it provides us with a vital orienting framework within which to read
realism more adequately”(1997, p. 48). In this thesis, Augustine‟s significance for modern Realists is believed to be derived mainly from his perspectives on human nature. Besides, the 19th century theologian Reinhold Niebuhr‟s application of
23 Also see (Martin, 2005, p. 166).
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Niebuhrian, or Augustinian-Niebuhrian24, whatever one may prefer to call it, is one of the prototypical Realist traditions in the field of international relations. The distinct characteristic of the Augustinian tradition, which it differentiates itself from others,chiefly rests on its understanding on human nature.
Among Augustine‟s writings, The City of God stands out as the most renowned
and distinctive one. And together with the fact that it is impossible to mastering all his works25, the argument of this chapter primarily roots on a careful examination of The City of God subjoining with other scholars‟ studies of his works. This chapter is
arranged according to the several main themes in Augustine‟s philosophy. Meanwhile, this chapter also attempts to answer to the following questions alongside: what is the Augustinian tradition of political Realism; how is the Augustinian tradition different from the others; how is Augustine misunderstood and what is the influence of
Augustinian Realism? Also, before entering on the main discussion, it necessitates the
24 Augustinian‟s philosophy clearly has a strong influence on Niebuhr (Hutchings, 1999, p. 17;
Patterson, 2008, p. 4; Thompson, 1994, p. 46; Waltz, 2001, pp. 20-21). But Niebuhr‟s work also helps to depict a clearer Realist-contour of Augustine‟s accounts. Besides, because of Niebuhr‟s remark on the link between individual men and collectives, Augustine‟s thought can be applied on the international level. All in all, it is not inappropriate to name this tradition after Niebuhr together with Augustine.
25 See (Elshtain, 2009, p. 129). “The vast mountain of Augustinian scholarship keeps growing. It long ago surpassed a book version of Mt. Everest, so much so that no single scholar or group of scholars could master it all. This is true of Augustine‟s work alone. Peter Brown claims that Isidore of Seville once „wrote that if anyone told you he had read all the works of Augustine, he was a liar‟. One always has the sense with Augustine that one has but scratched the surface” (Elshtain, 2009, p. 129)
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author to introduce briefly the basic framework of the masterpiece－The City of God.
In this chapter, this thesis intends to picture the outlook of the Augustinian tradition of Political Realism. Key elements influencing the contemporary Realists are expected to be included in our discussion. In the end, readers should have a better understanding on the role played by the legacy of Augustine in the realm of international relations theories. Besides the traditional appraisals of Augustine‟s thoughts, this thesis also incorporates discussions that reintroduce those long-ignored elements in Augustine‟s philosophy which help inject new vigor into the school of Political Realism and represent the alternative way of interpreting Augustine‟s Realist legacy. This thesis argues, not only does Augustine have an influential role in the construction of the international Political Realism, but also his work allows a path of possibility to interpret his philosophy differently from commonsense Realism.
The City of God
Saint Augustine, a Bishop of Hippo and a Christian theologian, dedicates the first ten books26 of his The City of God to detest those who blame the Rome‟s sack by
Alaric and his Goths in 410 on Christianity. Beginning from the eleventh book, in the
26 In the first five books, Augustine strives to detest those who assume the availability of felicity in this life via worshipping their heathen gods. In the second five books, he dedicated them into refuting those who think their heathen gods are to be worshipped for the sake of the next life to come. From the eleventh book on, his famous argument of the two cities is brought forward for our contemplation (Augustine, 2000, p. 344).
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rest part of this work, Augustine builds his argument of the two cities, basing his remarks on the authority of the Bible. Augustine believes that there are two cities, “the
heavenly and the earthly, which are mingled together from the beginning down to the end. … until they must be separated by the last judgment” (Augustine, 2000, p. 668).
The heavenly is called the city of God where the Christian God is the only leader, the
greatest desire and the highest authority. The citizens of the heavenly city live according to God and are “predestined to reign eternally with God” (Augustine, 2000,
p. 478). Their lives are blessed and eternal. Everything that is not in the city of God is together called the city of earth which is led by the fallen angel. People who live in
the city of earth live according to man, or say, flesh (Augustine, 2000, p. 445). They suffer a miserable and trivial life and they are condemned to “suffer eternal
punishment with the devil” afterwards (Augustine, 2000, p. 478).
The separation of these two cities began from the Fall of the first man, Adam. In
Genesis, Adam and Eve was tempted and then swallowed the forbidden fruit thus gave birth to the original human sin. This first sin of disobeying God‟s order relegated
the entire human race into a fragile, wretched and inescapable carnality from our original perfect and eternal spirituality. Hence, the entire human race fell into the destiny of damnation, irresistible and unavoidable. That is, human was cast out from the city of God to the city of earth, because of the Fall. In the city of God, where God
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human desire. In contrast, in the city of earth, where fallen angels and men inhabit, all kinds of evil and depraved deeds happen27.Human Nature and Hope
Mankind fell into this abject, miserable, and wicked world after the Fall. But God has never ceased giving mercy to humans who dwell in this city of earth.
However, many people, because of ignorance, obstinacy, or deception, do not realize that there is still a way out of this dismal situation28. Mankind is actually ignorant, forgetful, and gullible. Augustine believes, as long as a man understands the abhorrent outcomes of staying in the city of earth, and gets to know the love of God, he will
naturally long for the citizenship of the city of God (Augustine, 2000, p. 345). Thus, Augustine must have felt that he is bound to spread this gospel and shatter people‟s
false beliefs. As a result, we have this work of admonishment, The City of God.
27 Augustine lists, there are “gnawing cares, disquiet, griefs, fears, wild joys, quarrels, law-suits, wars, treasons, angers, hatreds, deceits, flattery, fraud, theft, robbery, perfidy, pride, ambition, envy, murders, parricides, cruelty, ferocity, wickedness, luxury, insolence, impudence, shamlessness, fornications, adulteries, incests, and the numberless uncleannesses and unnatural acts of both sexes, which it is shameful so much as to mention; sacrileges, heresies, blasphemies, perjuries, oppression of the innocent, calumnies, plots, falsehoods, false witnessings, unrighteous judgements, violent deeds, plunderings, and whatever similar wickedness has found its way into the lives of men” (Augustine, 2000, p. 846).
28 “For Augustine the Fall had irretrievably impaired the ability of man rationally to understand himself, his impulses and desires, or those of others. For fallen man, aided only by his own devices and experiences, moral development is simply unintelligible. It is through God‟s grace only that moral development is understandable, intelligible, and believable to a moral person whose nature is prepared by God for redemption” (Boucher & Kelly, 2009, p. 116).
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sketched laconically. From Augustine‟s depiction of the city of earth, where all evilsexist, we can see with no hardship why there is broad scholarship which selectively emphasizes the pessimistic aspect of his story. Human beings are thereby ascertained as evil, abject, and miserable creatures. This is correct only to a certain extent. The portrayal of the earthly city should not be thus cursorily adopted as an endorsement
for the pessimistic Realism. From this part, this chapter would embark to illustrate how Augustine‟s perspectives on human nature coincide with pessimistic Political
Realists‟ worldview and how they differ from each other.
The main argument of the two cities, namely, the city of God vis-à-vis the city of earth, is themed on the sin of human beings29. After the Fall, every human being is guilty of sin, except for Jesus Christ the holy Son. According to Augustine, “each man, being derived from a condemned stock, is first of all born of Adam evil and carnal”
(Augustine, 2000, p. 479). Here we have the first clue why some Political Realists would cling to their acclaimed Augustinian heritage—sinful men are evil and lustful.
But doing evil deeds was not simply our nature. Man was perfect before the Fall.
What happened is that the first father of all mankind abused God‟s gift—free will—to
29 Augustine maintains that the reason why humans are sinners and continue committing sins is because most of the time humans refuse to admit their finitude. That is to say, men‟s pride and self-centeredness make them forgot or to deny they are creation of God. As a result, men are sinners and men‟s sin begin from the Fall of Adam (Thompson, 1994, p. 46).
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turn away from God (Augustine, 2000, p. 865). By turning away from God, the first man has thus abandoned his spirituality, eternality, and perfection. He has thus relegated himself and all his descendents into a nasty and abominable place (inter urinam et faeces nascemur) (McClelland, 1996, p. 100). Thus human beings became
capable of doing evil since Adam‟s severance from God, the definition of good.
Human nature has fallen and become evil and consequently humans have been condemned, every one of us. It is because of the inherited legacy of sin of the human race, resulting from the first disobedience of man against God, the earthly reality is always helplessly miserable. Humans commit evil deeds helplessly and endlessly. The world‟s ugliness and wickedness is associated in every aspect with man‟s sin.
Therefore, besides the view on human nature, Augustine‟s depiction of this world, nasty and abominable, renders us the second point which connects Augustine‟s philosophy with Political Realism.
So far, a dismal view on the human race has been briefly sketched, so has preliminarily Augustine‟s influence on Political Realists, especially on pessimistic and tragic ones. However, this is only one side of Augustine‟s philosophical construct.
There are many brighter sides of it. Hope is one of them. It is almost like a torch in the dark that shines away the mist of pessimistic stereotypes shadowed on Augustine‟s philosophy if one pays attention to his emphasis on hope.
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means the hope for salvation, “such as it shall be in the world to come, shall itself be our final happiness” (Augustine, 2000, p. 680). It is religious and eschatological.Hope signifies the longing for being saved and it also signifies the chance of being saved in the same time. Although this life is abject and miserable, humans still have the hope of being selected to enter the heavenly city in the next life. Following Jesus Christ is humans‟ only viable path to redemption (Augustine, 2000, p. 327). The heavenly city and the earthly one is at a state of war, each is fighting with the other for
human souls. God loves humans and He is willing to open the gate of the heaven. The biggest obstacle of humans‟ uniting with God is humans‟ reluctance of doing so.
God has foreseen the Fall of the first man and the degeneration of his progeny for God is omniscient. He still graces mankind by not disabling humans from free willing30. Even though human soul is trapped in sinful carnality, hope is not at dearth.
Although free will equips man with the power to fall, it also gives mankind a chance to be redeemed. With God‟s help, human beings may have a chance to acquire the
eternal felicity and to escape from the most agonizing eternal punishment. As long as
30 The reason why wickedness is allowed existing is, according to Augustine, for the beautiful antithesis to good. “For God would never have created any, I do not say angel, but even man, whose future wickedness He foreknew, unless He had equally known to that uses in behalf of the good He could turn him, thus embellishing the course of the ages, as it were an exquisite poem set off with antithesis” (Augustine, 2000, p. 361)
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one is willing to be recruited by God into His city and determined to cleave to God regardless of whatever hardship he might experience, he does not absolutely have to suffer the eternal fire (Augustine, 2000, p. 811).
Hope is one key point that Augustine distinguishes himself from the pessimistic Realists. Human nature is another. As briefly mentioned earlier, humans are born in a nasty and abominable world with an ability to do evil deeds. There is a subtle point concerning the evilness in human nature. Man is not evil by nature. Human nature is
good in the very beginning. But man‟s fallen nature is not good. Arguing this, Augustine reminds us that man is God‟s creation, and His favorite one. God is a good
God and God creates nothing but good by nature. That is to say, being a creation of God, human beings‟ nature can by no means be evil. “The original condition of man‟s
soul was innocence. By nature, therefore, the soul is good. Augustine is adamant that good precedes bad” (McClelland, 1996, pp. 99-100). If anyone would still argue the
other way around, then it would be a matter of faith.
When one goes a little bit further into Augustine‟s Platonian viewpoint on good and evil, he would see that Augustine‟s definition of evil is the deficiency of goodness.
That means evil does not actually subsist (Augustine, 2000, p. 383). When something is called evil, it is only because that thing is devoid of goodness. Similarly, by disobeying God‟s comment, man fell away from God, and because God is the ultimate
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reference of goodness, man consequently fell away from goodness. That is the origin of human wickedness, to wit, man‟s willful corruption. But, what is the efficient cause
of the evil will? There is none (Augustine, 2000, p. 385). For as silence and darkness have no “positive actuality” but only are absence of sound and light, likewise, evil
will is a defect of the good will (Augustine, 2000, p. 387).
Nothing31 is evil by nature (Augustine, 2000, pp. 365-366). As Elshtian argues,
evil can at most be called “a kind of second nature” (Elshtain, 2009, p. 127) as humans habitually turn away from God to themselves. “Evil is a falling away from the good as human beings fall into the sin of pride” (Elshtain, 2009, p. 120). When the
first man voluntarily chose32 to disobey God and to submit to demon‟s temptation, he simply chose to become evil. He placed himself before God so he discarded God‟s
31 Even devil was “good by God‟s creation, [but] wicked by his own will” (Augustine, 2000, p. 361).
32 “Evil must be the result of human will, otherwise Augustine would be trapped into saying that God can create evil, or that evil is co-eternal with good, the heresy of the Manichees” (McClelland, 1996, p.
100).
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hearts and incapable of being erased, but capable, nevertheless, of being obfuscated by vice and depravity” (Boucher & Kelly, 2009, p. 116). The ingrained good nature
shows when humans act justly in spite of being caged in lustful carnality and this
sinful world. Thus we have a diverse viewpoint of nuance from those Realists who maintain that humans are evil by nature. Man‟s nature was good, but only fell away
from whom he was and thus becomes a sinful, carnal, and evil creature.
The importance of pointing out this nuance can be reflected by Elshtain‟s critic
(2009, p. 120) which points out that Augustine has been selectively read for support of scholarly arguments. The lustful description of humans is what commonsense Realists look for to back up their points of view. Human beings corrupt because of self-pride and self-centeredness. Corrupted men seek for domination and fear of being dominated, restlessly and endlessly. People fear and distrust at each other, therefore, a pursuit of security always results in insecurity. Undeniably, this scenario does echo the classical assumption of security dilemma in Political Realism to a certain extent.
Augustine per se indeed also appreciates this concept (Elshtain, 2009, p. 128;
Thompson, 1994, p. 52). As it will be argued later, the assumption of security dilemma is contributed by Hobbes‟ thinking. Therefore, we could see that there is Augustine‟s influence in Hobbes‟ Realist legacy. Augustine‟s perspective on human nature is succeeded by Hobbes. To go back to our point, a careful reader should
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always be able to discern the subtle reason why people do evil deeds from other hasty deductions. A Realist looking for Augustine‟s endorsement should not quote his lines without comprehending his religious orientation.
Therefore, by now, we have two points of view which rescue Augustine from the
Therefore, by now, we have two points of view which rescue Augustine from the