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Daniel Napier to Defend PhD Thesis On November 26, 15.45, Aula VU University, Daniel Napier will defend his PhD thesis entitled "From the Circular Soul to the Cracked Self: A Genetic Historiography of Augustine's Anthropology from Cassiciacum to the Confessiones" in the Faculty of Theology of the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. Director : Professor P. van Geest (VU Amsterdam, Tilburg University). In his dissertation, From the Circular Soul to the Cracked Self, Daniel Napier produces a genetic account of Augustine of Hippo’s conceptions of the human person and the philosophical resources he called upon to construct (and reconstruct) them from the period immediately following his conversion to his production of the Confessiones. Over the course of six chapters, Napier traces the developments whereby Augustine moves from an anthropology based on a largely mythic understanding of human beings as indivisible souls fallen into bodies to a conception of the human person as thoroughly embodied, yet paradoxically divided in its soul. Along the way, we find that Augustine’s philosophical resources and strategic alliances are much broader than most scholarly accounts have acknowledged. In particular, Augustine made much more extensive use of Stoic conceptualities and argumentative strategies than heretofore considered. His primary purpose in borrowing and adapting Stoic concepts was to construct a viable philosophical anthropology and, particularly, a suitable psychology of action. However, the consequences also extended into the realm of dogmatic and pastoral theology. The effects are seen as Augustine's new psychology of action prodded him toward articulating what became his characteristic doctrine of divine election and influenced his developing practice as a Christian mystagogue. Het interuniversitair Centrum voor Patristische Studies (CPO) is een initiatief van |
