Augustine's Inner Dialogue: The Philosophical Soliloquy in Late Antiquity

256 Pages·2010·1.71 MB·English

by  Brian Stock

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Augustine’s inner DiAlogue
Augustine’s philosophy of life involves reviewing one’s past and
exercises for self-improvement. Centuries after Plato and before
Freud he invented a “spiritual exercise” in which every man and
woman is able, through memory, to reconstruct and reinterpret life’s
aims. Brian stock examines Augustine’s unique way of blending lit-
erary and philosophical themes. He proposes a new interpretation
of Augustine’s early writings, establishing how the philosophical
soliloquy (soliloquium) has emerged as a mode of inquiry and how it
relates to problems of self-existence and self-history. The book also
provides clear analysis of inner dialogue and discourse and how, as
inner dialogue complements and finally replaces outer dialogue, a
style of thinking emerges, arising from ancient sources and a reli-
gious attitude indebted to Judeo-Christian tradition.
brian stock is emeritus Professor of History and literature
at the university of toronto. His previous publications include
The Implications of Literacy (1981) Augustine the Reader (1996) and
Bibliothèques intérieures (2005).

Augustine’s inner
DiAlogue
The Philosophical Soliloquy in Late Antiquity
BriAn stoCk
cambridge university press
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Cambridge university Press
The edinburgh Building, Cambridge cb2 8ru, uk
Published in the united states of America by Cambridge university Press, new York
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information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521190312
© Brian stock 2010
This publication is in copyright. subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without the written
permission of Cambridge university Press.
First published 2010
Printed in the united kingdom at the university Press, Cambridge
A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data
stock, Brian.
Augustine’s inner dialogue : the philosophical soliloquy in late Antiquity / Brian stock.
p. cm.
includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-521-19031-2 (hardback)
1. Augustine, saint, Bishop of Hippo. 2. soliloquy. 3. Monologue.
4. self. 5. spiritual exercises. i. title.
br65.a9s68 2010
270.2092–dc22
2010022034
isbn 978-0-521-19031-2 Hardback
Cambridge university Press has no responsibility for the persistence or
accuracy of urls for external or third-party internet websites referred to in
this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is,
or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
In memory of Pierre Hadot
and for Ilsetraut Hadot

Contents
Preface and acknowledgements page ix
Augustine of Hippo (354–430): dates in his early career xi
List of abbreviations xii
introduction 1
1 toward inner dialogue 18
2 soliloquy and self-existence 62
3 order and freedom 121
4 narrative 181
Conclusion 229
Index 233
vii