Aurelius Augustinus of Hippo (Latin: Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis 354 – 430), was a Roman philosopher, bishop, theologian, and mystic. Also known as Saint Augustine, a doctor and saint of the Catholic Church
Augustine on Hermogenianus1
I shouldn't get into adventures, even jokingly, criticizing Academics.2, whose influence would have been weighty upon me, were it not that I thought they had a reputation quite different from that generally believed. Therefore, as far as was possible, I have imitated them rather than attacked them – which I have lately been unable to do. If any unpolluted stream flows from the Platonic fountain, it seems to me that it is better for it at this time to pass through briars and thorny bushes, for the benefit of a few, than to wander through open fields filled with cattle, and where it is impossible for it to keep itself clear and pure. For what is more acceptable to the general crowd than the idea that the body and the soul are identical? Against such people, I think that the method or art of concealing the truth is a useful invention. But, in this age, until we come across real philosophers—and I consider that those who go about dressed in the garb of philosophers do not at all deserve that respectable title—people must turn back to the hope of discovering truth, especially those who have been discouraged from understanding things by the cunning of Academic phrases. Otherwise, what was intended in its time to undo deep-rooted errors may now be an obstacle to the cultivation of knowledge.
In their time, the desire of the different schools was so ardent that the only thing they feared was the admission of error. Thus, whenever someone, on account of these arguments, departs from an opinion which he had considered unshakable and invincible, he seeks another, and does so with a determination and care in proportion to the energy of his character and to the deep and involved truth which he felt to be hidden in the universe of phenomenon and idea. But, in our day, there is so much reluctance to attempt and so little appreciation of study that it is enough for the shrewd to declare that nothing can be understood, and men without delay give up the search and plunge themselves into eternal darkness. Even the most steadfast do not take the trouble to engage in these studies, having no hope of discovering what Carneades3 cannot discover it, despite his deep and long study, his genius, his great and varied learning, and his very long life. And if anyone were to try to get rid of his sloth, even a little, by reading those treatises where understanding is proved to be impossible for the human mind, he would fall into such a deep sleep that not even the last trumpet would wake him.
For this reason, while I gladly trust your opinion of my books and while I rely on you completely, because for me there can be no flaw in your prudence or guile in your friendship, I beg you to think about this very carefully and write to me if you agree with my conclusion at the end of Book III.4, a conclusion which I regard with more trepidation than certainty, but which I think is in agreement with the facts and is worth believing. In the end, whatever the value of my writings, my greatest satisfaction is not what you said – that I have surpassed the Academics, but the fact that I have broken the most hateful fetters, which had prevented me from tasting the sweetness of philosophy out of despair of ever reaching the truth. And truth is the food of the soul.
Notes:
1) Not otherwise known, except that his knowledge of the Academics was deep enough to cause Augustine to ask him for an opinion on the new book.
2) Academics, a school of philosophy founded by Plato. Confessions (5.10), Augustine writes: "That this encourages in me the fantasy that these philosophers, whom they call Academics, should be wiser than the rest, that they make men doubt about everything and declare that no truth can be understood by man."
3) Philosopher of Cyrene, student of the Stoic Diogenes, founder of the New Academy in Athens. He maintained that the senses, understanding, and imagination often deceive us, and therefore cannot be infallible judges of truth.
4) Against Academics 3.37-42.
/Taken from Saint Augustine, “Letters – volume i (1-82)”, The Catholic University of America Press, 2008
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