Augustine's Confessions

A detailed Summary of Augustine's Confessions

Augustine on his own view stole the fruit for the mere enjoyment of the sin and theft that the stealing involved. He says in (II,4)

"Behold, now let my heart tell you what it

looked for there, that I should be evil

without purpose and there should be no

cause for my evil, but evil itself. Foul

Augustine knew that what he was doing at the time of the crime but he did not care to think about the outcome of his actions. Augustine only cared that the deed which he participated in was indeed forbidden. Himself and his companions stole the fruit even if they had more desirable fruit to eat at their own homes.

Augustine states this in his Confessions (II,4) that

"For I stole a thing of which I had plenty

of my own and much better quality. Nor did

I wish to enjoy the thing which I desired to

gain by theft, but rather to enjoy the actual

The mere thrill of the theft and sin was more desirable than the fruit which they stole. The fruit was sought as an opportunity to be deceitful and to gain self enjoyment from it.

Augustine, however realizes that the theft that he committed

Augustine, St. The Confessions of St. Augustine. Trans.

recall, especially from that theft itself

Martin Oswald. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1962.

According to Aristotle in his Nicomachean Ethics, a self indulgent person is led on by his own choice, since he believes that he should always pursue the pleasures of the moment(1147a). According to Aristotle, and viewing the crime in which Augustine committed, Augustine acted in self - indulgence or vice. Augustine knew that the crime that he was going to commit, the crime of stealing fruit, was indeed wrong and was a sin. He went ahead and committed the crime anyway, and he did it for pleasure. He was caught up in the moment of the act. Nothing else mattered at that time except for the act itself and the enjoyment that he was going to gain from it. Aristotle in this case would

Throughout the Confessions of Augustine we see his constant struggle of what is the ratinal way to behave as an individual and what is the irration way of behaving. Many examples are given from actions of vice to actions brought on by thae ways of "peer pressure" and conforming with a group. To say the least,

he crime was indeed unlawful. He thinks of why couldn't he have received enjoyment by committing a more lawful act. In Augustines Confessions (II,6) He states:

John K. Ryan. New York: Doubleday, 1960.

persuading you while you were not in a clear state of mind. You drank for enjoyment and for the sheer enjoyment alone. You drove the car to accomidate your so-called friends. After the accident and you have sobered up, you realize that you are indeed all alone. Your friends are gone from your side and all you have is yourself. You are alone left to reflect on your actions and you come to the final conclusion that if you acted rationally, as your own individual you would not have this guilt on your conscious the rest of your life. If you acted alone none of these incidents would have occurred.

could not be done lawfully, and which was

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Approximate Word count = 1426
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English