Time of the Soul: The Concept of Time in St. Augustine
In August 410, an event occurred that shook the entire European civilization: the Eternal City, Rome, fell to the onslaught of barbarians. History changed its course.
The philosopher and theologian Augustine Aurelius lived during this turbulent era. It was he who proposed a new understanding of history and, at the same time, a new understanding of time. He linked the very essence of time not with eternal movement, as was common in antiquity, but with the soul.
How can our perception become the basis for the existence of time? How did the Christian doctrine of the end of the world define a new approach to history?
And finally, why is Augustine considered the pioneer of the psychological novel?
We will answer these questions in this lecture.
This is the second lecture in the series "The History of the Concept of Time." You can watch a recording of the first lecture, dedicated to Aristotle, on the library's YouTube channel.
Fyodor Dokuchaev, a postgraduate student at the Russian State University for the Humanities and a staff member at the Dante Alighieri Library, will speak about Augustine. His companion on this journey will once again be the French philosopher Paul Ricoeur and his interpretation of Augustine's "Confessions."