Mumin, Djordjije
Dr. Peter L. Larson
Western Civilization
St. Augustine’s Influence on Individuality. Did people in ancient times with their responsibilities to the empire and various functions in society establish their individuality earlier in life, or were they undecided? For St. Augustine of Hippo, this question was at the forefront of his perspective on the role of a person as an individual who functioned much like an ant would to an ant colony within the context of the vast Roman Empire. Augustine himself believed that he was an outsider to the majority of the people who surrounded him because of their naturally sinful nature which he was a part of before his transformation. It is obvious that Augustine’s relationship with God was…show more content… The hierarchy of the empire took precedence over the importance of an individual’s desires. In contrast to the availability of an education and possibility of advancement for virtually anyone in our modern societies, Roman citizens were given few opportunities to change their position due to their birth rights. This is not uncommon in ancient civilizations. Augustine was influential in shaping how the people perceived themselves. Although many people would never be able to escape their conditions at birth, they would be able to establish a greater relationship with God. This ideology allowed the people to hope for the possibility of a greater life after death. This concept is also not foreign to human cultures. The idea of self realization was not something that people thought possible for…show more content… He was able to travel for an education provided by his father who probably expected him to follow in his footsteps. His untimely death when Augustine was studying in Carthage freed him from this. By the age of 28 he began to realize the reality of the human condition. He says “I was led astray myself and led others astray in my turn. We were alike deceivers and deceived in all our different aims and ambitions, both publicly when we expounded our so-called liberal ideas, and in private through our service to what we called religion. In public we were cocksure, in private superstitious, and everywhere void and empty.” (Augustine of Hippo, Confessions, trans by Garry Wills [Penguin, 2008], pp. 71). This mature and thoughtful observation by Augustine makes it clear how he perceived himself and others in his youth, and moreover in Roman culture as a whole. Eventually he made the decision to change himself and alter the role of the individual in society for all future