This work is in keeping with a process of a conceptual archeology. It aims at studying how the notion of interiority arises and develops in Augustine’s thought, from his first books, the Dialogues written in Cassiciacum, to his main work, the De Trinitate. The first part examines the main principles of the syntax of interiority throughout a topological process. It begins by studying, through a syntagmatic approach, the relations that link crucial terms such as anima, animus, mens, ratio, intellectus, intelligentia, memoria, uoluntas, and spiritus; next, it examines paradigmatically this syntax of interiority through the motif of spiritual progress. Finally, the notion of interiority appears as a dynamic structure where the concept of imago Dei plays a central role. This leads to the second part of the work which examines the anthropo-theology of the image in Augustine’s thought. After having situated the concepts of imago and similitudo in the context of Antique thought, the author studies their use at the heart of the De Trinitate, which leads to a reflexion on the status of analogy and its thematization through the Pauline motif of the mirror (1 Co 13, 12). Closely examining the the notion of interiority through the motif of the mirror leads, in turn, to further reflection on the concept of reflexivity understood not only as noetic, but also as semiotic and hermeneutic.
EAA 194: Paris, Institut d’études augustiniennes, 2012
ISBN: 978-2-85121-251-1
694 p., 165 x 250 mm
46 € TTC
