A Bit of Doubt to Open Doors

"The notion began to grow on me that the philosophers whom they call academics were wiser than the rest, because they held that everything should be treated as a matter of doubt and affirmed that no truth can be understood by men" (87).

This epiphany of sorts by Augustine comes after he has traveled to Rome to teach while meeting up with a group of philosophical academics who he can safely call friends. he realizes that nothing is for certain in the world, nothing can be taken for granted. It is this idea of unavoidable doubt which Augustine decides separates the independent, wise thinkers from the common following scholar.

The passage reminded me a bit of Socrates and the White Castle. Socrates thought he was wiser than everyone because he admitted he knew nothing. The end of the white castle finds the narrator living in his chosen, inevitable ignorance when he quits his search for the complete "truth" of the universe.

Augustine is a quite frightened by this idea but inspired by it too. He is skeptical and a little wary of the fact this thinking causes him to completely re-think his faith in the Catholic church and in God or Good and Evil. He had to make a decision, like many people, whether to stay true to his beliefs or welcome the idea of doubt. Things are obviously not how he "sought" (referencing a quote on p65) them to be if it means he may have to compromise his devout faith for this new twist on knowledge...or lack there of. Which brings up the main theme of the Confessions, things are not always how they seem when one first experiences them. Or, over time experiences may have different meanings and it is part of the evolution of life. But in another sense Augustine seems to welcome this new perspective and idea as a fresh take on the way we see the world. He wants to investigate further and doesn't immediately dismiss the validity of the notion just because of his past life and religion. This open-mindedness and sort of revising ability of Augustine's really drives him through the text.