Publication at Faculty of Arts |
2013
Abstract
In his treatise De immortalitate animae Augustine lists four possibilities of how the soul relates to the ratio: (1) the soul is identical with the ratio, (2) the ratio is in the soul as the soul's determination while the soul is the ratio's vehicle, (3) the soul is the determination of the ratio, (4) the soul and the ratio are two independent substances. Augustine deals primarily with options (2) and (4), leaving the question unsolved; he contented himself with demonstrating that the soul can be immortal in every case mentioned.
The way he presents the relationship between the soul and the ratio is in some respects close to the relationship between the soul and the intellect as presented by Plotinus.