The Global Economy and the Priveliged Class

The Global Economy and the Priveliged Class read the first two books of St. Augustine's Confessions, widely considered the first autobiography and inspiring to religious and secular audiences. Here are some things to think about in preparation for class: - In the second paragraph of the reading, Augustine tells God that, "Thou has made us for Thyself and our hearts are restless till they rest in Thee." Augustine is in a sense rephrasing our CIT claim about humans existing in relation to God. Is rest a good image for what our hearts are seeking? Notice that Augustine returns to this on page 5. - On pages 7-11 Augustine discusses children and argues that though they may seem innocent, they actually are not. Does this account fit with your experiences of childhood and children? What is he saying about human nature? - How does Augustine's distaste for learning on 13 compare to Aristotle's idea that people desire to know? - Augustine's work is a confession in two senses - a confession of faith (e.g. what he believes) and of past guilt. The latter confession begins particularly in Book 2. What is the value of confessing one's faults as Augustine does here? - Augustine describes his adolescence on 25-30 as a particularly difficult time. Why do so many find adolescence challenging? You can engage with Augustine's discussion of sexuality in the text, but try to think more broadly about adolescence. - The incident with the pears on 31-34 is one of the most famous in the book. Have you had the experience of desiring something for the thrill rather than any good that might come out of it? How does the incident compare to its obvious literary antecedent, the tempation in the garden in Genesis?