This course began with Socrates's invitation to the philosophical life in the Gorgias and continued by examining the notion, developed at length in the Republic, of the philosopher as the paradigmatic human being. (Look once again at the traits of the philosopher in the Plato handout.) We then examined Aristotle's conception of human flourishing, which in some ways is similar to Plato's, though with a less ascetic orientation and more emphasis on the importance of various external and internal goods (e.g., wealth, power, honor, friends--in general, "well-roundedness) for an active life of exercising virtue.

     In the last sections of the course, however, through our reading of Pieper's christianized account of the four cardinal virtues and of Augustine's Confessions, what has emerged is what seems to be a different account of human flourishing--or, at least, one that is in tension in various ways with the philosophical life even if sharing some important features in common with it. This Christian paradigm human being we can call the saint.

     For your last writing assignment I want you to compare the saint to the philosopher. 

     First, it will be necessary to paint a picture of the traits of the saint. Do this mainly on the basis of your reading of Pieper and Augustine. You might want to pay special attention to those parts of the Confessions in which Augustine explicitly tells us what he found lacking in the writings of the philosophers (see, e.g., book 3, chap. 4; book 7, chap. 9; and book 7, chaps. 20-21), and those places in which he seems to cast doubt on the value of just the sort of intellectual pursuits that serve as one mark of the philosopher (see, e.g., book 5, chap. 4), but there are plenty of other relevant sections of the Confessions as well. It may also prove helpful to draw on your knowledge of particular historical saints. Whatever sources you use, what I primarily want is a sense of what the main traits of the saint are. In other words, you are invited to be creative and imaginative in painting the picture of the saint. 

     Second, in thinking out the comparison you might ask yourself questions like the following: Is there a difference in deep-seated motivations between the philosophical life and the saintly life? Can one be a philosopher without being a saint? Can one be a saint without being a philosopher? Can one be both a saint and a philosopher? Is it the case that just as there are distinctively Christian ways of being chaste (e.g., consecrated virginity) and courageous (e.g. martyrdom), so too there is a distinctively Christian way of being a philosopher? You don't have to address all these questions. I mean them only to help stimulate your thoughts on the matter.