He was far
and away the best -- if not the very first -- psychologist in the
ancient world. His observations and descriptions of human motives
and emotions, his depth analyses of will and thought in their
interaction, and his exploration of the inner nature of the human
self -- these have established one of the main traditions in
European conceptions of human nature, even down to our own time.
Augustine is an essential source for both contemporary depth
psychology and existentialist philosophy. His view of the shape
and process of human history has been more influential than any
other single source in the development of the Western tradition
which regards political order as inextricably involved in moral
order. His conception of a societas as a community identified and
held together by its loyalties and love has become an integral
part of the general tradition of Christian social teaching and the
Christian vision of "Christendom." His metaphysical explorations
of the problems of being, the character of evil, the relation of
faith and knowledge, of will and reason, of time and eternity, of
creation and cosmic order, have not ceased to animate and enrich
various philosophic reflections throughout the succeeding
centuries.
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