Augustine and Skepticism

Augustine began to distance himself from Manicheism soon after he moved to Rome, which he had been interested in since he was a teenager. As he went through a difficult period in his life, which contributed to his increasingly disinterest with Manicheism, the Academics, the disciples of Arcesilaus and the New Academy briefly engaged him with the skeptical view. The viewpoint was that everything was a matter of doubt and asserted that we can know nothing for certain. The main argument within this essay is to as whether Augustine, from previously being tempted by skepticism, managed to overcome this through his writing, and whether his dismissal of skepticism holds up as a major criticism for others.

After his conversation, he wrote Contra Academicos, which focused mainly on arguments against skepticism and the ability to have knowledge. His ultimate victory over the attraction of skepticism he expressed within this, and laid claim that we can ultimately possess knowledge. In the Contra Academicos Augustine writes of wisdom leading to happiness, and knowledge of truth to wisdom. The version of skepticism that Augustine takes from Cicero’s Academic books is that adopted by Cicero himself. The skepticism Augustine concerns himself is the form it took in the Platonic ‘New’ Academy from the middle of the third century, to which the key figure was Arcesilaus in the earliest stages, to the middle of the first century where Carneades came to prominence in the middle of the second century. It would appear that Augustine read Cicero’s Academia, and thus became aware of ancient skepticism, and of the debate between Arcesilaus and the stoic Zeno of Citium. Augustine expounded his arguments against skepticism in his dialogue Conta Academicos.