ON SELF-KNOWLEDGE AND THE ORIGINS OF CERTAINTY IN AUGUSTIN AND AQUINAS

Authors

  • Alejandro Serani Merlo Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15691/0718-5448Vol9Iss2a143

Keywords:

self-knowledge, mind, subjectivity, a-priori cognitions, certainty

Abstract

Self-knowledge gives rise to quite crucial and perplexing questions. The question: "Who we are?", which is in fact, a question about the knowledge that we have about our being, supposes that the question about the existence and the nature of knowledge has been already answered. Plato and Aristotle saw the problem and they suggested some solutions. Agustin of Hippo discussed this question thoroughly in his treatise On the Trinity and Thomas Aquinas discusses its implications in his book on disputed questions On Truth. Descartes and Kant, in the onset of modernity, seem to ignore the importance of these discussions which, however, appear crucial for the foundation of their philosophical systems. The problem in dispute in these inquiries is no less than the question of the origin of any certainty.

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Published

2017-08-19

Issue

Vol. 9 No. 2 (2015)

Section

Research Articles

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How to Cite

Serani Merlo, Alejandro. 2017. “ON SELF-KNOWLEDGE AND THE ORIGINS OF CERTAINTY IN AUGUSTIN AND AQUINAS”. Síntesis. Philosophy Journal 9 (2): 29-40. https://doi.org/10.15691/0718-5448Vol9Iss2a143.