Augustine Vs Descartes

Throughout all of history, humans have been trying to understand what is true. From Plato's conceptions of the Forms to modern day speculations about space, everyone searches for some type of truth that accounts for their experiences, their thoughts, and what they see around them. Augustine and Descartes, two figures separated by over one thousand years of human development and change, are no exception. Although Augustine and Descartes approach the search for truth in very different ways, with each step an essential part of the process, they both arrive at knowledge of the same final truth, God. An important starting point for understanding Augustine's process is that his entire life is essentially devoted to finding what is most meaningful.

To Augustine, God is the most important. This, like Augustine's questioning, is clear when reading Confessions. In his opening sentences, Augustine declares, "our heart is restless for You" (3). This statement illustrates how Augustine's whole journey towards truth is directed at finding God and peace in him. When embarking on his search for truth, he consistently describes how he is only satisfied when what he finds is consistent with God. For example, as Augustine describes the trouble he has with understanding his desire to sin even as an infant, he claims that "neither custom nor reason" could explain (29). Here we see a shift away from reason, the one thing that has been heralded as the most perfect thing about human beings by thinkers all the way back to Plato and Aristotle. However, this shift does not mean that Augustine negates reason on all levels, only that reason is not the highest authority in his search for truth. That position remains with God. According to Dr. Carl Vaught, a professor at Baylor University who specializes in the philosophy of religion, Augustine believes that our desire for truth is really a desire for God (Vaught 23). Since when one is looking for truth, one is really looking for God, Augustine has yet another reason to keep God as the most important authority during this process. In addition, Augustine struggles to understand how his heart was motivated to evil actions "by wickedness itself" (Augustine 29). While most philosophers try to reason their ways into understanding issues such as this, Augustine approaches God and cries out to him in anguish (Augustine 29). This tendency to turn to God as the only source of truth is evident throughout Confessions. Augustine's highest authority, the most important thing, is undeniably