Abstract

In sol. Augustine and ratio, his reason or his soul, confront each other. Several years later, in uera rel. Augustine identifies three cardinal vices: uoluptas, curiositas, and superbia. This threefold concupiscence probably derives from Porphyry’s teaching, which he in turn had received from Plato’s Republic, concerning the threefold division of the soul. Lust, curiosity, and pride correspond to the appetitive, rational, and thumetic aspects of the soul. According to Augustine, 1 John 2:15-16 is an admonition against these three vices. In Matth 4:1-11 the vices correspond to the devil’s three temptations, which Jesus faced at the beginning of his public ministry. The structure of sol. 1 10.17 indicates that ratio is confronting Augustine with the same deadly desires: superbia, curiositas, and uoluptas. At Cassiciacum Augustine communicates these three concepts, but without the precise vocabulary and logical systematization which will be supplied later by 1 John 2:15-16 and Matth 4:1-11 as his thought develops in a theological context. Augustine first presented these three deadly desires in the sol. As temptations during his own life. This took place in 387 at Cassiciacum after his conversion in the garden but before his baptism in Milan. Next, in uera rel. Augustine describes the temptations as those of Jesus as well, the only difference being that Jesus was tempted immediately after his baptism rather than before as Augustine was. Finally, Jesus’ experience and Augustine’s subsequent experience are presented as the universal temptation of all humankind. Curiosity is a major psychological force in two African autobiographical works, the Metamorphoses of Apuleius and the conf. of Augustine. Never explicitly mentioned in sol., curiositas is implied in the sentence where ratio tempts Augustine: 'For this concerns the health of your eyes’.