1. Augustine's view of the human person reflects the entire spirit of the medieval world when it
comes to man. Following the ancient view of Plato and infusing it with the newfound doctrine of
Christianity, Augustine agreed that man is of a bifurcated nature. An aspect of man dwells in the
world and is imperfect and continuously yearns to be with the Divine and the other is capable of
reaching immortality. The body is bound to die on earth and the soul is to anticipate living
eternally in a realm of spiritual bliss in communion with God. This is because the body can only
thrive in the imperfect, physical reality that is the world, whereas the soul can also stay after
death in an eternal realm with the all-transcendent God. The goal of every human person is to
attain this communion and bliss with the Divine by living his life on earth in virtue.
However, Augustine in his Confessions takes this idea and expands it into an entire genre that
critically inquires what it means to be a person. In other words, he explores the idea of the self
until he discovers personal subjectivity. As Augustine constructs a view of God that would come
to dominate Western thinking, he also creates a new concept of individual identity: the idea of
the self.
This identity is achieved through a twofold process: self-presentation, which leads to self-
realization.
Augustine creates a literary character out of the self and places it in a narrative text so that it
becomes part of the grand allegory of redemption. In The Confessions, Augustine plays the lead
role in the story of his own life. By telling this tale he transforms himself into a metaphor of the
struggle of both body and soul to find happiness, which exists only in God's love. He reads his
life as an allegory to arrive at a larger truth.