Augustine Mary F. Abellana Grade 11- St.

Aloysius

St. Augustine

I chose St. Augustine as my philosopher because of his works and being a great defender
of the church. Though considered one of the founders of theology, specifically in terms of Christianity,
it is also widely accepted that St. Augustine played a large role in philosophy. Augustine argued
that Skeptics have no basis for claiming to know that there is no knowledge, and he believed that genuine
human knowledge can be established with certainty. In being familiar with total skepticism, the idea that
nothing can be known, Augustine advised that this thought could be disproven in at least three distinct
ways. According to Augustine, these “three refutations” of skepticism are the principle of non-
contradiction, the act of doubting, and refutation relating to perception. The first refutation illustrated by
Augustine is that of non-contradiction. This principle explains that when examining and presenting an
idea, only the suggestion or the contradiction may be true, but in no instance, can both be true. For
example, if one were to state that “I am here,” the idea presented is that the statement is true. As a result,
it would be impossible to follow that idea up with the statement “It is not true that I am here.” According
to Augustine, the idea may be true or the contradiction of that idea may be true, but never both. This
refutation is an attempt to prove that although total skepticism dictates that nothing can be known, its
nearly impossible to argue with both the proposition and the contradiction-surely, one of them must be
known as truth. This seems to be a fairly valid principle, as it leaves little room for argument in the idea
that something is either true or it is false, but rarely ever is there an alternative that could be true. The
second refutation is the act of doubting, an idea arguing that through doubting, we ultimately defeat the
purpose of total skepticism. For example, if one was to argue that through total skepticism, it is
impossible to know anything or that they “doubt” something to be true, in essence they are conceding to
the idea that at the very least they are certain of their own existence-otherwise, how would there be any
validity in their doubts? A “non-existent” person would not be able to illustrate doubt or explain that
nothing can be known; therefore, Augustine attempted to state that one’s existence negates the act of
doubting anything can be known, because at least the idea of their existence is known. While this concept
is an interesting one, the validity of it seems to be questionable because it does not take into consideration
that ultimately the concept of existence is not being disputed, but rather the idea of what can truly be
known is in question. The act of doubting, does not seem to disprove total skepticism as much, but rather
seems to be a blanket contradiction against it. The final refutation of Augustine revolves around
perception, especially sense perception, and the idea that perception in its most basic form is a type of
knowledge. While we may not be able to conclude the essence of an object or concept, we can describe
our own perception of it, in which case, we make no error in judgment. If we saw a pond that seemed
shallow and assert that it only seems shallow, we make no mistake. Only when we conclude that the pond
is shallow, with no certainty or proof to support that idea, are we mistaken. This opposes the idea of total
skepticism, in that we can know at least what our perceptions allow us to determine. In my opinion, this is
a valid argument because ultimately it does not profess what we know or do not know fully, but rather
states that our knowledge of anything is based on our own perception of it. Although the ideas of
academic and total skeptic ism sought to disprove a need or even the logic behind philosophy, scholars
such as St. Augustine attempted to prove that despite the fact that we do not have total knowledge in
everything, we are not totally void of knowledge. The three refutations of Augustine serve to help us
remember that just as there is an opposite to nearly everything, the concept of skepticism can always be
rebutted when it comes to knowledge and our understanding of the world.