Princípio e matéria informe nos livros XI e XII das Confissões.

Abstract

This dissertation investigates the concepts of principle and matter based on an analysis of Augustine's interpretation of the first and second verses of the Book of Genesis developed in books XI and XII of the Confessions. In Book XI, Augustine investigates the concept of principium, which is linked to the concept of creation in Genesis, and also investigates the meaning of the words “heaven and earth” in the passage: “Audiam et intellegam, quomodo in principio fecisti [Deus] caelum et terram. (May I hear and understand how in the beginning you [God] made heaven and earth)” (Conf. XI, iii, 5). A reading will be made which initially starts from an investigation of the words “heaven and earth”, that is, of creatures, of the world, from the effects to the cause, in a perspective of ascending knowledge. It then investigates how “in the beginning God made heaven and earth”. And finally, he addresses a reflection on the concept of “Principle” in which “God made heaven and earth”. Still in book XI, Augustine investigates the nature of time, a question that arises through the Augustinian attempt to answer and refute the question posed to him by the skeptic: “Quid faciebat Deus, antequamfaceretcaelum et terram? (What did God do before he created heaven and earth?)” (Conf. XI, x, 12). Throughout Book XI, the Augustinian interpretation of the first verse of Genesis is made through the contrast and relationship between Creator and creature, eternity and time. In Book XII, Augustine investigates the concept of matter, specifically formless matter (informismateries), which he elaborates through a reading of the exposition of the second verse of Genesis “(...) haec terra eratinvisibilis et incomposita (...) ((...) this earth was invisible and disordered (...))” (Conf. XII, iii, 3). In order to think about the nature of matter, Augustine introduces the concept of creatio ex-nihilo (creation out of nothing). In this sense, what would be the origin of the matter that God created in the world? From God or from nothing? What is matter, anyway? What is nothingness? In order to investigate these philosophical concepts, questions and problems, this dissertation is divided into three chapters. The first chapter investigates the expository method of the Confessions, specifically its implications for books XI and XII. The second chapter investigates the concept of principle, in which God made heaven and earth, the concept of creation, as well as what time is. The third chapter investigates the concept of matter, as well as its origin: creatio ex-nihilo (creation out of nothing).