Degree Date
2026
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Greek, Latin, and Classical Studies
Abstract
Even before his conversion, Augustine had rejected Academic skepticism—or had he? In this thesis, I argue that Augustine did not wholly refute this philosophical method, most famously practiced by Cicero and his Greek predecessors, but that he rehabilitated it for the purpose of hiding, defending, and seeking Christian truth. Paradoxically, for Augustine, the proper exercise of Academic skepticism stimulates faith and understanding.
In Chapter 1, I introduce Academic skepticism as Augustine would have known it: as Ciceronian ratio over auctoritas. Eventually, noticing an undercurrent of Platonism in Cicero’s dialogues, Augustine developed an esoteric reading of this dichotomy. Cicero, he decided, had secretly embraced Platonic auctoritas. As a result, Augustine signals his rehabilitation of Academic skepticism by recoupling auctoritas and ratio, replacing the auctoritas of Plato with that of Christ.
But that was not how Augustine first read Cicero. In Chapter 2, I connect the pure reason of Cicero’s Hortensius with both Academic skepticism and Manichaeism. Whether or not there was, via Faustus, a historical connection between these systems, Augustine himself connected them; this connection would come back to haunt him.
In Chapter 3, I explore Augustine’s early rehabilitation of Academic esotericism as dialogic mystagogy. This “art of hiding the truth” concealed Christian auctoritas to prompt rational inquiry, inviting not just belief in, but understanding of, metaphysical mysteries. For a iii time, Augustine imagined this contemplation in the context of a Christian Academy, which corrected the Platonic Academy by sharing salvific philosophy with the masses.
That task turned out to be too important—and perhaps too Manichaean. In Chapter 4, I track Augustine’s mature rehabilitation of Academic skepticism as it pivots from esotericism to polemics. In refuting pagan authority, Augustine wielded the pure reason of the Academics, one-upping Cicero’s dialogues while showing himself to be more Ciceronian than Cicero himself.
Finally, in Chapter 5, I examine Augustine’s exegetical skepticism, evident in his quest to interpret Genesis literally. Rehabilitating Academic doubt and probabilism, Augustine portrays Scripture as the true mystagogue, inviting us to pursue its hidden truth in a lifelong cycle of seeking and finding: the true fulfillment of Cicero’s Hortensius.
Citation
Sala, Dalton Alexander. 2026. "Academicus ille Augustinus? Augustine’s Rehabilitation of Academic skepticism." PhD Diss, Bryn Mawr College.