Re-Creation and Preservation: Augustine and Hobbes on Pride and Fallen Politics

Abstract

Many scholars in religious ethics and political theory read Augustine's emphasis on pride as tied to a pessimism about politics and human nature as well as a neutralist vision of politics. Against these views, this essay argues that Augustine's vision of political humility is at once tied to a thick, non-neutralist vision of the good and a limited view of politics' role in achieving this good on its own. To make this argument, I compare Augustine's largely neglected commentary on Genesis with that of Hobbes, a political pessimist with whom Augustine is often compared. While Hobbes's political combatting of pride adheres to a vision of mere “preservation,” Augustine's instead entails a vision of “re-creation.” Political re-creation is aspirational, participating in a re-instantiation of creation's order, but it is also limited, since (re-)creation is ultimately the work of God.