City of God, quote of men, according to Saint Augustine »

Hervé Pasqua,Jean-François Mattéi, Centre de Recherche en Histoire des Idées, Université Côte d’Azur

The City of God of St Augustine, immense work in twenty-two books, written between 413 and 426, was undertaken in a context of general collapse of civilization, after the capture of Rome by Alaric on August 24, 410. However, it does not reduce itself to a written circumstance. Its scope exceeds the historical framework. Chapter 28 of Book XIV is well known where St. Augustine describes the two cities built on two loves: “The love of oneself up to the contempt of God, that of the earth, and the love of God up to the contempt of oneself, that of heaven.” We will question the meaning of this distinction and the role it played in the history of thought.