ONLINE FIRST
published on February 12, 2022
Peter Iver Kaufman
https://doi.org/10.5840/augstudies202221169
Hopefully, Augustine
When Augustine wrote about having discovered a hope (diuersa spes) different from the political ambitions that drew him to Rome then Milan (spes saeculi), he referred to Christians¡¯ hopes for celestial reward. But several colleagues suggest that he also harbored hopes for a kinder political culture. Discussions of Augustine¡¯s hopes have enlivened the study of political theory and political theology for several generations. During the twenty-first century two influential volumes took him as their inspiration for ¡°hopeful citizenship¡± and ¡°democratic citizenship.¡± Recently, two perceptive studies propose variations on the themes introduced there. What follows deploys several of Hannah Arendt¡¯s observations about Augustine to suggest that his political hopes were somewhat more restricted but more radical than the latest contributions to his political theology suggest.