On Politics and the Earthly City in Augustine’s City of God

What is the status of politics in Augustine’s thought? Is it the realm of sin or a neutral space where the two cities pursue earthly peace together? This lecture presents a third option: Augustine argues that the most significant fact about political life is that the earthly city covets the political sphere, claiming it for itself, and striving to shape it in its own image. Yet in Augustine’s view, this realization does not concede politics to the earthly city. Rather, it opens up a new way of participating in political life, rooted in God’s love.

Dr. Veronica Ogle is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Assumption University. She is the author of Politics and the Earthly City in Augustine’s City of God (Cambridge University Press, 2020).

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