THE QUEST FOR CERTAINTY AND ST. AUGUSTINE’S DIVINE ILLUMINATION

Résumé

The inquiry into the origin, certainty and extent of human knowledge, together with the grounds and degrees of belief, opinion and assent has been the task of most philosophers of all epochs. Consequent upon this quest, most philosophers have emerged with their divergent thoughts as answers to the epistemological questions bordering on the ultimate foundation of human knowledge. Meanwhile, while some have adopted skepticism as a method for the discovery of the foundation of new knowledge, others upheld rationalism and the rest opined empiricism. This paper is about to delve into St. Augustine’s position with regard to the possibility of certainty of knowledge. Succinctly, Augustine’s theory of knowledge departed with an affirmation of the possibility and accessibility of human knowledge. Epistemology for him serves a practical religious purpose. It helps us live a happy life only when it brings us to the author of truth (God). To attain these objectives, Augustine became concerned with the quest for certainty and this certainty can be attained through what he calls divine illumination. This work therefore wishes to cast a critical look at St. Augustine’s Divine Illumination as a means of attaining epistemological certainty (truth).