Aurelius Augustinus'un Varlık ile Bilgi Kavramları

This article explores the concepts of being and knowledge adopted by philosopher Augusti-nus, who tried to establish philosophical foundations of Christianity by developing a framework within which these concepts play a crucial role. Augustinus establishes a hierarchy of beings on the top which God and the Forms are placed. Then comes Angels, whose place is heavenly world. At the bottom is Nothing. Human beings and animals are placed in between, and their place is the earthly world. Among the created beings, only does man have a soul and therefore only he can ascend into the heavanly world. This, in turn, would only be possible through reaching the know¬ledge of God, that is of Truth. The condition of knowing is the belief that Truth is God. Man's knowledge of God is one among two types of his knowledge and this constitues wisdom (sapi-entia). The other form or knowledge is about the material world, which constitues sciense (scientia). Man can find a place in the heavenly world and reach happiness only by elevating himself to the knowledge of God,that is, to wisdom, from the sensual knowledge.