Interpreting the term idipsum in Augustine’s Enarrationes in Ps.121.3, Aimé Solignac translates idipsum as "Being itself" (l'Etre-même) in his supplementary notes to the Confessions. According to Solignac, firstly idipsum has a biblical meaning: ego sum qui sum and qui est in Exodus. Secondly it has a metaphysical meaning: Being or existence in the precise meaning, Being unchangeable, Being everlasting. Solignac’s conclusion is in general correct. However, it seems to me that the connotation of this term is more subtle. Furthermore, any effort to define the term idipsum is impossible. Idipsum is idipsum. Augustine himself says: what is idipsum? How can I find any other expression than idipsum? In my paper I would like to try to approach the puzzling significance of the term idipsum in the Confessions in the following order: firstly, idipsum in the case of Augustine’s reading Psalm 4 (Conf. 9.4.8-11); secondly, idipsum in the experience at Milan (Conf. 7.10.16); and thirdly, idipsum in the experience at Ostia (Conf. 9.10.23-26). Idipsum in Psalm 4 1. Discovery of the Self Before examining the notion of idipsum in the remarkable passage that Augustine wrote about his mystical experience at Ostia, I would like to draw attention to the dramatic scene in Confessions 9.4.7 where he is reading Psalm 4. Is there a significant relationship between P and O? Or is there no particular association? It seems to me that there is a profound connection. Augustine focuses his thought on the term idipsum in Psalm 4 verse 9 in P, which prepares the ground for his meditation that is later developed in O. While reading Psalm 4 at Milan, Augustine proceeds through each verse by merely reciting and singing with charged emotion, but without giving any allegorical exegesis, such as in the Enarrationes in Psalmos 4, written in 392. He cried out ("vocem dedi"): "What cries I sent up unto thee, my God, whenas I read the Psalms of David...". Augustine wholeheartedly longs for his former Manichaean friends to be with him here, listening to him reading Psalm 4 and watching his serious expression as he is deeply moved by the sacred verses. He determines resolutely yet fairly to "withdraw the service of [his] tongue from those marts of lip-labour". Thinking that language with its problematic rhetoric was worn out, he therefore anticipates the renewal of language. Not daring to interpret these verses as he did elsewhere, he cries out instead in a loud voice. Here "to cry" does not strictly mean "to shriek" or "to scream". When Augustine says: "and with a loud cry of my heart called I out in the next verse (v. 9)", "with a loud cry of my heart" alludes to a speech-act of new-born language, that prepares him to respond to the Word of God, spoken in silence in O. By reading Psalm 4, therefore, Augustine not only examines the objective meaning of the text, but also finds a subjective significance: to see himself as reflected in the mirror of the text. Augustine discovers not only the Self but also idipsum in the text of Psalm 4. In the next section consideration will be given to Augustine’s discovery of the term idipsum in verse 9. In this context idipsum is the destination of his pilgrimage, the Odyssey of the soul. 2. Discovery of idipsum Of the ten verses of Psalm 4, Augustine only comments on verse 9. He continues by saying:
It is noteworthy that Augustine combines the two phrases "in peace" and "for the Self-same". From an eschatological perspective, "Death is swallowed up by victory" refers to St Paul’s prediction of resurrection. The expression "in thee is that rest" reminds us of the Leitmotif at the beginning of the Confessions: "our heart cannot be quieted till it finds repose in thee". To these theological comments Augustine adds the following philosophical remarks:
What does the Self-same mean? Can we identify the Self-same with the "Good, the desired of every soul"? André Mandouze is right when he suggests that "for Augustine, as well as, for Psalmists, the purpose of query and the place of repose are full of life. This is quite different from Being-itself". What comes into consideration next is the meaning of Self-same. The ambiguous connotation of this pronoun still remains open to investigation. Susanne Poque is also right in paying attention to Augustine’s peculiar usage of such an unusual pronoun as idipsum, instead of using a noun that designates God, such as theos or deus, which quite often denotes anthropological or pagan contents. Poque says:
As Poque remarks, idipsum stands for the divine exclusivity of ego sum qui sum. In Enarrationes in Psalmos 121.3 (written in 406 or in 410), Augustine annotates idipsum in four points:
Augustine goes further than Plotinus in that for him idipsum means the "active, dynamic Presence" in an I-Thou relationship. Idipsum at Milan and idipsum at Ostia 1. Idipsum at Milan Before taking up the decisive moment when Augustine encountered the idipsum at Ostia, let us glance at the episode of the so-called "Vision of Milan", treating only Confessions 7.10.16. Unlike in P and O, it is perplexing to trace Augustine’s explicit reference to idipsum here.
Even from the beginning of his statement about his spiritual ascent or rather of his return to himself, Augustine refers to God as his "Leader" and his "helper", acknowledging his reliance upon the great assistance of God. While reading a certain passage of "libri platonicorum", Augustine recognised the unchangeable light over his mind. This image calls to question the manner in which the light was cast.
Here the light is a metaphor for the Creative Principle, the Creator. In general, light is understood as a symbol of enlightenment, a guarantee of certainty. Augustine confesses the weakness of his own intellectual sight, claiming:
This phenomenological description represents the "relay" from "seeing" to "listening" during Augustine’s mystical experience. He states:
The feeble voice of I Am that I Am (Ex. 3:14) gave him the certainty! According to Olivier du Roy, Augustine is possibly thinking of the theophany of the burning bush. This revelation of the Name seems to me the foreshadowing of the idipsum who reveals himself in P. 2. Idipsum at Ostia Two questions about what happened at Ostia will be discussed here. The first question concerns the nature of the goal toward which Augustine and Monica are striving to attain in O. Augustine says:
Their goal is the Self-same. In this context, we may ask what Augustine’s definition of idipsum is in O. It should be noted that he strictly avoids defining the meaning of the term idipsum, merely suggesting how and where he and his mother attained Wisdom (sapientia), that is to say, the Self-same (idipsum). Augustine says:
Why is it that in the Confessions Augustine never asks what the Self-same is? Does the Self-same mean a logical identity or "one’s self alone" (to pros auto)? I think not. As Poque mentioned above, the Self-same designates absolute exclusivity. However, in Enarrationes in Psalmos 121.5, Augustine himself appears to try to establish the philosophical definition of idipsum, saying:
"I AM THAT I AM" designates the work of idipsum realised in time. After recognising the "immutability and eternity of idipsum as the major implication of the Same", Paul Ricoeur remarks on the paradox of history and Being, saying:
Before this paradox of history and Being, Augustine’s philosophical question about the Self-same appears to leave the matter open. Augustine and Monica’s purpose is not to comprehend what idipsum is—that is "much to comprehend"—but how and where to attain to the region of the Self-same and to find there the Rest, which forgets all troubles. My second question concerns the manner in which Augustine and Monica attained Wisdom, that is the Self-same? Where did they find the Self-same? The Plotinian method for their spiritual ascent (24) has been much discussed. Let us consider the other side of their reflections upon the voice to which they listened in silence (24, 25). During their spiritual ascent, Augustine’s attention is contin-uously focused on their discourse itself. When they reach the goal with a little touch ("attingimus eam [sc. sapientiam]..."), they return from these thoughts to vocal expressions of daily language. It is in the very daily language where Augustine discovers the intersection with the Self-same. Next he compares human language with the Word of God. Although "human language has both a beginning and an ending" ("ubi verbum et incipitur et finitur"), the Word of God "remains in himself for ever without becoming aged, and yet renewing all things" ("in se permanenti sine vetustate atque innovanti omnia"). The Word of God is immutable, eternal and innovative in history. Thus we can find the three attributes of idipsum—immutability, eternity and activity in history—in the Word of God. In other words, idipsum is the Word of God. In section 25, Augustine says:
If every sign is silenced, idipsum speaks, but in silence. Johann Kreuzer says: "In silence, silence becomes eloquent, as the speech of idipsum, that is God." Augustine and Monica listened to the idipsum in silence at Ostia. Conclusion Although Augustine seems to ask what idipsum is, in reality he does not pose the question. Indeed, such a question would be impossible to answer. He attempts only to ask "where" idipsum is. The mystical experience at Ostia reveals to us the very moment of Augustine’s encounter with idipsum, where he comes to know idipsum by listening to idipsum’s voice. |
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