CLEP Western Civ I

Answer: C - The Stoic school of philosophy and St. Augustine, through City of God, commanded that an individual should forsake earthly pleasures and strive for spiritual enlightenment or perfection. In City of God, Augustine cited many attributes of Stoic philosophy because he agreed with how they ordered their hierarchy of needs: spiritual satisfaction over sensory satisfaction. However, St. Augustine and the Stoics differed on many of their other perspectives. The Stoics believed that a person’s goal in life should be focused internally, to achieve their own moral or intellectual potential. St. Augustine believed that a person’s goal should be focused externally, to glorify God. The Stoics considered an untroubled soul to be the truest pleasure, but St. Augustine believed that serving God through pure love was the greatest joy. Stoics argued for living in the present, breaking free from the confines of the past or the illusions of imagination (dreams of the future). Conversely, Augustine said that man should turn his attention to a future in Heaven. For Stoics, personal happiness was attainable by rationally choosing to be happy and pursuing spiritual and intellectual perfection. Augustine, on the other hand, thought that God and service to him were the only true joys.