The structure of dialogue in Augustine’s corpus and its role in a democratic society

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the structure and role of dialogical discourse in Augustine’s earlier dialogues viz., De Magistro and Soliloquies. The two dialogues connote empirical and metaphysical relationships that serve as practical and speculative pathways to discovering one’s true self in a democratic society. Furthermore, the pedagogical value of examining one’s mindsets is a precedent for exploring alternative ways of imagining and expressing democracy. For this reason, dialogue was the dominant genre in Augustine’s corpus and played an important role in liberating his mind. Moreover, Augustine structured his dialogues three-fold: (1) self-refutation, (2) Socratic questioning, and (3) metaphysical intervention. By actively critiquing himself, Augustine also structures the whole human reality and its dependence on divine grace. The results of this study indicate the importance of dialogue in the development of sustainable democratic societies. In developing a hypothesis, the study also drew from contemporary scholarship on dialogue as a discourse.