Forms, Divine Ideas, Illumination and Grace in Augustine

1. Criticisms of Plato’s original Forms of his “naïve” theory (“Third Man”, “Forms as Inconsistent Objects”) showed that Plato’s Forms cannot exist, i.e., there cannot be universal objects in the way Plato described them, as separately existing universal exemplars existing in a universal manner, having all and only the common features of their singulars.

2. Boethius’ criticism further showed that universal forms cannot exist as intrinsic to their particulars either. In this, Boethius simply reaffirmed the Neo-Platonic consensus already prevalent in Augustine’s time that no matter how we describe them (whether as extrinsic exemplars or as intrinsic constituents of their particulars) universal forms supposed to be existing in a mind-independent universal manner simply cannot exist, because the assumption of their existence leads to contradictions.

3. Boethius’ Aristotelian solution, however, reinforced another common, positive Neo-Platonic point (taking its cue from Aristotle), namely, that mind-dependent universals do exist, in the sense that the abstractive mind can form concepts, whereby it conceives of universal thought-objects, allowing it to think of particulars in a universal manner.

4. It is this idea that Augustine utilizes in “transferring” Plato’s Forms into the Divine Mind, where they can preserve their original ontological, epistemological and moral role of serving as the principles of being, truth and goodness of the particulars modeled after them. (Cf. Platonic Forms as Divine Ideas)

5. As the principles of the being of everything other than God, the Divine Ideas are the archetypes of creation whereby God pre-conceived in eternity everything He were to create, considering all possible ways in which His infinite perfection can be shared by anything of a finite perfection.

6. As the principles of truth, divine ideas are the source of divine illumination whereby we are allowed some insight into the true nature of everything as God meant it to be.

7. Finally, as the principles of goodness, the Divine Ideas are the standards for the perfection of all kinds of creatures. Accordingly, any singular that does not live up to this standard of its kind is flawed, defective, plagued by some evil, namely, the privation, the lack of the requisite perfection of its kind (an idea worked out in greater detail by Boethius and later medieval theologians).

8. This is the case in particular with an ill-directed human will, which renders a human person and his or her acts morally evil. But just as our intellect is aided in its natural function by divine illumination, so is our will, burdened by original sin, aided by divine grace. This is what ultimately enables the human soul to approach its Divine Idea, by perfecting in itself the “image of the Trinity”. This is only possible, however, if the soul prepares itself for receiving both illumination and grace by contemplating what it can philosophically about the infinite perfection of divine essence and exercising itself in the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity, reflecting the Trinity of Divine Persons.