St Augustine, according to Alain de Boton, modern philosopher:

It was St. Augustine who came up with the idea of ‘Original Sin’. He proposed that all humans were crooked, because all of us are unwitting heirs to the sins of Adam. Our sinful nature gives rise to what Augustine called a ‘libido dominandi’, a desire to dominate, which is evident in the brutal, blinkered, merciless way we treat others and the world around us. We cannot properly love, for we are constantly undermined by our egoism and our pride. Our powers of reasoning and understanding are fragile in the extreme. Lust – a particular concern of Augustine’s, who had spent much of his youth fantasising about women in church – haunts our days and nights. We fail to understand ourselves, we chase phantoms, we are beset by anxieties… Augustine concluded his assault by chiding all those philosophers who ‘have wished, with amazing folly, to be happy here on earth and to achieve bliss by their own efforts.’

It can be a relief to be told that our lives are awry because nothing human can ever be made entirely straight and that the odds have been stacked against us from the start. Relax! Our sins are simply part of the human condition. (adapted from Alain de Boton’s article on his website).

Augustine was attacking the Epicureans. His point of view is broad-brush twaddle, and a license for those who do mischief to continue doing mischief. “I can’t help hitting old ladies over the head and stealing their belongings, Yer Honor. I suffer from Original Sin”. De Boton, the reason for whose prominence is a mystery, is also suggesting a free pass to baddies (maybe this is why he is prominent!) .

Epicureanism represents everything that is opposite to Augustine and De Boton. It is positive, encouraging and focuses on a pleasant life of calm, serenity and friendship. It also implicitly assumes that, while there are violent and selfish creeps in this world, most of us a capable of good thoughts and good works.

I look forward to comments from my Catholic readers!