Conceptions of the self in Augustine, King Alfred, and Anglo-Saxon England (Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo)

My dissertation examines conceptions of the self from late antiquity to the Anglo-Saxon period, with a particular focus on the influence of the Augustinian conception of self. I begin by examining conceptions of the self from ethical philosophy and cognitive neuroscience, championing these approaches over those that emphasize the postmodern concept of subjectivity. I also demonstrate their efficacy in refuting arguments against a medieval sense of self, and expose the constructed nature of the "gap" between the medieval and early modern periods.; Chapter two is chiefly concerned with how the evolution of Augustine's theological position regarding free will and predestination affects his conception of the self, and how his position on the divided will and the two Cities serve to inform individual identity. Additionally, I examine his narrative construction of self in Confessions, which bears a striking resemblance to narrative models of self in cognitive neuroscience.; Chapter three examines the alterations made by King Alfred in his translation of Augustine's Soliloquia. The Alfredian self differs from the Augustinian in that it is enmeshed in a web of social ties and social obligations that necessitates its active involvement in the City of Man; these ties and obligations serve to add layers of social identity to the "core" self described in Augustine's texts. The Alfredian self also emerges as existential, demonstrating an anxiety about the transience of human existence not found in his original source, partly derived from his translation of Boethius.; Chapter four examines select Anglo-Saxon poems, with an emphasis on The Wanderer and The Seafarer. I argue here that the elegies mark a movement back to the Augustinian conception of the self, a spiritual alternative to the material selves that are initially the poems' foci. Despite their Augustinian nature, however, the selves in the elegies share the existential focus of the Alfredian self, and I draw specific parallels with Kierkegaard to demonstrate this affinity. The differences between the selves found in these works, however, leads to the conclusion that an overarching theory of the medieval self could only be developed at the cost of the very selves the works seek to communicate.