Abstract

When studying medieval thinkers, it is important to note who's authority they ground their thoughts in and in what way. Auctoritates were established statements which, as Ivan Illich writes in his In the Vineyard of the Text, "created precedents and defined reality" and were. therefore worthy of repetition and interpretation. Meister Eckhart relied on Augustine as an authority to a significant degree, and in particular when seeking to ground his most central themes and insights. It is also the case that his interpretation of Augustinian ideas is highly unique and often leads him to posit very original positions. ;In my dissertation, I study the ways in which Eckhart takes up Augustinian ideas in order to ground his own positions and in turn interprets them in the light of his own philosophical and theological concerns and emphases. The chapters are organized according to a progression in Eckhart's ideas from "the divine spark in the soul" through "detachment" and "letting be" to "the birth of the Word in the soul." The divine spark in the soul represents the human possibility of fulfillment already embedded in its created nature. Eckhart's configuration of this idea mirrors Augustine's discussions of angelic intellect described metaphorically as "first light" and the "heaven of heaven." Detachment and letting be, the requisite attitudes that make fulfillment possible, rely on Augustine's dichotomies of the inner and outer man, and flesh and spirit. Fulfillment itself, make fulfillment possible, rely on Augustine's dichotomies of the inner and outer man, and flesh and spirit. Fulfillment itself, expressed as the birth of the Word in the soul, is made intelligible in light of Augustine's noetic structure described as the birth of a word in the heart found in his De Trinitate. In each case, I point out in what ways Eckhart makes use of Augustine and also in what ways he moves beyond his predecessor's formulations. In my final chapter, I demonstrate in what way Eckhart moves beyond Augustine on the question of fulfillment in a more general sense with his idea of "breaking through to God." ;Although many scholars have noted the connection between Eckhart and Augustine, very little work has been done to explore this connection in detail. This dissertation is an attempt to begin such an exploration in order to help better place Eckhart in his later medieval context as an important philosophical and theological figure