Abstract
This article begins by presenting Augustine’s thought as set out in his book De ordine. It then analyzes the influence of this book on the two approaches to modern science, the rationalist, Cartesian approach of the Jansenists Arnauld and Nicole, and the empirical approach of Bacon, which are shown to be two different ways of dealing with human nature à la Augustin, i.e., deeply corrupted. Then, the similarities and divergences between the Augustinian pre-theodicy from the book Order and the theodicy of Leibniz are discussed. On this point, the existence in both Smith and Augustine of an irremediable gap between human thought and the course of nature, irrevocably distances them from Leibniz and Malebranche, as well as from the order of the physiocrats. Beyond this aspect, the question of how human nature can be disciplined is also raised. The French Augustinians Arnauld and Nicole opted for elitism, the state and an organically inspired society, while the Augustinianism of Bacon and his followers tends to maintain that all men can, thanks to disciplina, perfect themselves, which implies a lesser need, if not for government, at least for a state structure. This Augustinianism tends to lend an internal logic to Adam Smith’s system of natural liberty, where the impartial spectator, the market, the science of economics and laws can be analyzed as helping to discipline the irrational part of man.
Codes JEL: B12, K00, N01, P00