What is philosophy, based on Augustine's City of God, Bk. VIII, ch.2?

Philosophy to Augustine is an endless inquiry of things. It progresses the thoughts of the previous philosophers. In book 8, chapter 2 of his book, “The City of God and Christian Doctrine”, he discusses how the pre-historic philosophers inquires the first principle of things to the causes of things and on how these philosophers differs from their answers. For example, Thales thought that the first principle of things was water yet as time went on, some philosophers did not just question about the first principle but cause of all things. Anaxagoras for example, said that the principle of things is that infinite matter consisting of homogeneous particles but it can only exist through the divine mind. The divine mind now is the cause of all things.

Philosophy is an endless inquiry of things because the philosophers mentioned did not just settle to what their teachers has taught them. They seem to be not contented to it so they pursue their own inquiry and brought possible solutions that have wider scope than the previous philosophers. This endless inquiry starts from the same question the previous philosophers asked but they try to discover more and question more the stand of that philosopher widening the perspective. These philosophers knows that there is so much more than what the previous philosophers had known that is why they expand the thoughts and inquire more to know what that “more” is.

To Augustine, based on book 8, chapter 2 of “The City of God and Christian Doctrine”, Philosophy is an endless inquiry of things as there is so much more than what the previous philosophers had known.

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Source:

Schaff, P. (1896). Augustine on Ancient Philosophy (M. Dods, Trans.).
      In Klima, G., Allhoff, F., & Vaidya, A. (Ed.). Medieval 
      Philosophy: Essential Readings with Commentary
     (pp. 31-32). Blackwell Publishing: Australia.

Is there Medieval Philosophy?

There is Medieval Philosophy although this stage of Philosophical history is not focused on the discipline of Philosophy itself. It is said that the Medieval Philosophy was subordinated to Theology which means that unlike in the Ancient Philosophy, wherein man is the center of the intellectual attention, in Medieval Philosophy, the center of the intellectual attention was God.

The Medieval Philosophy was a period wherein the flourishing of Philosophy was not only centered in Europe and no person called his self a philosopher. A lot of Philosophical accounts are not just found in Europe like the emergence of Latin Philosophy in the Middle Age.  Another thing is that a lot of thinkers found in this era are not European like St. Augustine who was Roman. Also, Medieval Philosophy has no clear boundary between ancient times and the Renaissance time. With these, a lot of people would skip this part of the history as there were no exact measure to when, where and who were Medieval Philosophy is. But despite these, Medieval Philosophy continued to prosper and take its own part in the history.

The Medieval Philosophy was a period wherein people were relearning and started to have intellectual activities again after the ancient period. At this moment, a lot of events like world wars affected the blossoming of Philosophy. But, in spite of the happenings, philosophical reflections still emerges. Also, at this time, the works of the ancients were made available to the people through translations.

As what I have stated, this time was full of events that affected Philosophy. One of the results was that no certain person or thinker at this time thought of himself as a philosopher and no certain work can be classified as purely philosophical. More thinkers refer themselves as theologians. The philosophical works are only found inside these theological works. With this, Medieval Philosophy is said to be a subordinate to Theology. This means that no certain work was dedicated to Philosophy itself. It is always a mixture of Theological thought.

Overall, it can be proven that there is a Medieval Philosophy for it has its own pursuit which is to understand the world and man’s place on it.

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Source

Gracia, J., Noone, T. 2002. A Companion to Philosophy in the Middle Ages. Berlin; Blackwell                        Publishing Ltd.

Klima, G., Allhoff, F., Vaidya, A. 2007. Medieval Philosophy: Essential Readings with Commentary.

Australia; Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

How to Study the History of Philosophy?

A person who wanted to grasp the philosophy of a given philosopher must know the history of his philosophy. In Fredrick Copleston's book "A History of Philosophy", he stated three points on how to study the history of Philosophy.

First, he stated that a person who wanted to grasp the mind of a given philosopher must know the historical situation the philosopher is in. This means that the person should know the era or the time wherein the philosopher had worked on the philosophy. The philosopher's situation may have an effect on the way of thinking and on the thoughts of the philosopher. In this way, the person would understand better the kind of thinking the philosopher has, thus understanding better the philosophy.

Second, the person must know something about the philosopher as a person. This means that the person must know the background of the philosopher. Backgrounds such as the kind of family he had, how he was brought up, the kind of relationships he had and etc. These backgrounds may determine the kind of thinking the philosopher has, thus affecting his philosophy. 

Lastly, to be able to understand the philosopher's idea, one must learn the history of the philosophy and thoroughly learning the history of the philosophy means being a specialist on the history of the philosophy of the philosopher. Which means that one must dedicate his scholarly life in acquainting himself in the different aspects that influences the philosophy of the given philosopher. This includes studying the things the philosopher has studied, the kind of language he used, the kind of environment the philosopher had and etc. 

Knowing the historical situation of the philosopher, knowing the philosopher as a person, and being a specialist on his philosophy are the points on how to study the history of Philosophy. 


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Source
Copleston, F. 1993. A History of Philosophy Vol. 1. New York; Doubleday.

Why study the History of Philosophy?

In the book " A history of Philosophy", Fredrick Copleston, SJ stated three reasons to why a student of Philosophy should study its history.

The first reason is that Philosophy grew out from the past. This means that the thoughts of the past philosophers contributes to the thoughts of the present or the latter philosophers. A modern philosopher's philosophy did not just emerge solely from him/her. These ideas are influenced by some other philosophers or thinkers. If one aims to know and understand better the philosophy of one philosopher, he/she then must know and understand the philosophies that influenced that philosopher. The influence can only be determined through studying or checking the background of the philosopher and the philosophies. Therefore studying history lets a person understand more the idea that created an impact to the modern philosopher.

The second reason is to avoid repeating the mistakes done by the previous philosophers. This is to say that there are ideas from the past that may not be entirely enough to the present situation. It may be that the philosophy lacks something. Studying the history of Philosophy will inform the modern philosopher that a certain idea has been thought of and that the account has insufficient premises that supports the main idea. Therefore, studying the history or the past lets a modern philosopher correct, refute, support, and add the philosophy of the past philosopher.

The third reason is that an idea is growing and developing through time. This means that a philosopher's idea today can be modified by tomorrow's philosopher. This is to say that no philosophy is stagnant and is fixed. A philosophy is developed as there would always be new facts and new situations. But the developing of the philosophy does not mean that there is something wrong in it. It only implies that there are new findings, and new thoughts that can better suit the situation. Therefore, there is a need to study history because no philosophy is fixed and the philosophy of the old philosophers continues to connect in the present situation thus it can help in the new discoveries.

According to Fredrick Copleston, there is a need to study the history of Philosophy as it grew from the past, as it lets the new philosophers avoid repeating the mistakes done by the previous philosophers, and as it grows and develops through time.

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Source
Copleston, F.1993.A History of Philosophy Vol. 1.New York; Doubleday.