Problem of Self-Love in St. Augustine

Oliver O'Donovan's study emerged from the recognition that Augustine's treatment of self-love presents interpreters with a genuine puzzle. While Augustine consistently condemns self-love as the root of sin and the fundamental opposition to love of God, he also speaks positively of proper self-regard and the legitimate care of oneself. This apparent contradiction had troubled readers for centuries, leading some to dismiss Augustine as inconsistent and others to flatten his position into simple condemnation of all self-concern.

O'Donovan argues that Augustine's position becomes coherent when understood within the framework of his broader theological anthropology and his understanding of the ordo amoris, the proper ordering of loves. Augustine distinguishes between self-love that seeks the self as ultimate end—what O'Donovan terms "reflexive" self-love—and self-love that properly values the self within the context of love for God and neighbor. The key insight is that Augustine's critique targets not self-regard per se but the disordered love that makes the self its own final object rather than finding fulfillment in relation to God. O'Donovan traces this distinction through Augustine's major works, showing how it underlies his understanding of sin, grace, and the restoration of human nature. The study demonstrates that Augustine's apparently negative statements about self-love consistently target its character as curved inward upon itself, while his positive references concern the self rightly oriented toward its true end in God.

This careful theological analysis has continued to influence Augustine scholarship and broader discussions of Christian ethics. O'Donovan's clarification of Augustine's position has proven particularly valuable for contemporary debates about self-esteem, self-care, and the relationship between proper self-regard and Christian virtue. Scholars of Augustine will find here an essential treatment of a central theme in his thought. Readers interested in Christian ethics, particularly the tension between self-denial and appropriate self-concern, will discover a nuanced theological framework that avoids both narcissism and false abnegation.