City of God, City of Man

Augustine's distinction between 'City of God' and 'City of Man' is based on a soul-body contrast--the Good of the former City is spiritual, while that of latter is corporeal, i. e. is the satisfaction of physical needs. On that basis, Hobbes's Leviathan, as well as each of most of his modern successors, is a 'City of Man'. One doctrine that complicates Augustine's classifications is Spinozism, in which, because humans are all Modes of God, any human community is also a divine community. An Augustinian could argue that even a completely rational Spinozist community is still not a 'City of God', because, as Spinoza himself allows, the intuition of God is inessential to the formation of such a community. In turn, a Spinozist could respond that Reason suffices to accomplish what Augustine aims for--self-mastery over physical impulses. So, what ultimately distinguishes the two City of Gods is that in Augustine's, but not in Spinoza's, the good of the soul is possible only through grace of God. But, if so, then that good is achievable only on an individual basis, i. e. in independence from the condition of any other soul. Thus, Augustine's 'City of God' entails an empty concept of 'city'--a collection of individual souls without any community.