Abstract

The purpose of this essay is to highlight the internal logic of Augustine’s thought as expressed in his De pulchro et apto, in order to provide a general interpretative key enabling the mapping of the various indications of sources, passages and concepts used by Augustine. Accordingly, this purpose is essentially twofold: (1) a logical and doctrinal exploration of Augustine’s De pulchro et apto (which is not just a treatment of the problem of beauty in a Manichaean perspective, but an exposition of the whole philosophy of the young, Manichean Augustine, in metaphysics, ethics, physics, cosmology, aesthetics, psychology and theology), and (2) a bibliographical update concerning the contents of this work and its Manichean cultural and philosophical context.