Pride: Virtue or Vice

According to Richard Taylor, “Pride is not a matter of manners or demeanor. One does not become proud simply by affecting certain behavior or projecting an impression that has been formed in the mind. It is a personal excellence much deeper than this. In fact, it is the summation of most of the other virtues, since it presupposes them.” Philosophers and social psychologists have noted that pride is a complex emotion. However, while some philosophers such as Aristotle consider pride to be a profound virtue, others consider it a sin. The view of pride as a sin has permeated Christian theology dating back to Christian monasticism. However, it wasn’t until the late 6th century that pride was elevated in its ranks among the seven deadly or cardinal sins. The Bible, especially the Old Testament, has plenty to say about pride. In the book of Proverbs for example we read, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. (16:18). Again in Proverbs 21:4, Scripture says, “Haughty eyes and a proud heart—the lamp of the wicked—are sin. Augustine makes the argument that pride is not just a sin but it is the root of all sin. He often used the following passage to support his claim: “The beginning of pride is when one departs from God, and his heart is turned away from his Maker. For pride is the beginning of sin, and he that has it shall pour out abomination (Sirach 10:12-13).” This paper seeks to examine Augustine’s ethics on pride and how he supports it in his Confessions.
Augustine considered pride to be the fundamental sin, the sin from which all other sins are born. Augustine believed the devil’s sin was rooted in pride. In his Enchiridion on Faith, Hope, and Love, he states that, “Some of the angels…in their pride and impiety rebelled against God, and were cast down from their heavenly abode,” and that the devil “was with his associates in crime exalted in pride, and by that exaltation was with them cast down.” Pride has a certain fascination,

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