Augustine and Liberal Education [Hardcover]

Kim Paffenroth (Editor), Kevin L. Hughes (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2000

Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD), bishop, theologian, philosopher and rhetorician, has left a rich legacy for reflection upon relationships between Christianity and culture, Christian catechises and liberal education, and between faith and reason. This text aims to shed light on liberal education past and present, from an Augustinian point of view. Ranging from historical investigations of particular themes and issues in the thought of Saint Augustine, to reflections on the role of tradition and community and the challenges and opportunities facing universities in the next century, the contributors return to the sources of traditional reflection whilst exploring contemporary issues of education and "the good life". Essays on Augustinian inquiry in medieval and modern eras address critical questions on the role of rhetoric, reading, and authority in education, on the social context of learning, and on the relationship between liberal education and properly Christian catechesis. Contemporary questions on liberal education from philosophical, political, theological and ethical perspectives are then explored in the essays which move from the past to the present.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This book tries to come to terms with a particular tradition of inquiry in the light of contemporary challenges to liberal education, through the renewal and reevaluation of Augustine's thought and writings. It is an interesting and thought-provoking volume, one that will have particular application to Catholic institutions of higher education, and even Protestant and secular colleges and universities as they seek to define what 'liberal Education' means in today's society. (Mystic Review, June 2001 )

The quality of the essays is remarkably uniform, and copious endnotes will please the serious scholar. This is a book that can be appreciated across the humanities, especially in a time when the mission and purpose of church-related education is under serious scrutiny. The essays are too sophisticated to suggest less than a nuanced reading of both Augustine and the current milieu. (The Journal Of Early Christian Studies )

The loving and thoughtful study much in evidence in this work would have been appreciated by the person whose writings are honoured here. (The Heythrop Journal )

To meditate on the master texts of our culture as we face present challenges is one of the hallmarks of liberal education. The essays in this volume teach not only by what they say, but by the exemplary way in which they show us how learning and judgment, deeply rooted in the thought of Augustine, can be vividly relevant to the needs of today. (James J. O'Donnell )

Short but insightful chapters....This volume would be gladly received as a companion reader by faculty teaching philosophy of knowledge or philosophy of education courses. Recommendeddddd (Choice, February 2009 )

These essays probe an important topic, and do so from an intriguing perspective—namely bringing Augustine into the conversation about the future of liberal education. (Stanley J. Grenz )

Short but insightful chapters....This volume would be gladly received as a companion reader by faculty teaching philosophy of knowledge or philosophy of education courses. Recommended (Choice, February 2009 ) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Kim Paffenroth is chair of the Religious Studies Department and associate professor at Iona College.
Kevin L. Hughes is associate professor in Department of Theology and Religious Studies and director of the Patristic, Medieval, and Renaissance Conference at Villanova University. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 215 pages
• Publisher: Ashgate Pub Ltd; First edition (November 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0754613348
• ISBN-13: 978-0754613343
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,269,429 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I am a graduate of St John's College, Annapolis (1988), Harvard Divinity School (1990), and the University of Notre Dame (1995). I work at Iona College. I am married with two wonderful children. I am blessed to be able to write about the things that interest me and share my ideas with others.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The universal and the particular, April 3, 2006

By 

FrKurt Messick "FrKurt Messick" (Bloomington, IN USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Augustine and Liberal Education (Hardcover)

This book, at first glance, might seem a very provincial - all of the people who are contributors were part of the project at Villanova to introduce a new paradigm of education to the wider campus. However, there is a more universal appeal to the discussions here - all of the ideas discussed have a much broader application than the campus of Villanova, but reflect in different ways upon the idea and practice of higher education in the modern / post-modern world.

Editors Paffenroth and Hughes describe in the foreword a brief account of the production of an Augustinian Intellectual Community, one in which there is a stronger bond than student/teacher or fellow-faculty status, and one in which the ideas of love, shared values, and a broad reach to the whole community was core.

'In recent years, universities of all types have worried and sometimes agonised over their missions and identities. They type of institution examining itself determines the kinds of questions they ask.... As myriad as these questions are, they all seem to revolve in different ways around a very fundamental question: What is undergraduate education all about? What are we trying to do, why are we doing it, and how should we do it?'

These questions all inform the direction of the essays contained in the four broad sections of this text. The first section addresses the 'Confessions' more particularly, looking at Augustine's views of education, his own and that of others, contained in the text. The second section looks more generally at Augustine's body of work, drawing in ideas of education and vocation from many of his other writings. The third section explores issues of authority, both the authority of the teacher and the teaching. The final section looks at Augustine's influence in later ideas of education, particularly in the idea and construct of the modern university.

Each essay has notes, but unfortunately there is no index and no selected readings / bibliographic list. This is the one flaw in an otherwise wonderful production. Students at university as well as faculty in teaching positions would do well to seek out this volume to explore the ideas that help ground what it is we do. As I prepare to teach history and philosophy courses in the coming terms, I find my thoughts about what I am doing and what I hope to achieve enriched by the reflections and challenges presented here.