As John Henry Newman reflected on 'The Idea of a University' more than a century and a half ago, Bradley C. S. Watson brings together some of the nation's most eminent thinkers on higher education to reflect on the nature and purposes of the American university today. Their mordant reflections paint a picture of the American university in crisis. This book is essential reading for thoughtful citizens, scholars, and educational policymakers.

La manera en que Agustín engrana en las 'Confesiones' el pensamiento de Aristóteles revela mucho acerca de la forma en la que fue capaz de beneficiarse de fuentes no platónicas. El objeto del presente artículo es analizar ese engranaje tan a fondo como sea posible, mediante un esfuerzo por comprender mejor la relación de Agustín con las vetas no platónicas de la filosofía clásica.

Para entender completamente los diálogos de Casiciaco de san Agustín, es preciso comprender cómo se relacionan con las obras filosóficas de Marco Tulio Cicerón. En concreto, "Contra Academicos" de Agustín es una respuesta a "Academica" de Cicerón. "De beata uita" es una respuesta a los ciceronianos "De finibus" y "Tusculanae disputationes". Su "De ordine" es una respuesta a la trilogía de Cicerón sobre la providencia: "De natura deorum", "De diuinatione" y "De fato". Reconocer la conexión entre estas obras arroja luz (...) nueva sobre el sentido e importancia de los diálogos de Casiciaco. (shrink)

El artículo aborda los llamados "Diálogos de Casiciaco" de Agustín, estableciendo a grandes rasgos las características básicas de la comprensión agustiniana del sujeto cognoscente y del subsiguiente "giro" que a él hace Agustín, respondiendo a cuatro preguntas básicas: qué es para Agustín la vuelta al sujeto, cuáles son sus características y corolarios, qué implica esto y qué produce.

Almost single-handedly, Ernest L. Fortin resuscitated the study of political philosophy for Catholic theology. Fortin's interests were vast: the Church Fathers, Dante and Aquinas, modern rights, ecumenism. All of these are in Ever Ancient Ever New, the fourth and final volume of Fortin's collected essays. Edited by Michael Foley, the volume contains articles never before published and is for anyone wishing to continue their education from Ernest Fortin or to begin learning from him for the first time.

For half a century, Ernest Fortin's scholarship has charmed and educated theologians and philosophers with its intellectual search for the best way to live. Written by friends, colleagues, and students of Fortin, this book pays tribute to a remarkable thinker in a series of essays that bear eloquent testimony to Fortin's influence and his legacy. A formidable commentator on Catholic philosophical and political thought, Ernest Fortin inspired others with his restless inquiries beyond the boundaries of conventional scholarship. With essays on (...) subjects ranging across philosophy, political science, literature, and theology Gladly to Learn and Gladly to Teach reflects the astonishing depth and breadth of Fortin's contribution to contemporary thought. (shrink)

Los diálogos de Casiciaco tienen una dimensión política importante. Sin embargo, los puntos centrales de los diálogos son esencialmente no políticos, y algunas de las afirmaciones pueden parecer hostiles a la vida cívica y a cualquier reflexión sobre cuál es el mejor ordenamiento político. Este artículo estudia cómo estas aparentes incoherencias no son signos de una actitud contradictoria, sino que reflejan una estrategia triple, utilizada por Agustín para forjar la correcta actitud ante la vida política, una estrategia que incluye (1) (...) la desacreditación del fervor patriótico, (2) inflamar el amor a la verdad, y (3) retomar la "ciuitas" desde una perspectiva más alta. (shrink)

In an effort to identify the genre of the Confessions, this essay: 1) explains the patristic notion of confession and how Augustine expands upon this already-rich concept to include that of sacrifice; 2) offers an overview of Augustine’s pervasive sacrificial imagery in the Confessions, especially with respect to himself, Monica, Alypius, and the philosophi; and 3) teases out the implications of this imagery and how Augustine’s theology of sacrifice relates to the genre of his Confessions. We conclude the Confessions is (...) best understood as a sacrifice offered to God by Augustine in his capacity as bishop on behalf of his readers so that they may join him in the transformative act of confessing. (shrink)

After he was delivered from the necessity of making provision for the flesh in its concupiscence and after tendering his resignation as a professor of rhetoric, St. Augustine was, in the autumn of 386 a.d., eager to explore his newfound Christian faith and prepare for his reception into the Catholic Church. His conversion, momentous though it was, did not so much entail a repudiation of all that he had learned and studied as it did a transformation of what had brought (...) him to the threshold of religious belief. Chief among the spoils of Augustine’s early education was philosophy, which he understood primarily as an all-encompassing love of wisdom and only secondarily as a confederacy of.. (shrink)