Happiness and wisdom : Augustine's early theology of education

265 Pages·2012·1.45 MB·English

by  Saint Bishop of Hippo. Augustine

Happiness and Wisdom

Ryan N. S. Topping
Happiness and Wi sdom
Augustine’s Early Theology
of Education
The Catholic University of America Press
Washington, D.C.
Copyright © 2012
The Catholic University of America Press
All rights reserved
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum
requirements of American National Standards for
Information Science—Permanence of Paper for Printed
Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.
∞
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Topping, Ryan.
Happiness and wisdom : Augustine’s early theology of education /
Ryan N.S. Topping.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8132-1973-8 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Augustine, Saint, Bishop of Hippo. 2. Education, Humanistic.
3. Education, Higher—Philosophy. I. Title.
LB125.A8T67 2012
370.1—dc23 2012004506
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Abbreviations ix
Introduction 1
1. Liberal Education prior to
St. Augustine 19
2. Education in Augustine’s
Moral Theology 66
3. The Perils of Skepticism 95
4. The Liberal Arts Curriculum 126
5. Pedagogy and Liberal Learning 149
6. Authority and Illumination 185
7. The Purposes of Liberal
Education 227
Selected Bibliography 233
Index 249

Acknowledgments
A number of fellow Augustinian scholars offered advice, friendship,
and good conversation over the duration of this writing, among
whom I would like to thank the following: Oliver O’Donovan,
Mark Edwards, Fr. David Meconi, S.J., Chad Gerber, Matthew
Siebert, Michael Siebert, and Peter Burnell. Melissa Folan provided
excellent editorial assistance in the final stages of revision. I wish
to thank James Kruggel and the editorial staff at the Catholic Uni-
versity of America Press for their help and encouragement. Three
anonymous readers offered many excellent suggestions; among them
I thank Dr. Raymond Canning, who allowed his name to be known.
Chapter three of this book appeared in an earlier form as “The
Perils of Skepticism: The Moral and Educational Argument of Con-
tra Academicos,” in the International Philosophical Quarterly 43,
no. 3 (September 2009): 333–50. Permission to reprint this material
here is gratefully acknowledged.
Not least, mention should be made of the remarkable lady, my
wife, Anna Domini Topping, who has fed, clothed, and kept our
children in good order during so many years of extended paucity of
body but not, I trust, of mind and heart.
This book is dedicated to my parents and grandparents.
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Abbreviations
Titles of classical and patristic works are abbreviated according to
the conventions of the Oxford Classical Dictionary, 3rd edition. All
translations are mine unless otherwise noted. Citations to Augus-
tine’s works refer to the book, chapter, and, where necessary, para-
graph number, as found within the relevant critical edition cited in
the bibliography.
General Works
AD Augustine and the Disciplines: From Cassiciacum
to Confessions, eds. Karla Pollmann and Mark
Vessey (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005)
AE Augustine through the Ages: An Encyclopedia, ed.
A. Fitzgerald, O.S.B. (Grand Rapids, Mich.:
William B. Eerdmans, 1999)
AugStud Augustinian Studies (Villanova: Villanova
University Press, 1970–)
AugLex Augustinus-Lexikon, ed. C. Mayer (Basel:
Schwabe & Co., 1986–)
BA Bibliothèque Augustinienne, Oeuvres de Saint
Augustin (Paris: Desclée De Brouwer, 1949–)
CCL Corpus Christianorum Series Latina (Turnhout:
Brepols, 1953–).
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