The Political and Social Ideas of St. Augustine

Synopsis

Herbert A. Deane discusses St. Augustine's views on humankind, society, and the state, in terms of Augustine's theological, political, and social thought. Deane writes in his Preface that Augustine did not have a systematic philosophy. Because of this, the author's writes that his second aim of his book is to organize his ideas into the above categories. Deane, not only elucidates Augustine's thought clearly, he also substantiates his elucidation with massive quotations from Augustine's writings and from the writings of other philosophers, theologians, and political and social analysts and critics. The following quotations are taken from the back cover of the book: In describing Augustine, the author captures the essence of the man in these words: "Genius he had in full measure . . . he is the master of the phrase or the sentence that embodies a penetrating insight, a flash of lightning that illuminates the entire sky; he is the rhetorician, the epi-grammist, the polemicist, but not the patient, logical systematic philosopher." "Professor Deane has been remarkably successful in keeping different facets of Augustine's multi-dimensional thought in view . . . [he] significantly contributes both to historical understanding of Augustine's political thinking and to appreciation of its permanent relevance to the moral dilemmas of politics."

Copyright:

1963

Book Details

Book Quality:

Excellent

Book Size:

357 Pages

ISBN-13:

9780231085694

Publisher:

Columbia University Press

Date of Addition:

03/17/15

Copyrighted By:

Columbia University Press

Adult content:

No

Language:

English

Has Image Descriptions:

No

Categories:

Nonfiction, Biographies and Memoirs, Religion and Spirituality, Sociology

Submitted By:

Barbara Baker

Proofread By:

BookMouse

Usage Restrictions:

This is a copyrighted book.