Avenues to Success for 07/16/09

Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will  pierce the clouds? Lay first the foundation of humility.
     - St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, 354-430, Berber philosopher and theologian

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Web Pages on Medieval Philosophy & Scholasticism
Department of Philosophy
Rockhurst University

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

 - One of the decisive developments in the western philosophical tradition was the eventually widespread merging of the Greek philosophical tradition and the Judeo-Christian religious and scriptural traditions. Augustine is one of the main figures through and by whom this merging was accomplished. He is, as well, one of the towering figures of medieval philosophy whose authority and thought came to exert a pervasive and enduring influence well into the modern period (e.g. Descartes and especially Malebranche), and even up to the present day, especially among those sympathetic to the religious tradition which he helped to shape (e.g. Plantinga 1992; Adams 1999).

The Internet Public Library Online Literary Criticism Collection

From Criticism about St. Augustine

Augustine on Personality (http://www.augustinian.villanova.edu/AugustinianStudies/henry.htm)

Part of the Saint Augustine Lecture Series at Villanova University. "Saint Augustine appears to me to be the first thinker who brought into prominence and undertook an analysis of the philosophical and psychological concepts of person and personality. These ideas, so vital to contemporary man, shape not only Augustine's own doctrine on God but also his philosophy of man. ... I shall show that this doctrine of the person ... serves to bring Augustine's creative genius and originality to the fore. ... I shall make the further point that this doctrine has been a decisive factor in fashioning the modern world. Indeed, it is precisely this which makes him belong to the world of today and of tomorrow."Contains: Commentary, Criticism,

Author: Father Paul Henry, S.J.

St. Augustine (354–430) - Augustine and Teaching, Influence

Influence
Of the two great traditions in liberal education, the oratorical and the philosophical, Augustine is distinctly an orator. He believed more in imparting the truth to students than in supporting the individual student's quest for truth. He used the dialogical mode as one who knows the truth, unlike the Greek philosopher Socrates, who used dialogue as one who does not know anything. He thus established a Christian philosophy, which has influenced scholars and educators throughout the history of the West.

This is the Avenue to Success for 07/16/09

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