The Irrational Augustine

by Catherine Conybeare

Overview

The Irrational Augustine takes the notion of St Augustine as rigid and dogmatic Father of the Church and turns it on its head. Catherine Conybeare reads Augustine's earliest works to discover the anti-dogmatic Augustine, who values changeability and human interconnectedness and deplores social exclusion. The novelty of her book lies in taking seriously the nature of these early works as performances, through which multiple questions can be raised and multiple options explored, both in words and through their dramatic framework. The theological consequences are considerable. A very human Augustine emerges, talking and playing with friends and family, including his mother - and a very sympathetic set of ideas is the result.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780191532221
Publisher:	OUP Oxford
Publication date:	04/20/2006
Series:	Oxford Early Christian Studies
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	642 KB

About the Author

Catherine Conybeare is Associate Professor in the Department of Greek, Latin, and Classical Studies, Bryn Mawr College.

Table of Contents

Abbreviations     xv
Introduction     1
Why Dialogues?     9
On the Threshold     11
The Problem of Patronage     14
The Speaking Text     27
Dialogues and Logic     35
A Christian Theatre     42
Spectacular Dialogues     42
Documentary Details     49
Using the Emotions     55
Women Doing Philosophy     61
Theology for Lunch     63
The Erasure of Monnica     64
Food for the Mind     69
'Not Without God'     80
From Need to Prayer     83
A Really Liberal Education     95
From Darkness to Conversion     95
Squabbling Like Men     100
Monnica Does Philosophy     107
A Disembodied Teacher?     113
Order and Evil     120
The Less Gentlemanly Disciplines     125
The Irrational Augustine     139
The Interrogation of Reason     141
Ratio in De Ordine     144
Talking to Ratio     148
Potential ratio     162
The Soul of Grammar     165
Epilogue: Exploiting Potential     173
Note on Method     193
Bibliography     203
Primary sources     203
Select bibliography of secondary sources     205
Index Locorum     217
General Index     222