_Augustine and Liberal Education_, edited by Kim Paffenroth and Kevin L.
Hughes.  (Aldershot, England:  Ashgate, 2000).  215 pp.
     Reviewed by Brad Eden, Ph.D., beden@ccmail.nevada.edu, University of
Nevada, Las Vegas

     This volume contains a number of essays addressing questions
concerning how and why our society encourages higher education,
specifically "liberal education."  To do this, the contributors of this
book discuss specific issues raised by and about Augustine of Hippo
(354-430 CE), as he considered his vocation as teacher and the nature of
learning as contained in his writings, and as subsequent teachers and
scholars have considered his life and the issues he raises.  The
germination of this book, and what the editors term an "Augustinian
intellectual community," began at Villanova University under the leadership
of John A. Doody in the mid-1970's.  As universities began to change and
transform in the late 1980s and 1990s, Doody and others at Villanova began
to draw more heavily on the Augustinian tradition that is a distinct
identity for most Catholic higher-education institutions.  In particular, a
renewed committment to three fundamental principles were espoused as
Villanova's foundation and strength for the future:  Augustinian values, a
dialogue with post-modernism, and a focus on undergraduate teaching.
     The first three essays present Augustine's thoughts on education as he
expresses them in his _Confessions_.  Kim Paffenroth discusses the pear
tree incident in Augustine's life, and how it illustrates the importance of
teachers and students losing and rediscovering themselves in the experience
of education.  Debra Romanick Baldwin discusses the teaching styles of two
of Augustine's teachers, Faustus and St. Ambrose, and the contrasts and
complementary effects that this had on Augustine's educational experience.
Thomas Martin analyzes the _Confessions_ as "spiritual exercises," showing
how Augustine's models of learning were common to many of the philosophical
schools of antiquity.
     The idea of education in Augustine's other works is the subject of the
essays in Part II.  Phillip Carey examines the concept of studying as an
exercise in love, unpacking the Platonic elements in Augustine's thought
and comparing them to Catholic and Protestant interpretations of Augustine.
Daniel Doyle examines Augustine as a teacher, as contained in his
_Christian Instruction_ and in his many sermons, as well as his use and
modification of classical rhetoric in his interpretation of Scripture.
Kevin Hughes then shows how Augustine's view of liberal education changed
dramatically from enthusiastic support to hostile rejection.  Augustine's
conclusions on the evils of self-love and its permutations in education,
both in his own time and today, can only be overcome by a commitment to
discipleship and by humility.
     Part III contains four essays that examine Augustine's thoughts on
authority.  Richard Jacobs interprets _The Teacher_ and the importance of
moving students towards the recognition of the "authority of truth," rather
than the "truth of authority."  Felix Asiedu examines _On the Advantage of
Believing," showing the interrelationships between reason and authority,
knowledge and belief, and the issue of trust between students and teachers
in education.  Mark Doorley discusses the historical and epistemological
basis of Augustine's idea of authority, and the importance of humility.
Finally, Andrew Murphy compares Augustine's ideas on authority with those
that arose during the seventeenth-century Donatist controversy.
     Part IV contains two essays that examine liberal education since
Augustine.  Marylu Hill strongly indicates that the practice of solitary
reading -- not lectures or discussions -- is the cornerstone of liberal
education, and that reinvigorating this practice is a challenge and an
opportunity for modern education.  Thomas Smith explores the motives and
goals for contemporary liberal education, and compares Christianity and its
concepts with the liberalism of Hobbes, Locke, and Rawls.
     As a whole, this book tries to come to terms with a particular
tradition of inquiry in the light of contemporary challenges to liberal
education, through the renewal and reevaluation of Augustine's thought and
writings.  It is an interesting and thought-provoking volume, one that will
have particular application to Catholic institutions of higher education,
and even Protestant and secular colleges and universities as they seek to
define what "liberal education" means in today's society.

Ashgate Publishers