ST. AUGUSTINE

Catalog description

This course focuses, from a philosophical perspective, on the thought of St. Augustine. Participants will study especially from his great works, including On Free Choice of Will , Confessions, Literal Commentary on Genesis , City of God , and On the Trinity. While topics will vary from year to year, the major emphasis is upon the sapiential dimension of Augustine’s philosophy and therefore how he grounds his account of nature, man, history, politics, divine creation, and exegesis, in a metaphysical understanding of God. Attention will also be paid to recognizing the historical and philosophical context of Augustine’s thought as well as to its broad influence and subsequent developments in later eras. As circumstances allow, the course may sometimes focus specif ically on later, and especially medieval, Reformation, and modern forms of Augustinianism. Prerequisites: PHIL 205, PHIL 206, PHIL 302.