Soliloquies
Digital Logos Edition
Overview
The first four works written by St. Augustine of Hippo after his conversion to Christianity are dialogues that have influenced prominent thinkers from Boethius to Bernard Lonergan. Usually called the Cassiciacum dialogues, these four works are of a high literary and intellectual quality, combining Ciceronian and neo-Platonic philosophy, Roman comedy and Vergilian poetry, and early Christian theology. They are also, arguably, Augustine’s most charming works, exhibiting his whimsical levity and ironic wryness.
Soliloquies is the fourth work in this tetralogy. Augustine coined the term “soliloquy” to describe this new form of dialogue. Soliloquies, a conversation between Augustine and his reason, fuses the dialogue genre and Roman theater, opening with a search for intellectual and moral self-knowledge before converging on the nature of truth and the question of the soul’s immortality. Foley’s volume also includes On the Immortality of the Soul, which consists of notes for the unfinished portion of the work.
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- Shows dialogues that have influenced prominent thinkers from Boethius to Bernard Lonergan.
- Explains the term “soliloquy” to describe this new form of dialogue.
- Fuses the dialogue genre and Roman theater.
Foley’s exceptional labors now allow modern Anglophone readers to access the treasure of these dialogues, along with the related On the Immortality of the Soul. In each of Foley’s four volumes, an excellent translation is accompanied by a short introduction, then a commentary slightly longer than Augustine’s text, as well as hundreds of footnotes. Each volume stands on its own for classroom use.
—Daniel E. Burns, Review of Politics
A truly impressive undertaking.
—Marc D. Guerra, Assumption College
A consistent, faithful and elegant translation of the crucial but relatively neglected dialogues by Augustine of Hippo.
—Simon Oliver, Durham University
- Title: Soliloquies
- Authors: Augustine of Hippo, Michael P. Foley
- Publisher: Yale University Press
- Print Publication Date: 2020
- Logos Release Date: 2024
- Era: era:nicene
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
- Subjects: Augustine, of Hippo, Saint, 354-430. Soliloquia; Augustine, of Hippo, Saint, 354-430. Cassiciacum dialogues; Soul › Early works to 1800; Knowledge, Theory of (Religion) › Early works to 1800; Immortality › Christianity--Early works to 1800; Soliloquia (Augustine, of Hippo, Saint); Immortality › Christianity; Knowledge, Theory of (Religion); Soul
- Resource ID: LLS:SOLILOQUIES
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-09-05T22:37:46Z