On Order
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.
On Order is the third work in this tetralogy, and it is Augustine’s only work explicitly devoted to theodicy, the reconciliation of Almighty God’s goodness with evil’s existence. In this dialogue, Augustine argues that a certain kind of self-knowledge is the key to unlocking the answers to theodicy’s vexing questions, and he devotes the latter half of the dialogue to an excursus on the liberal arts as disciplines that will help strengthen the mind to know itself and God.
This is a Logos Reader Edition. Learn more.
- Shows work explicitly devoted to theodicy.
- Argues that a certain kind of self-knowledge is the key to unlocking the answers to theodicy.
- Helps strengthen the mind to know itself and God.
Michael Foley’s orchestration of the Cassiciacum dialogues—a four-part translation, annotation, and commentary—renders Augustine’s most important voice, the voice of the seeker, readily available to a broad readership. These are perfect teaching texts, and they are equally compelling for experts. This welcome return of the dialogues, separate and yet intimately related in Foley’s handling of them, marks the most important literary event in Augustinian studies since Peter Brown’s biography.
—James Wetzel, Villanova University
Michael Foley’s lively, precise new translation makes this dramatic dialogue accessible to today’s reader, adding yet another dimension to our understanding of the endless breadth of Augustine’s developing thought.
—Brian Daley, University of Notre Dame
Foley has provided a vital and long-needed service, giving us lively, engaging and accurate translations, and commentaries that are well-grounded without being overwhelming.
—Erik Kenyon, Bryn Mawr Classical Review
- Title: On Order
- Authors: Augustine of Hippo, Michael P. Foley
- Series: St. Augustine’s Cassiciacum Dialogues
- Publisher: Yale University Press
- Print Publication Date: 2020
- Pages: 352
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
- ISBNs: 9780300238532, 0300238533
- Resource ID: LLS:ONORDER
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-05-15T18:45:03Z