A critical essay on St. Augustine's social and political thought.

In describing Augustine, the author captures the essence of the man in these words: "Genius he had in full measure... he is the master of the phrase or the sentence that embodies a penetrating insight, a flash of lightning that illuminates the entire sky; he is the rhetorician, the epigrammist, the polemicist, but not the patient, logical systematic philosopher."

In praise of Augustine, Herbert A. Deane writes, "Genius he had in full measure ... he is the master of the phrase or the sentence that embodies a penetrating insight, a flash of lightning that illuminates the entire sky." To provide the student with a glimpse of that genius and a synthesis of Augustine's views on man and society, the author presents the most important passages from Augustine's entire body of work in which human nature, the social order, and the nature and function of the state are discussed. Marshaling this primary material, he masterfully weaves the connections between Augustine's social and political ideas and the general framework of his thought. A new foreword by Richard A. Munkelt makes a substantial contribution in critiquing Deane's assimilation of certain aspects of Augustine's thought to modern-day liberalism. The new foreword also contains extensive additional bibliography on the subject of Augustine's political thought.

"Will undoubtedly remain the basic work on this subject."--Library Journal

"Professor Deane significantly contributes both to historical understanding of Augustine's political thinking and to appreciation of its permanent relevance to the moral dilemmas of politics. No other study of Augustine's political thought gives nearly so much so well."--Political Science Quarterly

"This book would be salutary, possibly purgatorial, reading for all politicians, psychologists, and educationalists."--Times Literary Supplement