Pode o mestre ensinar algo através da fala? Uma análise sobre as obras De Magistro de Santo Agostinho e Tomás de Aquino Resumo: O presente artigo tem como objetivo investigar nas obras De Magistro de Santo Agostinho e Tomás de Aquino a possibilidade do ensino através da figura do mestre e/ou de um agente externo ao discípulo ou indivíduo. Agostinho defende a tese da qual só Deus ensina e a figura do mestre torna-se apenas como um auxiliador no (...) processo de aprendizagem para a verdade interior do discípulo, tese essa formulada através da sua Teoria da Iluminação. Tomás de Aquino não contradiz completamente Agostinho, mas defende o papel e a importância do mestre sobre o tipo de conhecimento que o mesmo pode fornecer ao discípulo, tendo papel substancial para o processo de aprendizagem para adquirir conhecimento. Ambos se preocupam em que medida o mestre pode ensinar, o que ensina e como ensina, visando compreender como se dá o processo de conhecimento do ser humano o relacionando-o com a verdade das coisas. Palavras-chave: Santo Agostinho; Tomás de Aquino; De Magistro; Ensino; Aprendizagem. Can the master teach something through speech? An analysis of the works De Magistro of Saint Augustine and Thomas Aquinas Abstract: This article aims to investigate in the works De Magistro of Saint Augustine and Thomas Aquinas the possibility of teaching through the figure of the master and / or an external agent to the disciple or individual. Augustine defends the thesis that only God teaches and the figure of the master becomes only as a helper in the learning process for the disciple's inner truth, a thesis formulated through his Theory of Enlightenment. Thomas Aquinas does not completely contradict Augustine, but he defends the role and the importance of the master on the type of knowledge that he can provide to the disciple, having a substantial role in the learning process to acquire knowledge. Both are concerned with the extent to which the master can teach, what he teaches and how he teaches with a view to understanding how the human being's knowledge process takes place, relating it to the truth of things. Keywords: Saint Augustine; Thomas Aquinas; De Magistro; Teaching; Learning. ¿Puede el maestro enseñar algo a través del habla? Un análisis de las obras De Magistro de San Agustín y Tomás de Aquino Resumen: Este artículo tiene como objetivo investigar en las obras De Magistro de Santo Agostinho y Tomás de Aquino la posibilidad de enseñar a través de la figura del maestro y / o de un agente externo al discípulo o individuo. Agustín defiende la tesis de que sólo Dios enseña y la figura del maestro se convierte sólo en un ayudante en el proceso de aprendizaje de la verdad interior del discípulo, tesis formulada a través de su Teoría de la Ilustración. Tomás de Aquino no contradice completamente a Agustín, pero defiende el papel y la importancia del maestro sobre el tipo de conocimientos que puede aportar al discípulo, teniendo un papel sustancial en el proceso de aprendizaje para adquirir conocimientos. Ambos se preocupan por la medida en que el maestro puede enseñar, lo que enseña y cómo enseña, con el objetivo de comprender cómo se produce el proceso de conocimiento del ser humano, relacionándolo con la verdad de las cosas. Palabras-clave: San Agustín; Tomás de Aquino; De Magistro; Enseñando; Aprendizaje. Data de registro: 16/08/2020 Data de aceite: 16/12/2020. (shrink)

A careful reading leads to a critical analysis of the two De Magistro at the historical, linguistic and speculative levels. The philosophical and formative intentionality of Augustine's dialogue and Thomas's questiones unfold according to a methodology that is usual for the times in which they were written, but the texts reveal the originality and wisdom of arrangement of the issues and the lines of resolution that the two authors provide. The present article seeks to free from interpretations that are (...) sector-based - and therefore irrelevant for the understanding of the texts - the theoretical nuclei contained in the said works as well as to let shine forth their vital role in today's reflection on the processes of teaching and learning. In fact it is not only the master who holds stage in the two treatises, but rather the master in relation to the disciple, thus weaving that specific didactic-formative communication in which both, in establishing their reciprocal relationships, are related with knowing and, through it, with truth and therefore with the divine Master. The common theological motivation, suggested by the single title, opens up to diverse solutions at the philosophical level in order with the conceptions of intellect, of enlightenment and of judgement, in harmony with their respective anthropological and metaphysical functions. (shrink)

It is a matter of suprise to some that St. Thomas ever wrote implicitly concerning education. That he touched educational matters incidently we know, as in his possibly unexcelled theory of play which Dr. Leibell has included in his "Readings in Ethics." But De Magistro is different. It descends immediately to the bed rock of education, and should remind modern man of his place in the educational scheme.

Generous selections from these four seminal texts on the theory and practice of education have never before appeared together in a single volume. The Introductions that precede the texts provide brief biographical sketches of each author, situating him within his broader historical, cultural and intellectual context. The editors also provide a brief outline of key themes that emerge within the selection as a helpful guide to the reader. The final chapter engages the reflections of the classic authors with contemporary issues (...) and challenges in the philosophy and practice of education. (shrink)

This paper is divided in two parts. At first, we show the different roles played by quotations all through Saint Augustin's De Magistro. We compare then the structure in which the text is established to the theory that is developed over there. From such a comparison, we can see that in the mentioned text a theory of language isn't philosophically fundamental and that a dialogue isn't the best way to reach the truth.Este artigo está dividido em duas partes. Primeiro, (...) mostramos os diferentes papéis das citações presentes no De Magistio, de Santo Agostinho. Depois, comparamos a estrutura em que o texto está disposto com a teoria que é aí desenvolvida. A partir de tal comparação, podemos ver que, nesse texto, uma teoria da linguagem não é filosoficamente fundamental e que o diálogo não é a melhor forma de alcançar a verdade. (shrink)

There are surely few writers who have had a more profound impact on European culture, and in the broadest range of fields, than St. Augustine, and this despite the fact that he was North African. Nonetheless, while Augustine is still called upon in debates on interfaith dialogue and in theological and philosophical disputes, one area of his large corpus has received scant attention—his philosophy of education. Although there are references throughout Augustine’s writings to his philosophy of education, he devotes only (...) a single text to its elaboration—De Magistro—On the Teacher. The fact that this work has been largely overlooked by scholars is disappointing, because the De Magistro, despite its use of theological language, retains a very modern and contemporary thematic with interesting insights for any contemporary theory of education. In this article we provide a primer in reading Augustine’s De Magistro. (shrink)

No De libero arbitrio , a fim de provar que Deus existe, santo Agostinho recorre à demonstração da existência de elementos inteligíveis que são universais, imutáveis e superiores a alma. No entanto, o famoso e longo processo de ascensão encontra ainda outras veredas, e no De magistro o futuro bispo de Hipona chega às realidades metafísicas (e, assim, ao próprio Deus) através da análise da linguagem verbal e da comunicação. Partindo das considerações tecidas no próprio tratado, escrito em 389, (...) este artigo pretende analisar como se dá a transcendência da alma no diálogo travado entre santo Agostinho e seu filho Adeodato, e onde se cristalizam as teorias agostinianas do conhecimento e do ensino. Ao fim do trabalho, esperamos tornar manifesta a riqueza do pensamento linguístico do santo – pelo qual podemos vislumbrar suas possíveis contribuições para as mais diversas ramificações da linguística, da filosofia e da teologia – e a sutileza de seu raciocínio. Palavras-chave : Agostinho; Linguagem; Alma; Deus.In his On the Free Will , Saint Augustine, willing to prove the existence of God, demonstrates the existence of intelligible elements which are universal, immutable and superior to the soul. Other paths, however, can fulfill this famous and long ascent, and in De magistro the future Bishop of Hippo attains those metaphysical realities (and God himself) through the analysis of the verbal language. Thus, this article aims at examining, through the considerations made in the text itself, how the transcendence of the soul occurs in this dialogue between Augustine and his son, Deusdedit, in which his theories on knowledge and learning are consolidated. At the end of our work, we hope to make clear how rich Augustine’s thought is – through which we can note his possible contributions to many ramifications of linguistics, philosophy, and theology – and how subtle are his arguments. Keywords: Augustine; Language; Soul; God. (shrink)

Augustine’s De Magistro is a short and relatively minor dialogue that often is overlooked. Nevertheless, it is an important text, both for its role in the development of key themes in Augustine’s thought and because of its epistemological and pedagogical contributions to the philosophy of education. This paper explores the significance of De Magistro in three steps. First, it introduces the dialogue and offers a summary of Augustine’s argument therein. It then examines important contributions that this dialogue makes (...) in the development of Augustine’s thought regarding signs and the inner teacher. Finally, it explores some educational implications of De Magistro regarding the nature of teaching and the use of Socratic dialogue that Augustine plunders from the previous work of the pagan Plato. (shrink)

Augustine’s De Magistro, an early work, is cast as a dialogue between himself and his bright son Adeodatus. It leads from a discussion whether teaching is effected through signs to the conclusion that words are not a route to knowledge, unless the soul is taught by God, the only teacher. Although Augustine is mainly concerned to develop his new theory of signification, the dialogue is set in the frame of traditional grammatical teaching, which had become standard in later Roman (...) antiquity. These elements of grammatical education make a good starting point for exploring what precisely was Augustine’s position within this system. Taking into consideration especially his definition of pronomen and the eight parts of speech we come to the conclusion that Augustine as a grammarian is dependent on Charisius and his teacher. (shrink)

This article investigates the place of De magistro within Augustine’s developing theology of words and the Word through a reverse chronological reading. This is necessary because, despite its emphasis on words, De magistro never refers to Christ as the “Word.” It would be easy, therefore, to see it as unrelated to the theological emphasis on that title in later works such as De trinitate. A reverse chronological reading, however, establishes Augustine’s developing understanding of the relationship between words and (...) the Word in a way that moves us from a full-throated theology of divine and human speech backward into more exploratory engagements with nascent ideas. When this reverse trail is traced, we can begin to see De magistro as one key starting point for it by providing warrant for seeing the inner Christ as necessarily the Word of God, even if not explicitly named as such. Such a reading adds deeper theological significance to a text often read only in terms of its contribution to semiotics and epistemology. In this reading, De magistro is an essential text for understanding Augustine’s fuller theology of language not only because of its early sign theory but because it sets the soteriological stage for our growth into the likeness of Christ the Word. (shrink)

Toward the beginning of De magistro, Augustine and his son undertake a brief philosophical exercise using a line from Virgil’s Aeneid. That exercise seems to end in failure when father and son jokingly give up on their task. In this essay, I show that neither the selection of the particular line nor the failure of the exercise are accidental. I unpack the context of the Virgilian line, showing its resonance with Augustine’s own life, and I explain how the content (...) of the line stands as a challenge to the very argument Augustine seems to want to use it to make. On the basis of this analysis, I argue the dialogue is best read as a dramatization of a false idealization of words—an idealization Augustine hopes his son might be freed from. I conclude with the suggestion that interiority functions in the dialogue as a way of describing an intimate, shared space of meaning. (shrink)

Dans le dialogue philosophique sur le Maitre, Augustin soutient devant son fils Adeodat la these qu'aucun homme ne peut rien apprendre au moyen du langage. Selon lui, loin de montrer ce qu'ils signifient, les signes ne font qu'avertir celui qui les percoit de consulter ses sens, sa memoire ou le Maitre interieur, c'est-a-dire la verite, qui enseigne immediatement a l'esprit tout ce qu'il peut comprendre. Le present commentaire s'attache a eclairer la demonstration d'Augustin en la situant dans l'ensemble de son (...) oeuvre. Il etudie ses emprunts aux principales doctrines antiques de la signification (grammaire ancienne, semantique stoicienne, critique sceptique des signes) et montre comment ceux-ci sont refondus dans une oeuvre originale, qui est sans doute le chef-d'oeuvre de l'Antiquite sur le langage. Au-dela de l'horizon antique, la perspective s'ouvre a des thematiques contemporaines. L' image augustinienne du langage presentee par Wittgenstein au debut des Recherches philosophiques sert de modele pour apprecier la pertinence de la critique du pouvoir des signes menee dans le Maitre, ou l'on voit Augustin s'interroger sur la signification des parties du discours, mettre en evidence la reflexivite du langage et delimiter le domaine de competence des mots et de la definition ostensive. (shrink)

El trabajo se ocupa de la concepción acerca de la función y los límites de la enseñanza en el diálogo De magistro de Agustín de Hipona y en la undécima de las Cuestiones disputadas sobre la verdad de Tomás de Aquino. Explorando los límites del lenguaje y de la comunicación, Agustín concluye que el maestro propiamente no enseña, a lo sumo, advierte al discípulo para que pueda reconocer la verdad iluminado por el Maestro Interior. Para Aquino, el maestro propiamente (...) puede enseñar, pero con ello no hace más que asistir al discípulo para que efectúe con su razón el mismo recorrido que hace la razón humana al derivar las conclusiones de la ciencia a partir de los principios del conocimiento humano. A pesar de sus diferencias, ambos coinciden en que la enseñanza es cualquier cosa menos una “transferencia del saber”. (shrink)

This article explores the relation between Aquinas’ metaphysical, epistemological and theological ideas and his theory of education as presented in the De Magistro and other writings. Aquinas’ theory of education is based on a theological metaphysics of human nature and an account of human rationality that is grounded in human nature. In the first section after the introduction we provide a synopsis of Aquinas’ metaphysical narrative, but in a contemporary key that draws upon the resources of Analytical Thomism. However, (...) this theologically inspired metaphysics leads to a somewhat neglected epistemology that is crucial to his understanding of teaching and learning in the De Magistro – the notion of connatural knowledge that we explore in the second section. Our exposition of the Thomistic ontology of the human person together with the notion of connatural knowledge, provide the context for understanding the De Magistro in the third section. (shrink)