The Idea of a University Defined and Illustrated: In Nine Discourses Delivered to the Catholics of Dublin   By: John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

The Idea of a University defined and Illustrated

In Nine Discourses Delivered to the Catholics of Dublin

by John Henry Newman

CONTENTS

Preface. University Teaching. Introductory. Theology A Branch Of Knowledge. Bearing Of Theology On Other Branches Of Knowledge. Bearing Of Other Branches Of Knowledge On Theology. Knowledge Its Own End. Knowledge Viewed In Relation To Learning. Knowledge Viewed In Relation To Professional Skill. Knowledge Viewed In Relation To Religion. Duties Of The Church Towards Knowledge. University Subjects, Discussed in Occasional Lectures and Essays. Introductory Letter. Advertisement. Christianity And Letters. A Lecture in the School of Philosophy and Letters. Literature. A Lecture in the School of Philosophy and Letters. English Catholic Literature. Elementary Studies. A Form Of Infidelity Of The Day. University Preaching. Christianity and Physical Science. A Lecture in the School of Medicine. Christianity And Scientific Investigation. A Lecture Written for the School of Science. Discipline Of Mind. An Address To The Evening Classes. Christianity And Medical Science. An Address to the Students Of Medicine. Note on Page 478. Index. Footnotes

Hospes eram, et collegistis Me.

IN GRATEFUL NEVER DYING REMEMBRANCE

OF HIS MANY FRIENDS AND BENEFACTORS,

LIVING AND DEAD, AT HOME AND ABROAD IN GREAT BRITAIN, IRELAND, FRANCE, IN BELGIUM, GERMANY, POLAND, ITALY, AND MALTA, IN NORTH AMERICA, AND OTHER COUNTRIES, WHO, BY THEIR RESOLUTE PRAYERS AND PENANCE, AND BY THEIR GENEROUS STUBBORN EFFORTS AND BY THEIR MUNIFICENT ALMS, HAVE BROKEN FOR HIM THE STRESS OF A GREAT ANXIETY, THESE DISCOURSES, OFFERED TO OUR LADY AND ST. PHILIP ON ITS RISE, COMPOSED UNDER ITS PRESSURE, FINISHED ON THE EVE OF ITS TERMINATION, ARE RESPECTFULLY AND AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR.

IN FEST. PRÆSENT. B. M. V. NOV. 21, 1852

PREFACE.

The view taken of a University in these Discourses is the following: That it is a place of teaching universal knowledge . This implies that its object is, on the one hand, intellectual, not moral; and, on the other, that it is the diffusion and extension of knowledge rather than the advancement. If its object were scientific and philosophical discovery, I do not see why a University should have students; if religious training, I do not see how it can be the seat of literature and science.

Such is a University in its essence , and independently of its relation to the Church. But, practically speaking, it cannot fulfil its object duly, such as I have described it, without the Church's assistance; or, to use the theological term, the Church is necessary for its integrity . Not that its main characters are changed by this incorporation: it still has the office of intellectual education; but the Church steadies it in the performance of that office.

Such are the main principles of the Discourses which follow; though it would be unreasonable for me to expect that I have treated so large and important a field of thought with the fulness and precision necessary to secure me from incidental misconceptions of my meaning on the part of the reader. It is true, there is nothing novel or singular in the argument which I have been pursuing, but this does not protect me from such misconceptions; for the very circumstance that the views I have been delineating are not original with me may lead to false notions as to my relations in opinion towards those from whom I happened in the first instance to learn them, and may cause me to be interpreted by the objects or sentiments of schools to which I should be simply opposed.