What can I know? What can I hope for? What should I do? These are three perennial questions of life, and few thinkers have offered such penetrating answers as Augustine. Friendship and Society is a fascinating volume meant for those interested in what one of history's greatest minds had to say about life in an imperfect world.

Bridging expert scholarship and a popular readership, this volume assumes no in-depth knowledge of philosophy or prior acquaintance with Augustine's writings. An introductory reflection on the human predicament is followed by a clear and accurate outline of...

Soon after his conversion Augustine prayed "O God, let me know myself; let me know you." He was convinced that the eventual discovery of God began with a discovery of one's self. Commenting on some of Augustine's writings, here Father Burt reflects on what Augustine said about the nature of the "self," obstacles standing in the way of discovery, and some of the facts one can learn from experience and faith about oneself.