The Idea of a University

The first piece of Newman’s “University Subjects” is a lecture delivered upon the opening of the School of Philosophy and Letters at the Catholic University of Ireland. This school, also referred to as the Faculty of Arts, was based largely upon the teaching of classic literature. Newman frames his lecture around a historical argument for the prominence of what he calls “Civilization” (by which he means Western civilization) and of its special relationship to the rise of Christianity. Just as Christianity is based on certain principles and writings from its historical origins, so also is Civilization based on “its common principles, and views, and teaching, and especially its books, which have more or less been given from the earliest times” (192). Newman then gives a brief overview of the classical literature to which he is referring, beginning with Homer and running through Cicero, Virgil, and Horace, and including all the leading lights of both Greek and Roman literature. He argues that the study of these classics has a proven track record in strengthening and refining one’s intellectual powers, while the effect of studying other sciences is still unproven.