Topic of the III International John Henry Newman colloquium , its sources and commentators: The Liberal Education

The liberal Education proposed by John Henry Newman for the Catholic University of Ireland in the 19th century is still valid today. For him, the purpose of the university is knowledge, and its central focus is the training of intelligence. The rest would follow. Among the intellectual skills he seeks to develop is the philosophical habitus, without which the ability to link and give unity to different knowledge, the sincere search for truth, and the capacity to solve theoretical and practical problems becomes impossible.

The study of grammar, literature, history, languages and cultures are brought into harmony in the mind by this philosophical habit. In The Idea of a University, Newman describes what he considers to be a true gentleman, beyond a cool and collected man, as was the British ideal in the light of Captain Horatio Nelson. The gentleman for Newman is a cultured man, a wise man, who has properly formed and "furnished" his mind, but, above all, has an overview, distinguishes between the important and the secondary, the distant and the near and, above all, the value of each person. All these positive effects are, on the one hand, manifestations of the philosophical habit and, on the other hand, of an adequate mastery of oneself and the forging of character, which open up to a more complete knowledge of reality, thus making possible the knowledge of God through theology.

It is not therefore a question of seeking a result by including philosophical or theological subjects in the university programs of study , but of creating suitable environments for dialogue and reflection, the interiorisation of what other wise people have proposed for the better knowledge of oneself and of the human nature that we share. It is true that Philosophy and theology are knowledge that encompasses reality and helps us to understand it as a whole, but the habit is formed through internship, through dialogue, through discussion, through reflection and expression of our thoughts and through exchange between teachers and students.

This III colloquium on John Henry Newman, his sources and commentators, has as purpose to create this atmosphere of dialogue on the university Education .