Abstract

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