The Idea of a University is a book by English theologian, polymath and scholar John Henry Newman in which he explained his philosophy of education. Newman believed in a middle way between free thinking and moral authority—one that would respect the rights of knowledge as well as the rights of revelation. His purpose was to build a Catholic university, in a world where the major Catholic universities on the European continent had recently been secularized, and most universities in the English-speaking world were Protestant. Newman divided his ideas in nine discourses:

Discourse I. Introductory

Discourse II. Theology A Branch Of Knowledge

Discourse III. Bearing Of Theology On Other Branches Of Knowledge

Discourse IV. Bearing Of Other Branches Of Knowledge On Theology

Discourse V. Knowledge Its Own End

Discourse VI. Knowledge Viewed In Relation To Learning

Discourse VII. Knowledge Viewed In Relation To Professional Skill

Discourse VIII. Knowledge Viewed In Relation To Religion

Discourse IX. Duties Of The Church Towards Knowledge