An Essay in Aid of A Grammar of Assent [Hardcover]

John Henry Newman (Author), Ian Ker (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 18, 1985

This book provides the first critical edition of John Henry Newman's classic work, A Grammar of Assent. The editor's introduction contains a synopsis of Newman's argument as well as an account of the development of his thought and a history of the composition of the final text. Ker discusses critical reaction to the Grammar and attempts to clarify and interpret Newman's thoughts in areas where his meaning has been misunderstood. A Textual Appendix lists every variant published in Newman's lifetime and the editor's Notes include detailed references to Newman's other writings. full use has been made of the manuscript drafts and all available philosophical notebooks and papers.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Ian Ker has...given us a valuable critical edition of An Essay in Aid of a Grammar of Assent."--Modern Philology

"This long-awaited critical edition...is indispensable."--James Gaffney, Loyola University

"Ker's 'Introduction' is one of the most intelligent essays ever written about Newman's most difficult work..."--Church History

"...an indispensable tool for that scholarly mastery of the Grammar of which Newman's exhortation speaks....another important advance in the effort to establish the import of this work."--Faith and Reason

Book Description

John Henry Newman (1801-1890) was a theologian and former Anglican clergyman who became a leading thinker in the Oxford Movement, which sought to return Anglicanism to its Catholic roots. This volume, first published in 1870, is Newman's seminal examination of the logical processes underlying religious belief. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 500 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (July 18, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198127510
• ISBN-13: 978-0198127512
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,673,692 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Among Newman's Best, January 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: An Essay in Aid of a Grammar Of Assent (Paperback)

This "essay" is a tour d'force of the force of the power of inferential versus deductive reasoning. This is an unique aposteriori argument for the existence of God, but unfolds an argument in a manner wholly different from the past, such as Aquinas, for example. Newman is a very persuasive author, who uses his evidence judiciously and validly. People of faith will find this exposition worth the perspective.

But, this book can stand on its own as a superlative example of brilliant exposition, using Newman's usually elegant style, and enjoying a journey that seems unlikely from its impetus. The first chapter is particularly difficult, but after that, the reading is engaging and remarkable.

25 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Great text, useless edition, March 27, 2009

By 

Scott Carson (Athens, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: An Essay In Aid Of A Grammar Of Assent (1891) (Hardcover)

Cardinal Newman's An Essay In Aid of a Grammar of Assent is a classic of Christian epistemology, and deserves to be more widely read than it is. Unfortunately, the present reprint will not aid in the promotion of that goal. The book is printed on rather large paper, but the text itself has been reproduced photographically in such a way that it is virtually impossible to read it without a magnifying glass. Indeed, it is somewhat strange to open up such a large volume, only to find a tiny text surrounded by two- to three-inch margins of blank space all around. The waste of paper is enormous enough in its own right, but the waste of the buyer's money is unforgivable.

Prior to purchasing this item, I tried to examine it using the "Look Inside" feature available through Amazon.com. Sadly, Amazon rather unhelpfully shows you, not the text of THIS edition, but the text as drawn from a different edition, which appears to be of normal size. So there is no way to know, prior to purchase, exactly what one is getting.

I returned my copy for a full refund. It is possible to get the full text of Newman's classic in electronic form on the internet as a PDF file--FOR FREE.

22 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Modern Christian Philosophy at Its Best, March 18, 2005

By 

D. S. Heersink "D. Stephen Heersink" (San Francisco) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: An Essay in Aid of a Grammar Of Assent (Paperback)

"A Grammar of Assent" by J. H. Newman is without doubt the most elegant, eloquent, and persuasive argument yet for the belief in God by any Christian philosopher. Despite its 19th-century origins, it remains one of the most modern of Christian philosophies yet. Gone are all references to Aristotle and Aquinas and their antediluvian methodologies of a priori logic to "prove" the existence of God and why it is supposedly "rational" to believe in such a God.

In its stead, Newman uses the Humean methodology of a posteriori inferences that lead one to believe that the "uneasiness" one feels (another Humean concept) about certain disturbances of the mind/soul that are attributable to the indwelling, or natural inclination, of the "conscience." From this natural inclination (again Hume) and by rational inference (Hume again), Newman posits step by step, and from different angles, that it is only a natural logical inference to assent to the belief in God. But it is the a posteriori experience of "conscience," not some a priori "proof," that leads the way.

Don't be put off by the rigorous prelude of the first-two chapters; they give considerable detail to the methodology Newman intends to use, which again is empirically oriented, not a priori logically deduced. The reading after that is a breeze, containing absolute wonderment at the level of perspicuity, rhetorical advantage, and logical nuances that infer God's existence from natural inclinations. It was, and remains, a revolutionary approach, and is a worthy work to include in any Christian's library.