IT is a curious fact that more books on J. H. Newman have been written by foreign than by English authors, as A. R. Vidler remarks in a book review in the Philosophical Quarterly. He adds a number of reasons all of which have exercised a certain influence. He suggests the main reason to be that Newman “is naturally attractive and useful to Roman Catholics who are disposed to explore lines of thought that deviate from, or are not covered by, (...) scholasticism or Thomism.” We cannot quite agree with this suggestion. First of all it is not borne out by historical facts. Most of the earliest writings on Newman in the Netherlands were actually written by non-Catholics, mainly by Protestants of widely-different denominations. One of the first was Allard Pierson who wrote a lengthy biographical sketch in the same year as Newman died, and others brought out or used various parts of Newman’s teaching long before any Catholic publication—except for an occasional article—was printed. So we find J. W. Moll, Rector of the University in Groningen, making full use of Newman’s Idea of a University in an official address to the University as early as 1910, whilst H. Stoel, Minister of the Dutch Reformed Church, offered a work on Newman to the same University in order to obtain the Doctorate of Divinity in 1914. There are other important works on Newman’s doctrine by two non-Catholics, who were later converted to the Roman Catholic Church, viz., one by W. H. v.d. Pol, who wrote on the Idea of the Church in Newman’s Life and Thought, and one by Prof. Dr. De Vogel on his doctrine of justification. Both these works excel in bringing home to the reader Newman’s own method of thought because they make us listen to that great Christian, and enable us to take in his way of contemplating reality, so that we acquire something of that mentality which Newman himself called: the true philosophical temper. In none of these works do we find the slightest indication that the authors were desirous of using Newman because he had deviated from the path trodden by traditional scholasticism. These authors wrote about him because they felt that to be true which Pierson had already testified: “Nobody can neglect him without suffering a sensible loss.”. (shrink)

The first international Newman Conference took place in Luxembourg from July 23rd till July 28th, 1956. Many representatives of various countries of Europe were present. Apart from the well nigh perfect organization, it was undoubtedly this common sympathy and admiration for Cardinal Newman that explains the extremely pleasant atmosphere that prevailed throughout these days. It was not, however, a dolce far niente, because every day was filled with addresses and lectures which in various ways and from differing points of view (...) tried to estimate the importance of Newman for the modern age. Some lecturers looked back into the history of the Cardinal and showed how in fact his works still held their message, couched in terms and modes of thinking that are in harmony with the deepest needs and desires of modern man. Others went farther and indicated lines along which a still more profound influence of Newman could be expected in the future. The whole of the conference consequently was something of a stocktaking showing the capital realized and the promises for the future. (shrink)

THE ordinary attitude of traditional philosophy regarding the argument to God’s existence directs the attention much more to the process of reason by which the human mind arrives at the necessity of affirming the proposition ‘God exists’, than to the real, personal acceptance of God. It is a curious fact, but in the period of modern philosophy this approach is very striking. This attitude was taken up of set purpose and is due, we believe, to a rationalistic tendency in Descartes. (...) That philosophical temper enjoyed an ever-widening influence over minds and systems, whether this new influence was immediate and direct, or indirect and only traceable along a variety of byways. In the end it gained such an ascendancy over modern mental life that any one taking an active part in that life has had to cope with it. Often the influence was not even consciously felt. If it was, however, the thinker had to decide for himself how far he should submit to it, or how much he should resist it. Often enough it took a tremendous mental effort to free oneself from its powerful spell. It is significant that the philosopher St. Augustine is often portrayed as connected with the Cartesian Cogito, ergo sum on account of his famous argument against the sceptically-minded Academicians, Si fallor, sum. If this implies that St. Augustine is of the same mentality as Descartes, it is a complete misrepresentation. His outlook is entirely opposed to this mentality: Verus philosophus, amator Dei. He is not the true philosopher who constructs an argument as to the existence of God, but who verily accepts God in love. (shrink)

IF it is true that ‘all authentic philosophy is autobiographic‘. and that consequently one must understand the history of a man in order to understand his thought, it is obvious that no one, who has not shared the same national life, can fully enter into the living thoughts of a man like Newman, ‘an Englishman to the backbone’. That is why the remark was made in one of the debates at the Third International Newman Conference held in Luxembourg in 1964 (...) about the irreplaceable function of British scholarship in the study and evaluation of Newman. The process which Newman so admirably described of the development of an idea in the social sphere of either Church or State in his famous Essay is equally and perhaps more fundamentally true of the mind of the individual: we grow constantly towards maturer views—true or false—because of innumerable influences, impressions, tendencies ‘in the air’, ‘floating opinions’, principles surrounding us and the more powerful minds, if they express themselves strikingly, will influence the social scene, perhaps unconsciously or even unwillingly, from the mighty platform of public media of communication or via small circles of devoted friends, in a thousand ways which we have hardly begun to trace and of which many will remain totally hidden. The flux is so constant and so multifarious that we wonder how we can speak of historicity, but there it is: one fine day the entire world arose and found itself Arian. Newman lived very actively and intensely and for a long time in one of the very centres of the intellectual life of a great nation. ‘Universities are the natural centres of intellectual movements‘. Thus the remark made on the continent was the expression of the honest realisation of an essential handicap in foreign scholars. They asked for help in a matter they could not possibly supply themselves, and we are happy to be able to say that this help is generously supplied. It is precisely one of the aims of this article to consider some of the results. Though all this is undoubtedly true we are still facing the fact that: ‘in England Newman never seems quite to make it’. What forces bring this about? (shrink)

v. 1. General introduction to the study of Newman's philosophy.--v. 2. The text.

The Grammar of Assent is at first sight a baffling book. It has no preface, and its opening sentences are dry and forbidding. Yet once Newman’s purpose is grasped, its whole drift becomes clear. Aldous Huxley remarked long ago that “Newman’s analysis of the psychology of thought remains one of the most acute, as it is certainly the most elegant, which has ever been made”. One opens Father Boekraad’s study hoping that at last this want of an introduction has (...) been supplied, but alas! one is doomed to disappointment. His book has many merits, but one grave defect—it is obscure. It has to be read two or three times before it can be understood. If then, the Grammar of Assent itself is at first sight obscure, here we have a case of ‘obscurum per obscurius’. This is a great pity, because Father Boekraad is full of enthusiasm for his subject, and has devoted great pains to it. He has been able to study Newman’s unpublished papers in Birmingham, under the guidance of Father Henry Tristram, and publishes apposite and valuable extracts from them. (shrink)

Discussion of J. Kevin O’Regan’s “Why Red Doesn’t Sound Like a Bell: Understanding the Feel of Consciousness” Content Type Journal Article Pages 1-20 DOI 10.1007/s13164-012-0090-7 Authors J. Kevin O’Regan, Laboratoire Psychologie de la Perception, CNRS - Université Paris Descartes, Centre Biomédical des Saints Pères, 45 rue des Sts Pères, 75270 Paris cedex 06, France Ned Block, Departments of Philosophy, Psychology and Center for Neural Science, New York University, 5 Washington Place, New York, NY 10003, USA Journal Review of Philosophy and (...) Psychology Online ISSN 1878-5166 Print ISSN 1878-5158. (shrink)

J.S. Mill's plural voting proposal in Considerations on Representative Government presents political theorists with a puzzle: the elitist proposal that some individuals deserve a greater voice than others seems at odds with Mill's repeated arguments for the value of full participation in government. This essay looks at Mill's arguments for plural voting, arguing that, far from being motivated solely by elitism, Mill's account is actually driven by a commitment to both competence and participation. It goes on to argue that, for (...) Mill, much of the value of political participation lies in its unique ability to educate the participants. That ability to educate is not, however, a product of participation alone; rather, for Mill, the true educative benefits of participation obtain only when competence and participation work together in the political sphere. Plural voting, then, is a mechanism for allowing Mill to take advantage of the educative benefits that arise from the intersection of competence and participation. (shrink)

J M Tarrant; J. Wilson and B. Cowell on the Democratic Myth, Journal of Philosophy of Education, Volume 18, Issue 1, 30 May 2006, Pages 123–127, https://doi.org.

Thomas J.J. Altizer is one of the most important theologians of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, and all radical theology must pass through and be conversant with his work and the historical significance of his earlier contributions. This chapter presents Altizer’s essential ideas in a straightforward and accessible manner and provides a guide for the beginning reader.