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An Essay in Aid of a Grammar of AssentJohn Henry Newman

An Essay in Aid of a Grammar of Assent

by OpenStories

Original author: John Henry Newman

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"An Essay in Aid of a Grammar of Assent" by John Henry Newman is a philosophical work completed in 1870. Taking twenty years to write, Newman challenges the idea that scientific standards of evidence should govern religious faith. He argues that formal logic fails in real-life decision-making and introduces the "illative sense"—a faculty that weighs evidence from multiple sources to reach belief. The work defends faith as rational, distinguishing between notional and real assent, and explores how we can legitimately believe what we cannot fully understand or prove.

An Essay in Aid of a Grammar of Assent, by John Henry Newman. Republished by OpenStories from Project Gutenberg eBook #34022.

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19 Chapters

  1. 1.Chapter I: Modes Of Holding And Apprehending Propositions2,456 words
  2. 2.Chapter II: Assent Considered As Apprehensive1,456 words
  3. 3.Chapter III: The Apprehension Of Propositions4,669 words
  4. 4.Chapter IV: Notional And Real Assent (1)8,856 words
  5. 5.Chapter IV: Notional And Real Assent (2)7,581 words
  6. 6.Chapter V: Apprehension And Assent In The Matter Of Religion (1)8,690 words
  7. 7.Chapter V: Apprehension And Assent In The Matter Of Religion (2)6,390 words
  8. 8.Chapter VI: Assent Considered As Unconditional (1)8,845 words
  9. 9.Chapter VI: Assent Considered As Unconditional (2)5,572 words
  10. 10.Chapter VII: Certitude (1)8,827 words
  1. 11.Chapter VII: Certitude (2)4,803 words
  2. 12.Chapter VIII: Inference (1)8,928 words
  3. 13.Chapter VIII: Inference (2)8,822 words
  4. 14.Chapter VIII: Inference (3)4,953 words
  5. 15.Chapter IX: The Illative Sense11,125 words
  6. 16.Chapter X: Inference And Assent In The Matter Of Religion (1)8,809 words
  7. 17.Chapter X: Inference And Assent In The Matter Of Religion (2)8,753 words
  8. 18.Chapter X: Inference And Assent In The Matter Of Religion (3)8,890 words
  9. 19.Chapter X: Inference And Assent In The Matter Of Religion (4)5,477 words