Newman and Gadamer

About this book

"This volume is a work of comparison, criticism, and construction. The author examines the religious epistemology of John Henry Newman alongside the philosophical hermeneutics of Hans-Georg Gadamer. Both writers cover a surprising amount of common ground ; they make similar claims ; and they fall into similar errors. A critical examination of four of Newman's leading ideas - first principles, antecedent probability, doctrinal development, and the illative sense - are compared with such Gadamerian themes as self-understanding, Bildung, projection, tradition and the fusion of horizons. The author concludes with a constructive proposal that applies a Newman-Gadamer synthesis to questions about a knowledge of God."--Back cover.