An Essay in aid of a Grammar of Assent

The State visit of the Pope to England has been the subject of a vivid debate on the media recently. Yet this is not the only reason why it is relevant from the argumentative point of view. On Sunday, the
 beatification of cardinal John Henry Newman was celebrated. For me, this was the occasion to have a look to some of the writings of this man and cardinal, in particular to "An Essay in aid of a Grammar of Assent", which, in many respects, is relevant to argumentative studies.

I will just quote a passage here:

There is another reason for attempting to discover an instrument of reasoning (that is, of gaining new truths by means of old), which may be less vague and arbitrary than the talent and experience of the few or the common-sense of the many. As memory is not always accurate, and has on that account led to the adoption of writing, as being a memoria technica, unaffected by the failure of mental impressions,—as our senses at times deceive us, and have to be corrected by each other; so is it also with our reasoning faculty. The conclusions of one man are not the conclusions of another; those of the same man do not always agree together; those of ever so many who agree together may differ from the facts themselves, which those conclusions are intended to ascertain. In consequence it becomes a necessity, if it be possible, to analyze the process of reasoning, and to invent a method which may act as a common measure between mind and mind, as a means of joint investigation, and as a recognized intellectual standard,—a standard such as to secure us against hopeless mistakes, and to emancipate us from the capricious ipse dixit of authority.



From:
An Essay in aid of a Grammar of Assent, Chapter 8 section 1 (See the full text)