Lewis, Miracles, Preliminary Study, 1st/1st US Edition 1947
"Miracles, A Preliminary Study" by C.S. Lewis (Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford). Published by The Macmillan Company, New York, 1947. First American Edition, Stated First Printing. [the book was revised by Lewis later, in 1960]. Provenace: the book plate of Patricia Ann Meyer [Spacks] is on the front endpaper.
Original dust jacket [some wear and creases, cut corners of the front flap, the original price on the front flap is present] the dust jacket is protected in mylar cover; hard boards, original blue cloth with gold lettering on spine [a little wear and soiling]; 5.1/2" x 8.1/4"; 1940s-1950s book plate of Patricia A. Meyer on the front endpaper; 220 pages including Index, slightly foxed endpapers, a few stains, very good condition.
This original version of Miracles contained a different version of chapter 3 entitled "The Self-Contradiction of the Naturalist". In it, Lewis made the same argument but referred to atomic motions in the brain as "irrational". In a Socratic Club debate, G. E. M. Anscombe criticized this, prompting Lewis to revise the chapter. The revised chapter presents a more detailed elucidation of the argument and distinguishes between "non-rational" and "irrational" processes.
Lewis argues that before one can learn from the study of history whether or not any miracles have ever occurred, one must first settle the philosophical question of whether it is logically possible that miracles can occur in principle. He accuses modern historians and scientific thinkers, particularly secular biblical scholars, of begging the question against miracles, insisting that modern disbelief in miracles is a cultural bias thrust upon the historical record and is not derivable from it.
Philosophers and scientists including Victor Reppert, William Hasker, and Alvin Plantinga have expanded on the "Argument from reason" and credit Lewis with first bringing the argument to light in Miracles. The argument holds that if, as thoroughgoing naturalism entails, all of our thoughts are the effect of a physical cause, then there is no reason for assuming that they are also the consequent of a reasonable ground. Knowledge, however, is apprehended by reasoning from ground to consequent. Therefore, if naturalism were true, there would be no way of knowing it, or anything else not the direct result of a physical cause.
Lewis asserts that by this logic, the statement "I have reason to believe naturalism is valid" is self-referentially incoherent in the same manner as the sentence "One of the words of this sentence does not have the meaning that it appears to have", or the statement "I never tell the truth". In each case, to assume the veracity of the conclusion would eliminate the possibility of valid grounds from which to reach it. To summarize the argument in the book, Lewis quotes J. B. S. Haldane who appeals to a similar line of reasoning. Haldane states "If my mental processes are determined wholly by the motions of atoms in my brain, I have no reason to suppose that my beliefs are true ... and hence I have no reason for supposing my brain to be composed of atoms."
Provenance:
Patricia Ann Meyer Spacks (born 1929) is an American literary scholar. She is the Edgar F. Shannon Professor Emerita at the University of Virginia and former President of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the Modern Language Association. She specializes in eighteenth-century English Literature and also writes cultural criticism on varied subjects such as boredom, gossip, and feminism.
Patricia Ann Meyer Spacks received a B.A. from Rollins College in 1949, an M.A. from Yale University and a Ph.D. from the University of California in 1955. From 1955 to 1978 she was married to poet Barry Spacks.
She has chaired English departments at Wellesley College, Yale University, and the University of Virginia. In 1996, Spacks was elected to the American Philosophical Society. She was the first Humanities Scholar-in-Residence at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences before becoming the Academy's president from 2001 to 2006. Spacks has earned the Guggenheim Fellowship, a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and an Honorary Doctorate from Rollins College. She has been the chair of the board of directors of the American Council of Learned Societies and a trustee of the National Humanities Center.
Note:
Country restrictions may apply, the lesser expansive Priority shipping may not be available to all countries.
US: Priority (c.2-4 days) ------------ $16.50
Canada: Priority (c.2-6 weeks) ---- $32.50
World: Priority (c.2-8 weeks) ----- $44.50
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"Miracles, A Preliminary Study" by C.S. Lewis (Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford). Published by The Macmillan Company, New York, 1947. First American Edition, Stated First Printing. [the book was revised by Lewis later, in 1960]. Provenace: the book plate of Patricia Ann Meyer [Spacks] is on the front endpaper.
Original dust jacket [some wear and creases, cut corners of the front flap, the original price on the front flap is present] the dust jacket is protected in mylar cover; hard boards, original blue cloth with gold lettering on spine [a little wear and soiling]; 5.1/2" x 8.1/4"; 1940s-1950s book plate of Patricia A. Meyer on the front endpaper; 220 pages including Index, slightly foxed endpapers, a few stains, very good condition.
This original version of Miracles contained a different version of chapter 3 entitled "The Self-Contradiction of the Naturalist". In it, Lewis made the same argument but referred to atomic motions in the brain as "irrational". In a Socratic Club debate, G. E. M. Anscombe criticized this, prompting Lewis to revise the chapter. The revised chapter presents a more detailed elucidation of the argument and distinguishes between "non-rational" and "irrational" processes.
Lewis argues that before one can learn from the study of history whether or not any miracles have ever occurred, one must first settle the philosophical question of whether it is logically possible that miracles can occur in principle. He accuses modern historians and scientific thinkers, particularly secular biblical scholars, of begging the question against miracles, insisting that modern disbelief in miracles is a cultural bias thrust upon the historical record and is not derivable from it.
Philosophers and scientists including Victor Reppert, William Hasker, and Alvin Plantinga have expanded on the "Argument from reason" and credit Lewis with first bringing the argument to light in Miracles. The argument holds that if, as thoroughgoing naturalism entails, all of our thoughts are the effect of a physical cause, then there is no reason for assuming that they are also the consequent of a reasonable ground. Knowledge, however, is apprehended by reasoning from ground to consequent. Therefore, if naturalism were true, there would be no way of knowing it, or anything else not the direct result of a physical cause.
Lewis asserts that by this logic, the statement "I have reason to believe naturalism is valid" is self-referentially incoherent in the same manner as the sentence "One of the words of this sentence does not have the meaning that it appears to have", or the statement "I never tell the truth". In each case, to assume the veracity of the conclusion would eliminate the possibility of valid grounds from which to reach it. To summarize the argument in the book, Lewis quotes J. B. S. Haldane who appeals to a similar line of reasoning. Haldane states "If my mental processes are determined wholly by the motions of atoms in my brain, I have no reason to suppose that my beliefs are true ... and hence I have no reason for supposing my brain to be composed of atoms."
Provenance:
Patricia Ann Meyer Spacks (born 1929) is an American literary scholar. She is the Edgar F. Shannon Professor Emerita at the University of Virginia and former President of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the Modern Language Association. She specializes in eighteenth-century English Literature and also writes cultural criticism on varied subjects such as boredom, gossip, and feminism.
Patricia Ann Meyer Spacks received a B.A. from Rollins College in 1949, an M.A. from Yale University and a Ph.D. from the University of California in 1955. From 1955 to 1978 she was married to poet Barry Spacks.
She has chaired English departments at Wellesley College, Yale University, and the University of Virginia. In 1996, Spacks was elected to the American Philosophical Society. She was the first Humanities Scholar-in-Residence at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences before becoming the Academy's president from 2001 to 2006. Spacks has earned the Guggenheim Fellowship, a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and an Honorary Doctorate from Rollins College. She has been the chair of the board of directors of the American Council of Learned Societies and a trustee of the National Humanities Center.
Note:
Country restrictions may apply, the lesser expansive Priority shipping may not be available to all countries.
US: Priority (c.2-4 days) ------------ $16.50
Canada: Priority (c.2-6 weeks) ---- $32.50
World: Priority (c.2-8 weeks) ----- $44.50
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Time, Location
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