Probability and Economy in Newman’s Theory of Knowledge

This essay considers Newman’s basic epistemology in terms of two of his most important, and often overlooked, sources: Aristotle and the Church Fathers. In particular, Newman’s reliance upon Aristotle’s ethical and rhetorical thought on the one hand, and upon the patristic concept of oikonomia on the other, guided him in crafting the well-known account of faith and reason in his thirteenth University Sermon.