Aids to Reflection

by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, John B. Beer (Editor)

Coleridge's Aids to Reflection was written at a time when new movements in thought were starting to unsettle belief. It was read with admiration by early Victorians such as John Sterling, F. D. Maurice, and Thomas Arnold, contributing to the formation of the Broad Church Movement, and with respect by members of the High Church Movement, including John Henry Newman. Coleridge had intended simply to produce a selection from the writings of the seventeenth-century Archbishop Robert Leighton with comments of his own, but as he worked at the book he found the commentary expanding to take in the fruits of his religious thinking over the years, so that the second, and more important, part of the volume was totally dominated by his thought. In this, the first major edition of Aids to Reflection, the intricate story of Coleridge's changing conception is unfolded by way of an introduction and detailed notes, the surviving materials for the volume being printed in appendixes. The introduction also traces the subsequent influence of the work in England and America; further appendixes include James Marsh's influential preface to the first American edition, which is reproduced in full.

Originally published in 1993.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

838 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1825

About the author

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) was an English poet, critic, and philosopher who was, along with his friend William Wordsworth, one of the founders of the Romantic Movement in England and one of the Lake Poets. He is probably best known for his poems The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla Khan, as well as his major prose work Biographia Literaria.

Reviews

[josh patch · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a total work, kind of a mess. But Coleridge’s earnest tone and his will to bring cheerful war against all the pernicious philosophies of his time are compelling. If you care about Christian theological controversies, you’ll like it. He actually has good thoughts on minutiae like paedobaptism and English Arminianism.

The best insights for my money are 1) his famous distinction between reason and understanding, 2) his ideas on figuratively language in scripture, and 3) his unique take on original sin, which he sees as the basis of all religion.

Aids to Reflection deserves to be rediscovered as a work of Christian philosophy.

[Austin Hoffman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I. I hate aphorisms.
II. The garnish is more than the dish.
III. Aphorisms are for the lazy who can’t supply a unifying thought.
IV. Always read the footnotes.
V. Want to hear something totally unrelated?
VI. I don’t think I will read this one again.