Phenomenology of Conversion: John H. Newman and Aurel Kolnai

Abstract

This essay considers J. H. Newman’s and Aurel Kolnai’s conversions from a phenomenological point of view. Newman’s conversion or conversions are often cited as classic examples, though he was reluctant to use this notion, preferring to see his journey as a long process, an account of which is provided in his Apologia Pro Vita Sua. His Grammar of Assent is less often cited in this context, but it helps more to make sense of conversion as an experience. Kolnai was a phenomenologist himself. He also provided a personal account of his conversion in his autobiography. The two thinkers’ reflections on conversion are highly congruent, highlighting four dimensions: familiarity or homecoming (conversion makes one at peace with oneself); discovery of reality or real meaning of a notion (of truth, of God, of the scriptures, of the Church); the paramount importance of conscience (the indispensability of the approval of moral authority); the intelligibility of conversion which makes it, in the end, the proper subject of philosophical inquiry.