The central issue in the writings of Gerard Manley Hopkins is his understanding of the self. While Hopkins' scholars have studied the phenomenology of Hopkins' notions of selfness, no scholar has studied in depth the hermeneutics of what Hopkins called 'selving.' Hopkins' Achieved Self is a study of 'selving' in Hopkins. Downes examines Hopkins' ideas of the self as a hermeneutical concept, shows how Hopkins formulates in his concept the role of the mental acts Hopkins called 'selving,' and discussed the formation of religious consciousness as a vital component of achieving full selfhood.

"'Hopkins' Achieved Self' will attract the attention of specialist students and scholars, be they in fields of theology, religious literature or linguistic philosophy." - Notes and Queries

"I find particularly original and significant Prof. Downes' critique of the denigration of 'selving' in Modernism...I am also persuaded that applying Ricoeur to Hopkins in this context is original and that insufficient attention has been paid to Hopkins' philosophic exploration of 'selving.'" - Catholic University Press of America

"The book is new and original...It joins the notions of selfness and selving that the Victorian Hopkins sketched in his poetry and prose with the thought of Ricoeur...This is a challenging study." - Christianity and Literature

"The book is new and original...It joins the notions of selfness and selving that the Victorian Hopkins sketched in his poetry and prose with the thought of Ricoeur...This is a challenging study." - Christianity and Literature

"'Hopkins' Achieved Self' will attract the attention of specialist students and scholars, be they in fields of theology, religious literature or linguistic philosophy." - Notes and Queries