Complete Bibliography of Lonergan Studies

REVIEWS

Conn, Joann Wolski. Horizons 34/2 (2007) 390-92.

Crowe, Frederick E. Christ in History: The Christology of Bernard Lonergan. (See LSN 26/2 [2005] 1.)

Dias, Darren J. Science et Esprit 60/1 (2008) 86-88.

Doran, Robert M. Psychic Conversion and Theological Foundation. (See LSN 27/4 [2006] 1.)

Whelan, Gerard. Gregorianum 88/4 (2007) 909-11.

Doran, Robert M. What is Systematic Theology? (See LSN 26/4 [2005] 1.)

Moloney, Raymond. Irish Theological Quarterly 72/1 (2007) 105-106.

Drilling, Peter. Premodern Faith in a Postmodern Culture: A Contemporary Theology of the Trinity. (See LSN 28/4 [2007] 2.)

Kaminski, Phyllis H. Horizons 34/2 (2007) 361-62.

Gilbert, Paul and Natalino Spaccapelo. Il Teologo e la Storia: Lonergan’s Centenary (1904-2004). (See LSN 27/4 [2006] 2.)

Clarot, B. Nouvelle revue théologie 130/1 (2008) 129-30.

Muck, Otto. Zeitschrift für katholische Theologie 129/3-4 (2007) 527-28.

Snell, R.J. Through a Glass Darkly: Bernard Lonergan and Richard Rorty on Knowing without a God’s-Eye View. (See LSN 27/4 [2007] 4.)

Whelan, Gerard. Gregorianum 88/4 (2007) 897-98.

DISSERTATIONS & THESES

Lonergan Studies Newsletter 29/2 June 2008

PUBLICATIONS

This is an excerpt from Lonergan’s 1958 lecture at the Thomas More Institute, Montreal, on the Redemption. McGrath provides very brief opening and closing pedagogical remarks.

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Bell, Ian [B]. ‘An elaboration of the Worshipful Pattern of Experience in the Work of Bernard Lonergan.’ Worship 81/6 (2007) 521-40.

Bell, Ian B. The Relevance of Bernard Lonergan’s Notion of Self-Appropriation to a Mystical-Political Theology. New York: Peter Lang, 2008.

Previously listed as a dissertation. See LSN 27/2 (2006) 2-3 for a brief description of the book’s content.

Caltagirone, C., ‘Autotrascendenza ed etica del compimento in Bernard Lonergan,’ Rassegna di Teologia 48 (2007) 823-847.

For the human being the possibility to live a good life lies in seeking the achievement of the whole good and self-fulfilment. This article elaborates Lonergan’s views to propose a ‘fulfilment’s ethics.’

Coghlan, David  'Exploring Insight: The Role of Insight in a General Empirical Method in Action Research for Organization Change and Development,’ Revue Sciences de Gestion- Management Sciences-Ciencias de Gestion, 65, 2008, 343-355.

This article explores the role insight plays in organization development and change through action research. Drawing on Lonergan, it explains how insight is at the centre of organizational inquiry and how insight into the act of insight itself is central to a general empirical method. It locates action research in organization development and change within the realm of common sense knowing so as to contribute to the philosophy of social science in the field of organization development and change.

Coghlan, David. ‘Towards a Science of Practice: Lonergan’s Common Sense Knowing and Argyris’ Action Science.’ Milltown Studies 58 (Winter 2006) 100-20.

‘In this article I introduce Chris Argyris' notion of action science, "an inquiry into how human beings design and implement action in relation to one another". I present the basic tenets and practices of action science and explore how there is convergence between Argyris and Lonergan. Both address the operations of knowing. Argyris focuses on an area that Lonergan does not, namely the movement from insight to judgment requires attention to a distinction between what we infer/attribute and what we know. Argyris provides a framework for engaging with the dramatic pattern of experience and for how defensive routines inhibit action and learning. I conclude by asserting that action science provides a science of practice and contributes to our understanding of and engagement with the realm of common sense knowing.’

Corcoran, Patrick (editor). Looking at Lonergan’s Method. Eugene, Or.: Wipf & Stock, 2007.

Reprint of a book originally published in 1975. The book is a sequel to a conference held at St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth, Ireland, in the spring of 1973. ‘Combining the insight of St. Thomas and Kant, Lonergan has been hailed as the pioneer of a new way forward and criticized for constructing a labyrinth from which there is no exit. The book is a collection of essays by theologians, philosophers, and scientists, Catholic and Protestant, English-speaking and continental, who offer their assessment of Lonergan’s important work.’ Many of the authors are highly critical of Lonergan’s thought, some to the point of being completely unsympathetic to his whole approach.

De Neeve, Eileen. Decoding the Economy: Understanding Change with Bernard Lonergan. Montreal: Price-Patterson, 2008.

‘A beginner’s primer that demystifies economic booms and busts and explains how profits rise and fall as the world economy changes. The book reveals how economists think about the economy and highlights Bernard Lonergan’s ideas. By focusing on the dynamics of production and money Lonergan flags the differences between capital and consumer goods, and shows how actions can offer the rewards of innovation and growth for everyone.’ Also, this remark from Abraham Rotstein, Professor Emeritus, Department of Economics and Political Science, University of Toronto: ‘The book covers the major topical issues without resorting to technical jargon. Moreover, it relates some of Lonergan's novel ideas about the economy to current mainstream concepts...Not least is his plea to restore the moral dimension and the social values that remain shrouded in current economic thought focused as it is on "efficiency among alternatives"’ (From the publisher’s blurb.)

Doran, Robert M. ‘Summarizing “Imitating the Divine Relations: A Theological Contribution to Mimetic Theory”.’ Contagion: Journal of Violence, Mimesis, and Culture 14 (2007) 27-38.

The printed version of a lecture given in Ottawa, Canada in 2006 at the annual meeting of the Colloquium on Violence and Religion. The author writes: ‘I would like to explore with you briefly the possible contribution that might be made to mimetic theory by a theological hypothesis proposed by Bernard Lonergan. ... I wish to speak to the issue of imitations of the triune God through graced participations in the divine relations ... in the context of the mimetic theory of René Girard, arguing (1) that Lonergan’s theological notion of imitating the divine relations makes a contribution to mimetic theory, but also (2) that Girard contributes to the diagnostic that will help us distinguish between genuine and inauthentic mimesis of God.’

Finch, Karen Petersen. ‘A Calvinist Learns from Lonergan: Reflections on the Sovereignty-Freedom Debate.’ Method: Journal of Lonergan Studies 23/1 (Spring 2005) 1-16.

‘Although Norman Geisler and Bernard Lonergan come from very different theological horizons, comparing and contrasting their work on the sovereignty-freedom question is revealing and instructive. Both writers build on a foundation laid by Thomas Aquinas. Both are aware of the theological dangers involved in emphasizing either divine sovereignty or human freedom at the expense of the other. Yet methodologically, their work is very different. The body of the article is an application of Lonergan’s fourth functional specialty, dialectic: laying out the differences between two theological perspectives in order to that we might reduce those differences “to their roots.” I will argue that the root difference between the work of Geisler and Lonergan lies in their respective realms of meaning, for the former takes place in the world of common sense, the latter in the world of theory.’

Fontana, Maurizio. ‘E Lonergan spiegò come funziona l’intelligenza.’ L’Osservatore Romano, 13^th May, 2008.

An interview with Father Natalino Spaccapelo to coincide with the publication of the new Italian translation of Insight and the presentation of the volumes of Lonergan’s Collected Works that have been translated into Italian to Pope Benedict XVI at an outdoor papal audience on Wednesday, May 13^th. The piece also includes a photograph of Father Federico Lombardi presenting the volumes to the Pope and an excerpt from the Italian preface to Insight by Saturnino Muratore titled, ‘La radicale svolta antropologica di Insight.’

Forest, Michael. ‘Lonergan and the Classical American Tradition.’ Method: Journal of Lonergan Studies 23/1 (Spring 2005) 17-44.

‘Lonergan’s work in Insight bears striking resemblances to the thought of the classical American philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce, as well as to thinkers he influenced such Josiah Royce and John Dewey. Further, Lonergan’s ideas have been assimilated into the Classical American mix by several scholars, including American Jesuit philosophers familiar with Lonergan, Peirce, Royce, and Dewey. This paper will explore some of that literature, demonstrating how Peirce and Lonergan express a similar basic position, and how they have been utilized separately and together as antidotes to the counterpositions of this tradition.’

Guglielmi, Giuseppe. 'Mediata immediatezza. La mistica secondo Bernard Lonergan.', Mysterion 1 (2008) 43-63.

‘In this article, I deal with the mysticism according B. Lonergan. By starting from expression mediating immediacy that Lonergan uses in reference to mysticism, I attempt to explain the meaning of this expression by relating it to the realms of meaning and the development of consciousness in both the directions (from below upwards and from above downwards).’

Giuseppe Guglielmi, ‘Indifferenza religiosa e differenziazione della coscienza,’ Rassegna di Teologia 48 (2007) 549-571.

The post-modern phenomenon of religious indifference refers to absence of religious restless that lead most people to not understand the reason or sense about God and consequently about religious commitment. By starting from the reflection about differentiation of consciousness according Bernard Lonergan I make two considerations. The first consideration regards a short differentiation that leads the subject to elaborate superficial meanings without attention to the complexity and variety of reality. The second is about the meaning of religious indifference as it regards a refusal of God. Two new approaches to religious indifference are spelled out in terms of interiority and religious experience.

Jacobs-Vandegeer, Christiaan. ‘“Insight into the Better Argument”: Consciousness, Communication, and Criticizability in Habermas and Lonergan.’ Method: Journal of Lonergan Studies 23/1 (Spring 2005) 45-74.

‘In his Theory of Communicative Action, Jurgen Habermas develops his proposal for a communicative rationality partly in response to the insurmountable errors that, for him, plague the philosophy of consciousness. Though Bernard Lonergan advocates a philosophy of consciousness, his cognitional theory avoids the legitimate criticisms voiced by Habermas while preserving the genuine achievements of thinkers, such as Descartes and Kant, associated with the “turn to the subject” in modern philosophy.’ In what follows, I aim to show that a complementary relationship exists between Habermas’s communication model of rationality and the subject-centered philosophy of Lonergan.’

Kanaris, Jim. ‘A Space for Difference: Appraising Foucauldian Hypervigilance.’ Method: Journal of Lonergan Studies 23/1 (Spring 2005) 75-100.

‘... because particular notions such as subjectivity, objectivity, faith, reason, and God have been deconstructed and genealogized, the temptation is to reject the possibility that difference (never mind “authenticity”) may well reside in this stock of notions. Too often lip service is paid to the truism that different thinkers think nominally similar things differently. At any rate, such disdain is what is infectious about what I will name the “hypervigilant” strategies of Foucault and Derrida. ... In this paper I wish to identify the driving force of this inclination motivated by the larger question of whether hypervigilance is always desirable. Seeing as my field is philosophy of religion, my interest centers on the philosophic contribution of poststructuralist to religious studies and theology. ... Lonergan is helpful here. He provides an intriguing balance of rigorous thought and a faith dynamic that airs [sic] on the side of wonder. Interesting, too, is his sober appreciation of the ubiquity of bias. Vigilance suffers no less in his work, even if the prefix “hyper” would be bowdlerized ... for philosophic, rather than moral or political, reasons.’

Lambert, Pierrot. Bernard Lonergan: Introduction à sa vie et à son œuvre. Montréal: Guérin, 2008.

‘Les écrits de Bernard Lonergan déclinent une pensée du devenir, mouvement perpétuel de désir, de questionnement, d’intensification de la présence à soi et d’appropriations décisives. Cette œuvre d’anticipation est appel à une collaboration dans la genèse des savoirs et le développement humain, éclairée par une philosophie de l’intériorité qu’expriment les préceptes: “Sois attentif. Sois intelligent. Sois rationnel. Sois responsable. Soir en amour.”’

Lovett, Brendan. For the Joy Set Before Us: Methodology of Adequate Theological Reflection on Mission. Oxford and New York: Peter Lang, 2008.

‘Modern development in both science and history challenge us to a far greater degree of empiricism that has been traditionally considered necessary in the study of theology. Any attempt to move in this direction can be significantly helped by Bernard Lonergan’s breakthrough discovery of the notion of functional specialties in 1965. The strategy of this book is to make use of this discovery and provide a theological reflection on mission appropriate to the present age. The author begins with ... the general recognition that the texts concerning a universal mission are in fact an instance of retrojection. Building on this through an interpretation of Lonergan’s functional specialties of interpretation and history, he unfolds the startling implications for grasping the central creative significance of the ‘word of God.’ As the argument transfers from one specialty to the next, it moves towards ever-richer empiricism, culminating in the specialty of communication.’

McGinn, Bernard. ‘Mystical Consciousness: A Modest Proposal.’ Spiritus: A Journal of Christian Spirituality 8/1 (2008) 44-63.

‘Much of the recent literature on mysticism has taken mystical experience as a central theme. The term itself is not only recent, but also involves complexities both of a theoretical and historical character. The proposal advanced here is that mystical consciousness, understood as the meta-conscious co-presence of God in the entire process of experiencing, understanding, affirming, loving, and deciding, may provide a more adequate way to deepen our understanding of claims to have attained the direct presence of God. Calling upon resources from the transcendental method of Bernard Lonergan, the essay applies an approach based on consciousness analysis to the writings of three classic mystics: Meister Eckhart, Nicholas of Cusa, and John of the Cross.’

Method: Journal of Lonergan Studies 23/1 (Spring 2005).

See listings under ‘Finch,’ ‘Forest,’ ‘Jacobs-Vandergeer,’ ‘Kanaris,’ and ‘Pambrun.’

Montague, George T. ‘Bernard Lonergan and Critical Realist Hermeneutics.’ In Understanding the Bible: A Basic Introduction to Biblical Interpretation, revised and expanded edition. New York: Paulist Press, 2007, 119-26.

‘... a basic philosophical question underlies all attempts to discover meaning in a text: Is meaning something that washes over us like a tidal wave (total objectivity), or is it a construct of the mind (total subjectivity)? ... One of the contemporary thinkers who has wrestled with this question most extensively is Bernard Lonergan. ... What follows is a digest and explanation of Lonergan’s salient ideas ...’

Morelli, Mark D. At the Threshold of the Halfway House: A Study of Bernard Lonergan’s Encounter with John Alexander Stewart. (Chestnut Hill, MA: Lonergan Institute at Boston College, 2008).

This new publication was listed in the previous Newsletter (see LSN 29/1 [2008] 3) but with no information regarding its content beyond what is given in the title. Because of the book’s importance in tracing the development of Lonergan’s thought, the following further information is given: ‘While preparing his autobiographical reflection of 1972, Lonergan recollected that he had been “greatly influenced,” when he was 26 years old, by his reading of a book on Plato by an Oxford don. He recalled that the book had given him his first clue into the idea of insight into phantasm, which would play a pivotal role in his mature thought. ... At the Threshold of the Halfway House is a study of Lonergan’s first encounter with the Oxford don, J.A. Stewart. In it, Morelli seeks to determine approximately the nature and extent of J.A. Stewart’s impact on Lonergan’s mature thought, both the influence Lonergan recalled from his first reading and the ‘unconscious’ influence that came to light and ‘fascinated’ him upon the occasion of his re-reading of the book in later life.’

Niwano, Hiroshi Munehiro. “Being in Love”: Religious Conversion in Bernard Lonergan and the Lotus Sutra. Rome: Pontificia Università Gregoriana Facoltà di Teologia, 2007.

The author writes: ‘This dissertation [of which the above is an extract] is a contribution to inter-religious dialogue within fundamental theology, especially theological anthropology. So far, very little has been done to compare Lonergan’s thought with that of non-Christian religions. Being the first comparative study of this kind, this dissertation is in a largely unexplored field of theological research. In addition, it offers a new approach in comparative religious studies by bringing into comparison an author, Lonergan, with a text, the Lotus Sutra, though the two are from different times and cultures, and have seemingly little in common.’

Pambrun, James R. ‘The Openness of the Scientist: Generalized Emergent Probability and the Dialogue between Science and Theology.’ Method: Journal of Lonergan Studies 23/1 (Spring 2005) 101-26.

‘I wish to identify how Lonergan’s notion of emergent probability and his appeal to generalized emergent probability can offer theologians ... in a dialogue with modern science, a framework for appealing to and expressing confidence in ... an openness on the part of science. The virtue of emergent probability is that it identifies and brings to the surface certain assumptions that are operative in scientific investigation. The basis of Lonergan’s own strategy was ... an appeal to the act of understanding and an invitation to any of his readers to advert to this act in themselves as knowers. Emergent probability limited itself to the assumptions operative in the investigations of the natural sciences.’

Sala, Giovanni B. ‘Kant und die Theologie: eine kritische Lonergansche Sichtung.’ Theologie und Philosophie 83/1 (2008) 56-80.

‘Kant’s philosophy has exercised significant influence on modern culture. The goal of this article is to address the relevance of his thought for theology. Four themes are addressed: 1) The knowledge of God as one the praeambula fidei; 2) understanding the faith as a principal task of the theologian; 3) the historical dimensions of this understanding; and 4) the act of faith as the judgement with which the believer assents to the revealed truth. In this regard, the investigation uncovers, first, Kant’s agnosticism; second, the complete absence of the act of understanding (intelligere); third, the replacement of understanding with inflexible concepts a priori; and finally, the neglect of the proprium of judgement as absolute assent. The findings of this article correspond to the judgement of the current pope, who in his address in Regensburg argued that Kant’s Kritik is a classic expression of the modern self-limiting reason.’ (From the Abstact.)