Complete Bibliography of Lonergan Studies

Lonergan Studies Newsletter 30/2 June 2009

PUBLICATIONS

‘From the point of view of science, ... life must involve metabolic processes for the utilization of energy and some form of hereditary reproduction. The organism must also be set apart from the rest of the world, a certain “selfness” for which Stuart Kaufmann coined the term “autonomous agent.” ... From the point of view of philosophy, life is a higher integration of chemical conjugates with the corresponding emergence of a new central form and a new unity—the living organism. As a higher integration of chemical conjugates, the laws of chemistry remain in tact [sic]. To understand the organism, one has to know chemistry, and for that matter atomic physics and subatomic physics and on down the line. But at the same time the organism is a unity-identity-whole ... unifying the chemistry under higher level biological conjugates such as metabolism and reproduction. The nature of these conjugates is a matter for the sciences to explore. Philosophy will not provide a short cut.’

Coghlan, D. Toward a Philosophy of Clinical Inquiry/Research. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 45 (1), 2009, 106-121

The hypothesis underpinning this philosophical reflection on Schein’s notion of clinical inquiry/research is that clinical inquiry/research has solid foundations in the operations of human cognition and in the nature of the realm of practical knowing. The reflection draws on the work of the philosopher, Bernard Lonergan who articulates both a clear account of the operations of human knowing and of the realm of practical knowing where knowledge is contextually embedded and there is a primary concern for the practical and the particular. The purpose of engaging in this philosophical reflection is to articulate the epistemic grounds on which clinical inquiry/research is based in order to aid clinical researchers to understand and appropriate its vibrant philosophy. The aim is to provide scholar-practitioners with an epistemology, a methodology and an array of methods to conduct clinical inquiry/research.

Daly, Patrick R. ‘A Theory of Health Science and the Healing Arts Based on the Philosophy of Bernard Lonergan.’ Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics 30/2 (2009) 147-60.

‘This paper represents a preliminary investigation relating Bernard Lonergan’s thought to health science and the healing arts. First, I provide background for basic elements of Lonergan’s theoretical terminology that I employ. As inquiry is the engine of Lonergan’s method, next I specify two questions that underlie medical insights and define several terms, including health, disease, and illness, in relation to these questions. Then I expand the frame of reference to include all disciplines involved in the cycle of clinical interaction under the heading health science and the healing arts. Finally, I analyze the cycle of clinical interaction in terms of Lonergan’s cognitive theory. I compare and contrast my analysis, based on Lonergan, with that of Pellegrino, Thomasma and Sulmasy as I proceed. In closing, I comment briefly on the next stage of this project regarding Lonergan’s theory of the human good in relation to the practice of the healing arts.’

Doran, Robert M. ‘Imitating the Divine Relations: A Theological Contribution to Mimetic Theory.’ Method: Journal of Lonergan Studies 23/2 (Fall 2005) 149-86.

‘My concern in other essays has been to specify the place of the [four-point] hypothesis in a contemporary systematic theology.... [I]n the present article I am limiting my concern to the central issue of the imitations of divine being that Lonergan says are grounded in graced participations in the divine relations. I wish to speak to this issue in the context of the mimetic theory of René Girard. I will argue that the theological notion of imitating God through graced participation in the divine relations makes a contribution to mimetic theory, but also that Girard’s work contributes to the diagnostic that will enable a clear discrimination of genuine from inauthentic religion, and ultimately of genuine from inauthentic mimesis, including mimesis of the divine.... What I have spoken of as psychic conversion is relevant to the dimension of bias that Lonergan calls dramatic bias, and Girard, in my view, makes a profound contribution to illuminating both dramatic bias and the dynamics of psychic conversion. My argument is thus complex. It attempts to strengthen the theoretical status of the mimetic paradigm by relating it to Lonergan’s four-point systematic-theological hypothesis, and it attempts to release the potential of mimetic theory to clarify the constitution of both dramatic bias and psychic conversion.’

Hoyt-O’Connor, Paul. ‘The Human Good and Lonergan’s Macroeconomic Dynamics.’ Logos: A Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture 12/2 (2009) 94-124.

‘I explore Lonergan’s account of the human good as historical as well as the strides he made in analyzing the productive, commercial, and financial routines comprising modern exchange economies. Without more explanatory accounts of both the human good and exchange economies, we run the risk of silencing the call to conversion, obscuring its import for our lives and livelihoods and, thus, failing to arrange our economy in ways envisioned by the common good tradition.’

Mansini, Guy. ‘Understanding St. Thomas on Christ’s Immediate Knowledge of God.’ In The Word Has Dwelt Among Us: Explorations in Theology. Ave Maria, Florida: Sapientia Press of Ave Maria University, 2008, 45-71. (See listing under ‘Gems.’)

‘I want to show ... what line of questioning can lead us today to an appreciation of St. Thomas’s account of the datum of faith that the [1985] International Theological Commission [on “The Consciousness of Christ Concerning Himself and His Mission”] spells out. This itinerary is in part contained in Thesis XII of Bernard Lonergan’s De Verbo Incarnato. But I think it is important today to start the itinerary in the Synoptics rather than in John. Because of the common opinion as to the already heavily interpreted and theologized character of John, Lonergan’s treatment has lost some of its persuasive character. This character, however, is easily restored.’

McShane, Philip. ‘Obstacles to Metaphysical Control.’ Method: Journal of Lonergan Studies 23/2 (Fall 2005) 187-95.

The author begins by taking his topic to mean ‘difficulties in understanding Lonergan’s contribution to metaphysics.’ The first, personal difficulty he mentions is ‘the challenge of understanding the third chapter of Verbum, in particular the meaning of potentia activa.’ His ‘breakthrough of 2001’ was his ‘comprehending identification of potentia activa with the capacity-for-performance so casually introduced in chapter 15 of Insight.’ The second difficulty is ‘the problem of the metaphysical equivalents of experience, where the word experience is taken in the ordinary sense of empirical experience.’ Third, if metaphysics ‘is a reach for an integral heuristic structure of being,’ and involves ‘a whole series of questions right up to the last ‘why?,’ and if, as Lonergan says, ‘[i]n this life we are able to understand something only by turning to phantasm,’ then, as Lonergan argues, ‘if we want to have a comprehensive grasp of everything in a unified whole, we shall have to construct a diagram in which are symbolically represented all the various elements of the question along with all the connections between them.’ Fourth, there is the ‘existentially unwelcome’ ‘ontic struggle of the subject as subject’ ‘to lift the “already out there now” into an explanatory heuristic context,’ ‘in the world of neurochemical explanation.’ Finally, ‘the obstacles to metaphysics are phylogenetic and a deeper solution must be of the same histogenetic character.’ For the author, ‘[t]he major obstacle to metaphysical control of progress is the failure to implement Lonergan’s auxiliary strategy of functional recycling’ of global collaboration.

Mudd, Joseph C. ‘From De-ontotheology to a Metaphysics of Meaning: Louis-Marie Chauvet and Bernard Lonergan on Foundations in Sacramental Theology.’ Proceedings of the North American Academy of Liturgy (3-6 January 2008) 114-35.

‘I begin by examining Chauvet’s critique of Thomas in order to understand what metaphysics means for Chauvet. Second, I briefly examine Chauvet’s use of Heidegger in his critique of scholastic metaphysics. Third, I offer an alternative interpretation of the Thomist system drawn from the work of Bernard Lonergan, and finally, I propose what I imagine will be a fruitful dialogue between Lonergan and Chauvet that can give support to Chauvet’s desire to integrate Scripture, sacrament, and ethics.’

Neira F., Germán. ‘El dinamismo de los juicios de valor en la autotrascendencia moral.’ Theologica Xaveriana 58, no. 165 (2008) 201-24.

‘The author presents an aspect of moral theology that deals with the dynamics of the judgments of values in the process of taking decisions. With the purpose of seeking a common consensus about minimal values, as a common basis for the dialogue about moral social responsibility, Bernard Lonergan makes explicit the basic dynamics of human behaviour which, being common to all, should make possible a way of authenticity and positive moral realization that we seek. ... In a previous paper (Theologica Xaveriana 55/3, 463-76) the author exposed the dynamics of feelings and values as constituent of morality. As a complement, he deals now with the dynamics of the judgment of values in the process of taking decisions and of moral autotranscendence.’

Perry, Donna. Catholic Supporters of Same-Gender Marriage: A Case Study of Human Dignity in a Multicultural Society. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 1009.

The author presents the philosophical and theoretical framework of transcendent pluralism and its application in a study of Catholics who support same-gender marriage.  Transcendent pluralism is a knowledge and values-based framework for addressing contemporary social issues rooted in human devaluation such as group bias, social injustice, health disparities, human rights violations, violent conflict and genocide.  In order to investigate and refine the framework of transcendent pluralism, a study was conducted of Catholic same-gender marriage supporters, using a qualitative research method adapted from Lonergan’s transcendental method. 

Sharkey, Michael. ‘Heidegger, Lonergan, and Self-Presence.’ Method: Journal of Lonergan Studies 23/2 (Fall 2005) 197-210.

‘Insofar as self-presence is had in and through intending, and intending is carried in socio-practical, linguistic, and historical media, one’s account of self-presence would seem ultimately to depend, at least in part, on one’s account of such media. And on this score, we believe Heidegger may fare better than Lonergan. For his [Heidegger’s] account of the “lifeworld” is so richly developed. But insofar as self-presence, again, is had in and through intending, one’s account of self-presence will also depend, at least in part, on one’s account of intending. And on this score, we believe Lonergan may fare better. For his account differentiates between understanding and conception, and especially reflection and affirmation, far more carefully than does Heidegger’s, if indeed Heidegger’s does at all.’

Vertin, Michael. ‘Human Flourishing after 9/11: Contextualizing One of Lonergan’s Central Philosophical Claims.’ Method: Journal of Lonergan Studies 23/2 (Fall 2005) 211-44.

‘My aim ... is to illustrate how something of the ... contention [that reality (including real goodness) is what the authentic subject yearns to know and choose] may be made accessible to persons who are well educated but not necessarily expert in philosophical matters. ... The paper’s general background is the set of attacks by members of the Islamic terrorist organization “Al Qaeda” against various targets in the United States that occurred on September 11, 2001, and ensuing developments during the subsequent thirty-eight months ... The paper’s initial focus is the assemblage of those collective moral reactions ... I suggest that they can be organized into four main groups, and that analysis of those groups can illuminate important features of the methodological structure of concrete moral argumentation ... [S]uch an analysis can bring to light that the lived justification of any particular moral assessment is the resultant of three sets of factors: the particular concrete elements that the assessors encounter in the given situation, plus the habitual moral dispositions and fundamental moral presuppositions that they bring to that situation. By presenting these factors as the contents not of abstract theories but of the concrete cognitional performance of North Americans reacting to 9/11, I seek to underline the unavoidable personal character of our knowing and choosing in every moral setting. ... I seek to indicate the fundamental procedural location of our ultimate moral yardstick, and to highlight what Lonergan thinks are the distinctive features of the yardstick we employ whenever we are operating at our best, by contrast with two common alternative yardsticks.’

REVIEWS

Moloney, Raymond. Milltown Studies 61 (Summer 2008) 143-45.

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Beards, Andrew. Method in Metaphysics: Lonergan and the Future of Analytical Philosophy. (See LSN 28/4 [2007] 1.)

Bosco, Mark and David Stagaman. Finding God in All Things: Celebrating Bernard Lonergan, John Courtney Murray and Karl Rahner. (See LSN 28/4 [2007] 1-2.)

McCall, Bradford. The Heythrop Journal 50/3 (2009) 571-72.

Connor, James L. ed. The Dynamics of Desire: Bernard J.F. Lonergan on the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. (See LSN 27/4 [2006] 1.)

McGuickian, Michael. The Heythrop Journal 50/3 (2009) 536-37.

Crowe, Frederick E. Crowe. Appropriating the Lonergan Idea. (See LSN 10/2 (1989) 1.)

McGuckian, Michael. The Heythrop Journal 50/3 (2009) 533-34.

Fitterer, Robert J. Love and Objectivity in Virtue Ethics: Aristotle, Lonergan and Nussbaum on Emotions and Moral Insight. (See LSN 29/3 [2008] 3.)

Cochran, Elizabeth Agnew. Theological Studies 70/2 (2009) 509-10.

Fitzpatrick, Joseph. Philosophical Encounters: Lonergan and the Analytic Tradition. (See LSN 26/3 [2005] 1.)

Crutcher, Timothy. The Heythrop Journal 50/3 (2009) 534-35.

Lambert, Pierrot. Bernard Lonergan. Introduction à sa vie et à son oeuvre. (See LSN 29/2 [2008] 4.)

Gilbert, André. Science et Esprit 61/2-3 (2009) 283-85.

Martin, Stephen L. Healing and Creativity in Economic Ethics: The Contribution of Bernard Lonergan’s Economic Thought to Catholic Social Teaching. (See LSN 28/3 [2007]2.)

Melchin, Kenneth R. Theological Studies 70/2 (2009) 498-99.

Mathews, William A. Lonergan’s Quest: A Study of Desire in the Authoring of Insight. (See LSN 27/1 [2006] 2.)

Riordan, Patrick. The Heythrop Journal 50/3 (2009) 531-33.

Orji, Cyril. Ethics and Religious Conflict in Africa: An Analysis of Bias, Decline, and Conversion Based on the Works of Bernard Lonergan. (See LSN 30/1 [2009] 2.)

Iwuchukwu, Marinus. Theological Studies 70/2 (2009) 483-85.

Snell, Russell J. Through a Glass Darkly: Bernard Lonergan and Richard Rorty on Knowing without a God’s-Eye View. (See LSN 27/4 [2006] 4.)

Meynell, Hugo. The Heythrop Journal 50/3 (2009) 535-36.

Tortorelli, Kevin. Christology with Lonergan and Balthasar. (See LSN 27/1 [2006] 3.)

Moloney, Raymond. Milltown Studies 61 (Summer 2008) 142-43.

DISSERTATIONS & THESES

‘My methodology ... makes heuristic use of Bernard Lonergan’s study of the fourfold operation of human consciousness as experience, understanding, judgment and decision. This general description of human consciousness is a useful framework to draw out similarities and differences in these texts.’

Miller, Mark T. Why the Passion?: Bernard Lonergan on the Cross as Communication. Dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Boston College, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, 2008. Director: Frederick Lawrence.

‘This dissertation aims at understanding Bernard Lonergan’s understanding of how the passion of Jesus Christ is salvific. ... Through the self-gift of divine, unrestricted Love and the Incarnate Word, God works with human sensitivity, imagination, intelligence, affect, freedom, and community to produce religious, moral, and intellectual conversion, and to form the renewed, renewing community Lonergan calls “cosmopolis” and the body of Christ’ (from the Abstract). Lonergan relies on the analogy of communication to distinguish the several factors involved in salvation through the cross. He proposes the “Law of the Cross” to explain how Christ’s cross reconciles God and humanity.