Dissertations
Darren J.E. Dias, The Contibutions of Bernard J.F. Lonergan to a Systematic Understanding of Religious DiversityJames G. Duffy, The Ethics of Lonergan's Existential Intellectualism
John Little, Lonergan's Intentionality Analysis and the Foundations of Organization and Governance
The thesis explores the nature of organization and governance by applying a method of intentionality analysis as elaborated by the Canadian philosopher and theologian, Bernard Lonergan, in his two monumental works, Insight – a study of human understanding, and Method in Theology. The project arose from the writer’s own experience in management education and consultancy.
Admittedly, intentionality analysis has not been a major theme in the management
literature. However, the late Sumantra Ghoshal drew attention to the consequences of neglecting the dimension of intentionality in business education and management theory, such consequences as unethical practices and even the collapse of corporations, as was the case with Enron. In a paper published by the Academy of Management Learning and Education in 2005, Ghoshal raised a number of crucial and epistemological questions, though he offered no easy answers.
In the effort to rise to Ghoshal’s challenge, this thesis argues that Lonergan’s method
of intentionality analysis opens new ways to approach the theory and practice of
management. It thereby suggests a model relevant to all managerial tasks. Hence, it
repeatedly stresses the value of asking questions and of attending to data. It indicates
what is involved in the understanding of a given situation, in the making of judgments based on experience, and in the deciding on particular courses of action.
In so doing, the thesis clarifies a number of intricate epistemological questions, while
emphasising throughout the vital role of self-knowledge and self-possession.
The thesis is essentially a step-by-step discussion of the various elements in
intentionality analysis in the context of corporate management. Hence, for the sake of
brevity, it designates its “intentionality analysis method” with the acronym, IAM
(and in reference to organisational operations, IAMO). To illustrate various aspects of
intentionality analysis for the purposes of management education, the author draws
on exercises previously used in his involvement in executive workshops. The usefulness of the IAM developed in this thesis is highlighted by comparing and contrasting it with selected management theories on learning and strategy as found in the writings of, for example, Belbin, Janis, Kegan, Revans, Argyris, Nonaka, Takeuchi, Senge, Mintzberg, Ansoff, Lewis and Jaques. The project concludes with a discussion of the pedagogical challenges involved in presenting such material to managers, with reference to some contemporary developments in business education.
Admittedly, intentionality analysis has not been a major theme in the management
literature. However, the late Sumantra Ghoshal drew attention to the consequences of neglecting the dimension of intentionality in business education and management theory, such consequences as unethical practices and even the collapse of corporations, as was the case with Enron. In a paper published by the Academy of Management Learning and Education in 2005, Ghoshal raised a number of crucial and epistemological questions, though he offered no easy answers.
In the effort to rise to Ghoshal’s challenge, this thesis argues that Lonergan’s method
of intentionality analysis opens new ways to approach the theory and practice of
management. It thereby suggests a model relevant to all managerial tasks. Hence, it
repeatedly stresses the value of asking questions and of attending to data. It indicates
what is involved in the understanding of a given situation, in the making of judgments based on experience, and in the deciding on particular courses of action.
In so doing, the thesis clarifies a number of intricate epistemological questions, while
emphasising throughout the vital role of self-knowledge and self-possession.
The thesis is essentially a step-by-step discussion of the various elements in
intentionality analysis in the context of corporate management. Hence, for the sake of
brevity, it designates its “intentionality analysis method” with the acronym, IAM
(and in reference to organisational operations, IAMO). To illustrate various aspects of
intentionality analysis for the purposes of management education, the author draws
on exercises previously used in his involvement in executive workshops. The usefulness of the IAM developed in this thesis is highlighted by comparing and contrasting it with selected management theories on learning and strategy as found in the writings of, for example, Belbin, Janis, Kegan, Revans, Argyris, Nonaka, Takeuchi, Senge, Mintzberg, Ansoff, Lewis and Jaques. The project concludes with a discussion of the pedagogical challenges involved in presenting such material to managers, with reference to some contemporary developments in business education.
John Volk, Lonergan on the Historical Causality of Christ
Joseph C. Mudd, Eucharist and Critical Metaphysics
Leo Serroul, A New Divine Perfection: An Interpretation of Bernard Lonergan's THE TRIUNE GOD: SYSTEMATICS from the Viewpoint of Order
This is a revised edition of a dissertation successfully defended at Toronto School of Theology, University of Toronto, 2004. The author's abstract:
Sapientis est ordinare. Ordering is the work of the wise. This interpretation of Bernard
Lonergan's systematic theology of God pursues throughout the Pars systematica of his De Deo trino (1964) an idea he does not advert to as constitutive of his method as such, namely the idea of order.
The idea of order, I argue, does function methodically in the Pars systematica. As he moves systematically from the nature of God, from God to us, and back to God, Lonergan variously specifies the idea of order in ways integral to both the form and content of his theology, a trinitarian theology of comprehensive scope. These specific instances of order--relating to fundamentals of trinitarian theory, soteriology, subjectivity, intersubjectivity, the natural world, history, and culture--can be related intelligibly to one another. Thus the idea of order informs an emergent viewpoint that facilitates synthetic understanding of Lonergan's complex, sometimes very difficult, systematics of the Trinity. Furthermore, I argue, the explanatory process of interpreting the Pars systematica from the single viewpoint of order can give students means, not too difficult to grasp, whereby they too might gain a synthetic understanding of Lonergan's theology of God sufficient to affirm its comprehensiveness, unity, value, and openness to organic development.
My interpretation also aims to provide the student of Lonergan's thought with data sufficient to answer adequately the question of meaning posed by this text from the Pars systematica:
Although all other goods of order imitate ad extra [external to God] that supreme good of order to be perceived in the Holy Trinity itself, it is nonetheless fitting that the economy of salvation, which is ordered to participation in the very beatitude of divinity, not only imitate the order of the Holy Trinity but also in some manner participate in that same order.
The centerpiece of the Augustine-Aquinas-Lonergan tradition of trinitarian theology is the psychological analogy. Drawing from the integral relationship between the intentional operations of the enquiring subject and theological method, I seek to demonstrate that in the Pars systematica and other writings to 1964, especially Insight, Lonergan provides a way to express from the viewpoint of order the intelligible unity among God quoad se (the immanent Trinity), God quoad nos (the economic Trinity), and the "everything else" comprised by the category Creation. My argument also emphasizes the relevance of Lonergan's theology of God to Christian living, especially to the subjectivity and work of the theologian.
Sapientis est ordinare. Ordering is the work of the wise. This interpretation of Bernard
Lonergan's systematic theology of God pursues throughout the Pars systematica of his De Deo trino (1964) an idea he does not advert to as constitutive of his method as such, namely the idea of order.
The idea of order, I argue, does function methodically in the Pars systematica. As he moves systematically from the nature of God, from God to us, and back to God, Lonergan variously specifies the idea of order in ways integral to both the form and content of his theology, a trinitarian theology of comprehensive scope. These specific instances of order--relating to fundamentals of trinitarian theory, soteriology, subjectivity, intersubjectivity, the natural world, history, and culture--can be related intelligibly to one another. Thus the idea of order informs an emergent viewpoint that facilitates synthetic understanding of Lonergan's complex, sometimes very difficult, systematics of the Trinity. Furthermore, I argue, the explanatory process of interpreting the Pars systematica from the single viewpoint of order can give students means, not too difficult to grasp, whereby they too might gain a synthetic understanding of Lonergan's theology of God sufficient to affirm its comprehensiveness, unity, value, and openness to organic development.
My interpretation also aims to provide the student of Lonergan's thought with data sufficient to answer adequately the question of meaning posed by this text from the Pars systematica:
Although all other goods of order imitate ad extra [external to God] that supreme good of order to be perceived in the Holy Trinity itself, it is nonetheless fitting that the economy of salvation, which is ordered to participation in the very beatitude of divinity, not only imitate the order of the Holy Trinity but also in some manner participate in that same order.
The centerpiece of the Augustine-Aquinas-Lonergan tradition of trinitarian theology is the psychological analogy. Drawing from the integral relationship between the intentional operations of the enquiring subject and theological method, I seek to demonstrate that in the Pars systematica and other writings to 1964, especially Insight, Lonergan provides a way to express from the viewpoint of order the intelligible unity among God quoad se (the immanent Trinity), God quoad nos (the economic Trinity), and the "everything else" comprised by the category Creation. My argument also emphasizes the relevance of Lonergan's theology of God to Christian living, especially to the subjectivity and work of the theologian.
Mary Patricia Utzerath, Full, Conscious, and Active Participation: The Laity as Ecclesial Subjects in an Ecclesiology Informed by Bernard Lonergan


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