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This graduate seminar is designed as an advanced introduction to the thought of Bernard Lonergan, SJ. The seminar will examine Lonergan’s approach to self-knowledge and “self-appropriation,” epistemology, and method in metaphysics and theology. The main text for the course will be Lonergan’s seminal Insight: A Study of Human Understanding. Upon first publication in 1957, Insight was greeted by reviewers as “probably… one of the great philosophical treatises of the century,” “a profound book… evincing an extraordinary sense for the persistent significance of ancient and medieval thought in the light of modern science,” “a Catholic Phenomenology of Mind with a personalist orientation.”
Our principal objectives will be to understand the fundamental ideas animating Lonergan’s project, to facilitate the personal “philosophic experience” Insight was intended to provoke, and to introduce a critique of methods to help participants begin to make sense of the deep sources of disagreement in the humanities, particularly philosophy and theology. Although it would be impossible to communicate the whole of Lonergan’s thought in a week, the seminar will attempt to give a sense of the whole “in” Lonergan’s thought, that is, of the through-line linking the project of Insight to his theological work and to the framework for methodical collaboration he proposed in Method in Theology, his sequel to Insight.
Application Information:
This seminar will be of interest to students in philosophy, theology, and other disciplines that address foundational questions in the humanities and human sciences, including law, economics, politics, and history. Although primarily intended for doctoral students, advanced master’s degree candidates will be considered. Previous familiarity with Lonergan is not required.
Please submit the following:
- A completed online application form.
- An updated CV.
- At least one and no more than two letter(s) of recommendation.
- A statement of research interest no longer than 750 words, which includes an explanation of how this seminar might bear on the student’s current or future research plans.
- One academic writing sample (30 pages maximum).
- All application materials can be submitted via the online application. Incomplete applications will not be considered.
- Application deadline is February 2, 2025
The seminar will take place at Boston College between June 22 and June 28, 2025
Admitted students will be provided housing and most meals during the seminar. They can submit for up to $350 travel reimbursement after the conclusion of the seminar.
For full consideration, applications should be submitted by February 2.
Jeremy D. Wilkins is Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at Boston College, and Director of the Lonergan Institute. He is the author of Before Truth: Lonergan, Aquinas, and the Problem of Wisdom (The Catholic University of America, 2018). In addition to the philosophy and theology of Bernard Lonergan, his research focuses on Thomas Aquinas, Trinitarian theology, Christology, and grace.
Roberto J. De La Noval is Assistant Professor of Theology at Mount St. Mary’s University (Emmitsburg, MD). A systematic and historical theologian, his research concerns Russian religious thought, eschatology, and the thought of Bernard Lonergan.
