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Transforming The Foundation: Lonergan's Transposition Of Aquinas' Notion Of Wisdom, Juliana Vazquez Krivsky

Dissertations (1934 -)

Medieval philosopher and theologian Thomas Aquinas developed a multifaceted account of wisdom by integrating Aristotelian and Platonic lines of thought with the truths of Christianity. Bernard J.F. Lonergan, SJ (1904-1984), one of the leading Catholic systematic theologians of the twentieth century, transplanted the metaphysical insights of Aquinas into a contemporary philosophy and theology of conscious intentionality constructed around human experiencing, understanding, judging, deciding, and loving.This dissertation reiterates the deceptively simple question first posed by Frederick Crowe: Did Lonergan achieve a deliberate, thoroughgoing transposition of the Thomist metaphysical category of wisdom into a more cognitive-existential context? Through a chronological and detailed …

Love And Lonergan's Cognitional-Intentional Anthropology: An Inquiry On The Question Of A "Fifth Level Of Consciousness", Jeremy Blackwood

Dissertations (1934 -)

This dissertation addresses a controversial question among those who study the work of Bernard J.F. Lonergan, SJ (1904-1984): To what extent and with what intent did Lonergan affirm a fifth level of consciousness? He used the spatial image of "levels of consciousness" to express the relations among key operations of the conscious human subject, and the image remains common currency for those familiar with his work. However, the precise number of levels shifted and developed throughout Lonergan's career, beginning with three, moving to four, and finally including some mention of a fifth. As the level of love, this fifth level …

Love's Lack: The Relationship Between Poverty And Eros In Plato's Symposium, Lorelle D. Lamascus

Dissertations (1934 -)

This dissertation responds to a long-standing debate among scholars regarding the nature of Platonic Eros and its relation to lack. The more prominent account of Platonic Eros presents the lack of Eros as a deficiency or need experienced by the lover with respect to the object needed, lacked, or desired, so that the nature of Eros is construed as self-interested or acquisitive, subsisting only so long as the lover lacks the beloved object. This dissertation argues that such an interpretation neglects the different senses of lack present in the Symposium and presents an alternative interpretation of Eros based on the …

Beyond Stewardship: Toward An Agapeic Environmental Ethic, Christopher J. Vena

Dissertations (1934 -)

This dissertation is a work in theological anthropology and environmental philosophy. It seeks to provide a conceptual framework for a Christian environmental ethic rooted in love.

The heart of the crisis of ecological degradation is found in human attitudes and behaviors. In the late 1960's it was suggested that Christianity was a key source of the problem because it promoted the idea of human "dominion" over creation. This spurred a variety of responses designed to show that Christian faith was compatible with environmental care. A key theme emerging from this debate was the image of humans as Stewards of God's …