Fr. Sala attempts in this article to provide readers and students of Lonergan with a clear, precise, and condensed presentation of his conception of method in theology in today’s context. He does this by sketching the most important stages in the evolution of Lonergan’s thought. The core of this presentation is the analysis of the “human subject in its subjectivity.” Lonergan deals primarily not with the content of theological science but with the operations theologians perform in constructing theology. He (...) endeavors to clarify this subjectivity in all its dimensions. Having given us an analysis of Lonergan’s Verbum articles, Sala goes on to present Lonergan’s Insight under three headings: knowledge, objectivity, and reality. This done, he proceeds to summarize Method in Theology under these headings: the religious dimension of the subject, the structure of theological method, the specific theological principle of a method in theology, and the authentic subject as the foundation for theological reflection.The article is a masterly presentation of a vast area of research and a good introduction to Lonergan’s works.This article appeared in Theologie und Philosophie 63 (1988) 34-59 and was titled: “B. Lonergans Methode der Theologie: Ein Theologe hinterfugt seinen eigenen Verstand.” Von Giovanni B. Sala, S.J. (shrink)

For God's knowledge in all cultures have, therefore, humans are supposed to be easily understood. However, to find out the exact number of steps, so that we can from this world to make the conclusion that God exists, but why is still very difficult. This paper attempts to point out why the case. Reason to silt, to analyze all human beings are familiar with the cognitive activities of the universality of the difficulties faced, if, to analyze the experience we can (...) get the reality is very difficult, then to analyze our experience outside the awareness of God does it mean even more difficult. Therefore, in this paper should first study our knowledge of the world. The results are as follows: human cognition is for action of a different cognitive structure; each object has its own cognitive activity, and in accordance with certain specifications; and these norms are in our cognitive effort within. All these cognitive operations are located in three levels: 1) experiences, but the object of our knowledge there is "information." 2) As has been seen all the information we obtain one kind of intellectual . Then we have the knowledge to the intellectual to express a concept, and use this concept to think about this object. 3) by judge is correct), we have absolute certainty and understanding provided by the object, to our knowledge there are objects of this object. To our understanding of the world a reality, but reality does not explain why this would exist. For the "existence" of the issues raised by the end lead to the existence of an absolutely transcendent entity of the cognitive, physical such as an infinite intellectual ability to explain his own existence and the existence of the world . Der Artikel versucht zu zeigen, warum, obwohl die Gotteserkenntnis sich in allen Kulturen findet und deshalb fur den Menschen eher naheliegend sein muβ, es dennoch schwierig ist, die Schritte genau zu ermitteln, die uns erlauben, von der Welt her auf die Existenz Gottes zu schlieβen. Der Grund liegt in der allgemeinen Schwierigkeit, die allen, Menschen vertraute Erkenntnistätigkeit zu analysieren. Wenn es schon schwierig ist, unsere Erkenntnis der erfahrbaren Wirklichkeit zu analysieren, urn so mehr ist dies der Fall, wenn es um die Erkenntnis eines höchsten Wesens jenseits unserer Erfahrung geht. Im Artikel wird deshalb zuerst unsere Erkenntnis der Welt untersucht. Das Resultat ist folgendes: Die menschliche Erkenntnis besteht in einer Struktur verschiedener Erkenntnisakte, deren jeder ein eigenes Objekt hat und gemäβ Normen stattfindet, die unserem Erkenntnisstreben innewohnen. Diese Akte verteilen sich auf drei Ebenen. 1) In der Erfahrung erkennen wir ein Objekt als bloβ gegeben, als "Datum". 2) Mit der Einsicht erfassen wir in den Daten ein Intelligibles. Infolgedessen driicken wir das erkannte Intellibible in einem Begriff aus, mit dem wir das Objekt denken. 3) Mit dem Urteil bejahen wir absolut das gegebene und verstandene Objekt und damit erkennen wir es als ein Seiendes. Damit haben wir eine Wirklichkeit der Welt erkannt, aber nieht erklart, warum sie existiert. Die Frage nach der Existenz fuhrt schlieβlich zur Erkenntnis eines absolut transzendenten Wesens, das als ein unbegrenztes Intelligibles imstande ist, die eigene Existenz sowie die Existenz der Welt zu erklären. (shrink)

Kants Philosophie hat einen großen Einfluss auf die moderne Kultur ausgeübt. Der Aufsatz will auf die Frage nach der Relevanz dieses Denkens für die Theologie antworten. Vier Themen werden untersucht: 1. die Erkennbarkeit Gottes als eines der praeambula fidei; 2. das Glaubensverständnis als eine der Hauptaufgaben des Theologen; 3. die geschichtliche Dimension dieses Verständnisses; 4. der Glaubensakt als das Urteil, mit dem der Gläubige der geoffenbarten Wahrheit zustimmt. Demgegenüber stellt eine eingehende Untersuchung der Texte den Agnostizismus Kants fest; weiter das (...) völlige Fehlen des Verstehensaktes , den Kant durch starre Begriffe a priori ersetzt; weiter die Ignorierung des proprium des Urteils als absoluter Bejahung. Das eher negative Resultat stimmt mit der Beurteilung des gegenwärtigen Papstes überein, der in seiner Regensburger Vorlesung in der "Kritik" Kants einen klassischen Ausdruck der modernen "selbstverfügten Beschränkung der Vernunft" gesehen hat.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 of 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 ; 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. (shrink)

The first essay is one of the most influential papers ever written on Lonergan; it and the second one inquire into the notion of the a priori. The third essay presents a detailed analysis of Kantian intuitionism and contrasts it with the 'knowledge as structure' position of Lonergan's critical realism. In this essay intuitionism is generalized, to allow Sala to address representatives of neoscholasticism as well. The argument with neoscholasticism continues in the fourth essay.

The article tries to retrace the emergence of kant's "critique of pure reason". Already in the sixties, Kant faced the problem of metaphysics and came to the result that the conclusions of pure reason have only a subjective value. Hereby the material content of transcendental dialectic was reached. Only afterwards kant examined the underlying ontology and came to his transcendental idealism. On this new base kant should have had to revise his former critique of special metaphysics. However, He did this (...) only partially. (shrink)

O presente ensaio, aqui publicado em tradução original para Português, constitui uma secção muito significativa da conhecida obra de Giovanni B. Sala sobre Lonergan e a sua relação com Kant. Trata-se de um estudo comparativo das teorias do conhecimento de Immanuel Kant e de Bernard Lonergan, tomando-se como ponto de partida uma análise do estatuto do a priori no conhecimento humano tal como no-lo apresenta a Crítica da Razão Pura, de Kant, para depois se apresentarem as respectivas lacunas, (...) insuficiências e contradições mediante o recurso a Insight, a obra mestra de Bernard Lonergan. Para o filósofo jesuíta, com efeito, o interesse primordial consiste em realçar a possibilidade do conhecimento do ser, possibilidade essa fundamentada na natureza do juízo e na natureza do questionamento humano. Para além disso, mostra-se também como em ordem a ultrapassar a impossibilidade do conhecimento numénico, a reflexão lonerganiana sublinha o conhecimento como estrutura empírica, inteligente, racional e responsável, capaz de captar a realidade, uma vez que esta é, segundo Lonergan, intrinsecamente inteligível. /// The present text is a translation into Portuguese of a section of a work by Giovanni Sala on Lonergan and his relation with Kant. It amounts to a comparative study of the gnoseologies of Kand and Lonergan, whereby the starting point is an analysis of the statute of the a priori in human knowledge such as we find it in the Critique of Pure Reason of Kant, so that in the process the author also shows the corresponding insufficiencies and contradictions by means of a reading of the work Insight by Bernard Lonergan. For the Jesuit philosopher, the main interest of his gnoseology consists in an affirmation of the possibility of knowing being, possibility that is grounded in the nature of judgment itself and in the nature of human interro- gation. Moreover, the article also shows how in order to overcome the impossibility of noumenal knowledge, the lonerganian reflexion underlines knowledge as an empirical structure, intelligent, rational and responsible, able to capture reality. In the end, this is possible due to the fact that, for Lonergan, the real is intrinsically intelligible. (shrink)

In der Reihe werden herausragende monographische Untersuchungen und Sammelbände zu allen Aspekten der Philosophie Kants veröffentlicht, ebenso zum systematischen Verhältnis seiner Philosophie zu anderen philosophischen Ansätzen in Geschichte und Gegenwart. Veröffentlicht werden Studien, die einen innovativen Charakter haben und ausdrückliche Desiderate der Forschung erfüllen. Die Publikationen repräsentieren den aktuellsten Stand der Forschung.

: The article examines the metapher proposed by Kant in order to clarify how our mind attains knowledge of reality, and consequently according to what method we should work out a new metaphysics. The judge succeeds in knowing a juridical reality in so far as he asks the witnesses questions which he himself formulates. Hence Kant draws the conclusion that reason learns from nature only what she herself has put into nature. Now the problem lies in clarifying how the active-creative (...) moment and the receptive moment in human knowledge refer to one another . Kant acknowledges initially the complementarity of both moments. But since he had failed to grasp clearly the real distinction between the anticipatory-constructive capacity of our understanding and the following critical-reflective capacity of the same he ended up by making the first moment prevail unilaterally. The consequence is the idealist interpretation of knowing and being to which the first Critique leads. Also the later attempts could not overcome the impasse. This would have required both revisimg radically the intuition-principle in its sensist version and to acknowledge that the dynamism of intellect refers to reality, although it needs the data of experience to know it. (shrink)