History 1969:2

CD/mp3 506, second part of 1969 lecture on history. Sponsored by Bro. Martin J. Murphy, S.J. There were questions after the lecture recorded in the previous item. The first had to do with the criterion of value judgments, which lies in self-transcendence. The lecture prescinded from that question, which is treated in dialectic. The issue moves to the problem of the contemporary university and its relation to values and decision beyond technique. Reference is made to Gadamer's critique of the use of technical method, and Lonergan adds his own emphasis on intellectual, moral, and religious conversion. Another question was about functional specialization, and Lonergan's answer distinguished it from subject and field specialization and then does a brief overview of the first four of the eight functional specialties. A question follows about dialectic, which Lonergan answers in terms of authentic and unauthent ic traditions. Then there is a discussion of the critique of critical history in the historical community, which leads into the topic of intellectual conversion, which Lonergan illustrates by contrasting Tertullian, Origen, and Athanasius on the divinity of the Son. This is followed by a question on the relevance of religious conversion for history: does it have to do with religious data or just with the religious horizon? Lonergan indicates that our time is far more momentous for theology than was the thirteenth century, and goes on to give his summary position regarding the development of medieval theology and the changes that occurred in the sixteenth century (Cano). A new method is required because of the significance of history. The final question has to do with the criterion for judging different historical accounts from within the same horizon, but Lonergan's response focused more on the problem of the contemporary university. As the discussion goes on, he returns to real self-transcendence as the criterion of value judgments.