Lonergan in the World

"Lonergan in the World provokes many interesting and important questions. James L. Marsh's writing is fluid, personal, clear, and entertaining. He exhibits a deep familiarity with both continental philosophy and Lonergan's thought and his book should be enlightening to students of both." -- Mark Morelli, Department of Philosophy, Loyola Marymount University "There are many fine books on Lonergan and his connections to the individual thinkers and movements discussed here, but there is no other work that approaches self-appropriation in the manner in which Marsh sees it - as the key to philosophizing. Lucid and direct, his are the seasoned reflections of a philosopher who shows the decisive influence of Lonergan on his treatment of contemporary issues." -- Thomas McPartland, Whitney Young School of Honors and Liberal Studies, Kentucky State University

Lonergan in the World compares and applies Lonergan’s principles to major trends in contemporary philosophy, including phenomenology, hermeneutics, postmodernism, analytic philosophy, and Marxism.

In his philosophical classic Insight, Catholic philosopher and theologian Bernard Lonergan introduced the concept of self-appropriation – the personal search for knowledge of the self, and through that of the world – as the basis for systematic philosophical investigation.

In Lonergan in the World, James L. Marsh argues, clearly and passionately, that self-appropriation can serve as the basis for philosophical, ethical, and even political and economic thought. Comparing and applying Lonergan’s principles to major trends in contemporary philosophy, including phenomenology, hermeneutics, postmodernism, analytic philosophy, and Marxism, Marsh uncovers the philosophical and the socio-political implications of Lonergan’s work and its value as the basis for a search for justice and self-understanding.

Drawing on Marsh’s more than forty years of studying and teaching Lonergan’s thought, Lonergan in the World is a book that should be read not just by philosophers and theologians, but by anyone interested in the philosophical foundations of a just and authentic life.