The Fragility of Consciousness

"The cumulative impact of this brilliant collection of essays make two things very clear: first, Professor Lawrence is undoubtedly the foremost interpreter of the highly original and complex work of Bernard Lonergan; second, Professor Lawrence's own voice has become a major voice in the contemporary debates on the crisis of culture and the resources to deal with that crisis." -- David Tracy, Andrew Thomas Greeley and Grace McNichols Greeley Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Catholic Studies, University of Chicago "Frederick G. Lawrence's outstanding contribution to philosophy and theology is internationally respected and treasured. The fragility of consciousness reminds us of the essential incompleteness of any human action and as such calls for humility as the conscientious endeavour to rediscover our place in the created universe." -- Andrzej Wiercinski, Professor of Philosophy of Religion, University of Freiburg "The Fragility of Consciousness brings together an excellent selection of Lawrence's work, making available older pieces, those difficult to find, and unpublished essays that very few can access. The volume makes a real contribution, both as an introduction to Lawrence's thought, to Lonergan studies more generally, and as an intellectual accomplishment in its own right." -- R.J. Snell, Director, Center on the University and Intellectual Life, The Witherspoon Institute

The Fragility of Consciousness is the first published collection of Frederick G. Lawrence’s essays and contains several of his best known writings as well as unpublished work.

Frederick G. Lawrence is the authoritative interpreter of the work of Bernard Lonergan and an incisive reader of twentieth-century continental philosophy and hermeneutics.

The Fragility of Consciousness is the first published collection of his essays and contains several of his best known writings as well as unpublished work. The essays in this volume exhibit a long interdisciplinary engagement with the relationship between faith and reason in the context of the crisis of culture that has marked twentieth- and twenty-first century thought and practice. Frederick G. Lawrence, with his profound and generous commitment to the intellectual life of the church, has produced a body of work that engages with Heidegger, Gadamer, Habermas, Ricoeur, Strauss, Voegelin, and Benedict XVI among others. These essays also explore various themes such as the role of religion in a secular age, political theology, economics, neo-Thomism, Christology, and much more. In an age marked by social, cultural, political, and ecclesial fragmentation, Lawrence models a more generous way – one that prioritizes friendship, conversation, and understanding above all else.