Frederick G. Lawrence is an American hermeneutic philosopher and theologian, and a specialist in Bernard Lonergan

Bernard Lonergan

Fr. Bernard J.F. Lonergan, CC, SJ was a Canadian Jesuit priest, philosopher, and theologian widely regarded as one of the most important Catholic thinkers of the twentieth century....

, teaching in the Department of Theology at Boston College

Boston College

Boston College is a private Jesuit research university located in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. The main campus is bisected by the border between the cities of Boston and Newton. It has 9,200 full-time undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students. Its name reflects its early...

, Boston, USA.http://www.bc.edu/schools/cas/theology/faculty/flawrence.html

Life

Fred Lawrence (as he is popularly known) is married to Sue Lawrence. He has been running the annual Lonergan Workshop at Boston College

Boston College

Boston College is a private Jesuit research university located in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. The main campus is bisected by the border between the cities of Boston and Newton. It has 9,200 full-time undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students. Its name reflects its early...

 for the last many years, and is editor of the Lonergan Workshop, which publishes the proceedings. He also convened the First and Second International Lonergan Conferences at Rome (2001) and Toronto (2004).

Having been a student of Bernard Lonergan's at the Gregorian University, Rome, he is today one of the foremost interpreters of Lonergan's thought, and an acknowledged hermeneutical philosopher in his own right.

He did his PhD on the 'unlikely topic' of the hermeneutical circle in the thought of Gadamer and Lonergan. The thesis had the unique distinction of being appreciated by both thinkers. Unfortunately, it has still to be published, though a copy is available at the Lonergan Centre, Boston College, and in microfilm.

He was a personal friend of both Gadamer and Lonergan, and upon his invitation, Gadamer came several semesters to Boston College.

Work

In 2007, 6–8 September, a conference on "Hermeneutics, Postmodernism, Relativism" was held in honour of Fred Lawrence at Divyadaan: Salesian Institute of Philosophy

Divyadaan: Salesian Institute of Philosophy, Nashik

Divyadaan: Salesian Institute of Philosophy is a centre for philosophical studies at Don Bosco Marg, Nashik 422 005, India, offering bachelor's and master's degree courses in philosophy.- The Institute :...

, Nashik, India. Lawrence was scheduled to participate, but in the end could not for reasons of health; he, however, did contribute four papers outlining the contributions of Heidegger, Gadamer and Lonergan to the twentieth century hermeneutic revolution. The papers were published by Divyadaan: Journal of Philosophy and Education

Divyadaan: Journal of Philosophy and Education

Divyadaan: Journal of Philosophy and Education is published three times a year by Divyadaan: Salesian Institute of Philosophy, Nashik, India. It focuses mainly on philosophy, with interest also in the streams of education and communication, which are the two specializations offered by the Institute...

.

Primary

• “Believing to Understand: The Hermeneutic Circle in Gadamer and Lonergan.” Doctoral Thesis at the University of Basel. Director: Heinrich Ott. 1976.
• [Translator.] Heinrich Ott. “Questioning, Presentiment and Intuition in the Theological Thought Process.” Foundations of Theology: Papers from the Lonergan Congress 1970, ed. Philip McShane. Gill and Macmillan, 1971. 141-161.
• “Self Knowledge in History in Gadamer and Lonergan.” Language, Truth and Meaning. International Lonergan Congress, ed. Philip McShane. Dublin: Gill and Macmillan, 1972. 167 217.
• “Dialectic and Hermeneutic: Foundational Perspectives on the Relationship between Human Studies and the Project of Human Self-Constitution.” Stony Brook Studies in Philosophy 1 (1974) 37-59.
• “Discussion.” Stony Brook Studies in Philosophy 1 (1974) 60-73.
• “Responses to Hans-Georg Gadamer, ‘Hermeneutics and Social Science.’” Cultural Hermeneutics 2 (1975) 321-325.
• Review of Charles Winquist, Transcendental Imagination. Journal of the American Academy of Religion (June 1976).
• Review of Hans-Georg Gadamer, Truth and Method. Religious Media Today (April 1976).
• “Kafka: Gnostic or Zaddik?” Boston Arts Review. 197?
• “Gadamer’s Hermeneutic Strategy: Between Hegel and Heidegger.” Cultural Hermeneutics. 197?
• “Gadamer’s Philosophy and Theology.” [Paper delivered to Boston Theological Society, 9 March 1974.] Journal of Religion.
• “The Horizon of Political Theology.” Trinification of the World: A Festschrift in Honour of Frederick E. Crowe in Celebration of his 60th Birthday, ed. Thomas A. Dunne and Jean-Marc Laporte. Toronto: Regis College Press, 1978. 46-70.
• [Editor.] Lonergan Workshop 1. Missoula: Scholars Press, 1978.
• “A Response (I) to Gerald McCool.” Pro¬ceedings: Catholic Theological Society of America 32 (1977) 90-96.
• “Political Theology and ‘The Longer Cycle of Decline’.” Lonergan Workshop 1:223 255. Ed. Fred Lawrence. Missoula: Scholars Press, 1978.
• “Ricoeur’s ‘Political and Social Essays.’” Review of Paul Ricoeur, David Stewart, Joseph Bien, Social and Political Writings. The Journal of Religion 59/2 (1979) 224-230.
• [Editor.] Lonergan Workshop 2. Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1980.
• “‘The Modern Philosophic Differentiation of Consciousness’ or What is the Enlightenment.” Lonergan Workshop 2:231 279, ed. Fred Lawrence. Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1980.
• “Gadamer and Lonergan: A Dialectical Comparison.” International Philosophical Quarterly 20 (1980) 25-47.
• “Method and Theology as Hermeneutical.” Creativity and Method: Essays in Honor of Bernard Lonergan s.j., ed. Matthew L. Lamb. Milwaukee, Wi.: Marquette University Press, 1981. 79-104.
• “Transcendence as Interruption: Theology in a Political Mode.” Transcendence and the Sacred, ed. Alan M. Olson and Leroy S. Rouner. Boston University Studies in Philosophy and Religion, 2. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1981.
• [Editor.] Lonergan Workshop 3. Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1982.
• [Translator.] Hans-Georg Gadamer. Reason in the Age of Science. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1982.
• Review of Bernard Lonergan, Understanding and Being: An Introduction and Companion to Insight, ed. Elizabeth A. Morelli and Mark D. Morelli, in Theology Today 39 (1982–83) 478-479.
• [Editor.] Lonergan Workshop 4. Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1983.
• [Translator.] Jürgen Habermas. Philosophical-Political Profiles. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1983.
• “Voegelin and Theology as Hermeneutical and Political.” Voegelin and the Theologian: Ten Studies in Interpretation, ed. John Kirby and Wm. M. Thompson. NY and Toronto: The Edwin Mellen Press, 1983. 314-355.
• [Editor.] The Beginning and the Beyond. Papers from the Gadamer and Voegelin Conferences. Supplementary Issue of Lonergan Work¬shop 4. Atlanta: Schol¬ars Press, 1984. With “Editor’s Note” v-vi.
• “Language as Horizon?” The Beginning and the Beyond. Papers from the Gadamer and Voegelin Conferences. Supplementary Issue of Lonergan Work¬shop 4:13 34, ed. Fred Lawrence. Atlanta: Schol¬ars Press, 1984.
• “The Human Good and Christian Conversation.” Searching for Cultural Foundations, ed. Philip McShane. Washington, D.C.: University Press of America, 1984. 86-112.
• [Translator.] Jürgen Habermas. “The French Path to Postmodernity: Bataille between Eroticism and General Economics.” New German Critique, No. 33: Modernity and Postmodernity (Autumn 1984) 79-102.
• [Editor.] Lonergan Workshop 5. Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1985.
• “Basic Christian Community: An Issue of ‘Mind and the Mystery of Christ’.” Lonergan Work¬shop 5:263 88, ed. Fred Lawrence. Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1985.
• [Editor.] Lonergan Workshop 6. Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press, 1986.
• “Elements of Basic Communication.” Lonergan Work¬shop 6:127 142, ed. Fred Lawrence. Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press, 1986.
• [Editor.] Lonergan Workshop 7. Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press, 1988.
• [Editor.] Communicating a Dangerous Memory: Soundings in Political Theology. Supplementary issue of Lonergan Workshop 6. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1987.
• “Orthopraxis.” The New Dictionary of Theology, ed. Joseph A. Komonchak, Mary Collins, and Dermot A. Lane. Wilmington, DE: Michael Glazier, 1987. 733-736.
• “Political Theology.” The Encyclopedia of Religion, ed. Mircea Eliade. New York: Macmillan, 1987. 11:4044-4048.
• “Dangerous Memory and the Pedagogy of the Oppressed.” Communicating a Dangerous Memory: Soundings in Political Theology. Supplementary Issue of the Lonergan Workshop 6:17-35, ed. Fred Lawrence. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1987.
• [Translator.] Jürgen Habermas. The Philosophical Discourse of Modernity: Twelve Lectures. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1987.
• “Lonergan as Political Theologian.” Religion in Context. Recent Studies in Lonergan, ed. Timothy P. Fallon and Philip Boo Riley. Lanham: University Press of America, 1988. 1-21.
• “On the Relationship between Transcendental and Hermeneutical Approaches to Theology.” Horizons (CTS) 16 (1989) 342-45.
• [Editor.] The Beginning and the Beyond: Papers from the Gadamer and Voegelin Conferences. Supplementary Issue of Lonergan Workshop 4. Atlanta: Schol¬ars Press, 1989.
• “On ‘The Meditative Origin of the Philosophical Knowledge of Order.’” The Beginning and the Beyond: Papers from the Gadamer and Voegelin Conferences. Supplementary Issue of Lonergan Workshop 4:53-67, ed. Fred Lawrence. Atlanta: Schol¬ars Press, 1989.
• “Lonergan, Bernard.” New Catholic Encyclopedia. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America, 1989. 18 (Supplement 1978-1988) 262-64.
• [Editor.] Ethics in Making a Living. The Jane Jacobs Conference (April 10–11, 1987). Supplementary Issue of the Lonergan Workshop 7. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1989.
• “Systems of Economic Ethics: A Response.” Ethics in Making a Living. The Jane Jacobs Conference (April 10–11, 1987). Supplementary Issue of the Lonergan Workshop 7:191-201, ed. Fred Lawrence. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1989.
• [Editor.] Lonergan Workshop 8. Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press, 1990.
• “Baur’s ‘Conversation with Hans-Georg Gadamer’ and ‘Contribution to the Gadamer-Lonergan Discussion’: A Reaction.” Method: Journal of Lonergan Studies 8/2 (1990) 135-151.
• “Critical Realism and the Hermeneutical Revolution.” Paper at the Lonergan Workshop, Boston College, 1990.
• [Editor.] Lonergan Workshop 9. Boston: Boston College, 1993.
• “The Fragility of Consciousness: Lonergan and the Postmodern Concern for the Other.” Theological Studies 54 (1993) 55-94.
• “The Fragility of Consciousness: Lonergan and the Postmodern Concern for the Other.” Communication and Lonergan: Common Ground for Forging the New Age, ed. Thomas J. Farrell and Paul A. Soukup. Kansas City, MO: Sheed & Ward, 1993. 173-211.
• “The Human Good and Christian Conversation.” Communication and Lonergan: Common Ground for Forging the New Age, ed. Thomas J. Farrell and Paul A. Soukup. Kansas City, MO: Sheed & Ward, 1993. 248-268.
• [Editor.] Lonergan Workshop 10: The Legacy of Lonergan. Boston: Boston College, 1994.
• “Lonergan’s Foundations for Constitutive Communication.” Lonergan Workshop 10 (1994) 229-277.
• [Editor.] Lonergan Workshop 11: Language of the Heart: Lonergan, Images and Feelings. Boston: Boston College, 1995.
• [Editor.] Joseph A. Komonchak, Foundations in Ecclesiology. Supplementary Issue of Lonergan Workshop 11. Boston: Boston College, 1995.
• [Editor.] Lonergan Workshop 12: In Tune with the Divine Ground: Cultural and Social Conditions for Political Order. Boston: Boston College, 1996.
• “La fragilidad de la conciencia: Lonergan y la preocupación postmoderna por lo otro.” Theologica Xaveriana 45 (1995) 223-275.
• “John Courtney Murray and Political Theology as Conversational.” John Courtney Murray & The Growth of Tradition, ed. Leon Hooper and Todd David Whitmore. Kansas City: Sheed & Ward, 1996. 41-59.
• [Editor.] Lonergan Workshop 13: The Structure and Rhythms of Love: In Honor of Frederick Crowe, SJ. Boston: Boston College, 1997.
• [Editor.] Lonergan Workshop 14: Redeeming the Time: In Honor of Sebastian Moore, OSB. Boston: Boston College, 1998.
• “The Church and American Culture.” 1998. Unpublished.
• [Editor.] Lonergan Workshop 15: Letting Ourselves Dream: Anticipating the Future in Light of the Past: In Honor of Joseph Flanagan, SJ. Boston: Boston College, 1999.
• “Editors’ Introduction.” Bernard Lonergan, Macroeconomic Dynamics: An Essay in Circulation Analysis, Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan 15, ed. Frederick G. Lawrence, Patrick H. Byrne and Charles C. Hefling. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1999. xxv-lxxii.
• “Athens and Jerusalem: The Contemporary Problematic of Faith and Reason.” Gregorianum 80 (1999) 223-44. [The Joseph Gregory McCarthy Lecture, delivered in the Faculty of Philosophy at the Gregorian University on 5 May 1997.]
• “Editorial Note.” Frederick E. Crowe, Three Thomist Studies, ed. Michael Vertin. Supplementary Issue of Lonergan Workshop16. Boston: Boston College, 2000. xiii-xv.
• [Editor.] Lonergan Workshop 16: Lonergan and the Human Sciences: In Thanksgiving for the Gifts of the Past 1000 Years. Boston: Boston College, 2000.
• “Ontology of and as Horizon: Gadamer’s Rehabilitation of the Metaphysics of Light.” Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia 56 (2000) 389-420.
• “Lonergan, the Integral Postmodern?” Method: Journal of Lonergan Studies 18 (2000) 95-122.
• [Editor.] Lonergan Workshop 17: Looking Ahead: Lonergan for the 21st Century. Boston: Boston College, 2002. With “Editor’s Note” iii-vi.
• “On Being Catholic?” Unpublished.
• “Gadamer, the Hermeneutic Revolution, and Theology.” The Cambridge Companion to Gadamer, ed. Robert J. Dostal. Cambridge University Press, 2002. 167-200.
• “Lonergan and Aquinas: The Postmodern Problematic of Theology and Ethics.” The Ethics of Aquinas, ed. Stephen J. Pope. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2002, 437-455.
• “‘There’s a Wilderness in God’s Mercy’.” Sic et Non: Encountering Dominus Iesus, ed. Stephen J. Pope and Charles Hefling. Maryknoll / New York: Orbis Books, 2002. 89-95, 184-186.
• “The Hermeneutic Revolution and the Future of Theology.” In Between the Human and the Divine: Philosophical and Theological Hermeneutics: Proceedings of the First International Congress on Hermeneutics. St Bonaventure University, St Bonaventure, NY, USA, May 5–10, 2002, ed. Andrzej Wierciñski. Toronto: The Hermeneutic Press, 2002. 326-354.
• “Paul Ricoeur’s Practical Wisdom: Reflections on the Social Philosophy of Oneself as Another.” Between Suspicion and Sympathy: Paul Ricoeur’s Unstable Equilibrium, ed. Andrzej Wierciński. Toronto: The Hermeneutic Press, 2003. 502-517.
• “Lonergan’s Postmodern Subject: Neither Neoscholastic Substance nor Cartesian Ego.” In Deference to the Other: Lonergan and Contemporary Continental Thought, ed. Jim Kanaris and Mark J. Dooley. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2004. 107-120.
• “Expanding Challenge to Authenticity in Insight: Lonergan’s Hermeneutics of Facticity.” Divyadaan: Journal of Philosophy and Education 15/3 (2004) 427-456.
• “Grace and Friendship: Postmodern Political Theology and God as Conversational.” Gregorianum 85/4 (2004) 795-820.
• [Editor.] Lonergan Workshop 18: Lonergan’s Openness: Polymorphism, Postmodernism, and Religion. Boston: Boston College, 2005.
• “Grace and Friendship: Postmodern Political Theology and God as Conversational.” Il Teologo e la Storia: Lonergan’s Centenary (1904–2004), ed. Paul Gilbert and Natalino Spaccapelo. Rome: Editrice Pontificia Università Gregoriana, 2006. 123-151.
• “The Dialectic Tradition/Innovation and the Possibility of a Theological Method.” Il Teologo e la Storia: Lonergan’s Centenary (1904–2004), ed. Paul Gilbert and Natalino Spaccapelo. Rome: Editrice Pontificia Università Gregoriana, 2006. 249-264.
• [Editor.] Lonergan Workshop 19: Celebrating the 450th Jesuit Jubilee. Boston: Boston College, 2006.
• “The Ethics of Authenticity and the Human Good, in Honour of Michael Vertin, an Authentic Colleague.” The Importance of Insight: Essays in Honour of Michael Vertin, ed. Michael Vertin, John J. Liptay, David S. Liptay. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2007. 127-150.
• “Martin Heidegger and the Hermeneutic Revolution.” Paper 1 for the Conference on Hermeneutics, Postmodernism and Relativism, 6–7 September 2007, Divyadaan: Salesian Institute of Philosophy, Nashik – India. Divyadaan: Journal of Philosophy and Education 19/1-2 (2008) 7-29.
• “Hans-Georg Gadamer and the Hermeneutic Revolution.” Paper 2 for the Conference on Hermeneutics, Postmodernism and Relativism, 6–7 September 2007, Divyadaan: Salesian Institute of Philosophy, Nashik – India. Divyadaan: Journal of Philosophy and Education 19/1-2 (2008) 31-54.
• “The Hermeneutic Revolution and Bernard Lonergan: Gadamer and Lonergan on Augustine’s Verbum Cordis—the Heart of Postmodern Hermeneutics.” Paper 3 for the Conference on Hermeneutics, Postmodernism and Relativism, 6–7 September 2007, Divyadaan: Salesian Institute of Philosophy, Nashik – India. Divyadaan: Journal of Philosophy and Education 19/1-2 (2008) 55-86.
• “The Unknown 20th Century Hermeneutic Revolution: Jerusalem and Athens in Lonergan’s Integral Hermeneutics.” Paper 4 for the Conference on Hermeneutics, Postmodernism and Relativism, 6–7 September 2007, Divyadaan: Salesian Institute of Philosophy, Nashik – India. Divyadaan: Journal of Philosophy and Education 19/1-2 (2008) 87-118.

Secondary

• Coelho, Ivo. “Hermeneutics as a Return to the Concrete: Fred Lawrence’s Meditations on Heidegger, Gadamer and Lonergan.” Divyadaan: Journal of Philosophy and Education 19/1-2 (2008) 235-268.