“McCarthy is a capable expositor with an impressive grasp of the range of Lonergan’s philosophical work. Non-devotees will probably find his exposition clearer than Lonergan’s own.” —Theology

“No other work provides such a comprehensive and historically rooted account of Lonergan’s achievement . . . McCarthy’s treatment of Lonergan’s contribution to renewal in the Catholic Church should serve as a final corrective to the especially pernicious anti-modernist Catholic misunderstandings of Lonergan’s account of human authenticity which are still appealed to by Catholic philosophers and theologians to justify inattention to and dismissal of the extraordinary achievements of one of the foremost Jesuit thinkers of the twentieth century.” —Journal of Jesuit Studies

"McCarthy has spent decades carefully studying Lonergan's extensive corpus. His studies have been deeply enriched by his simultaneous and equally deep engagement with the works of some of the most important twentieth century political thinkers—notably, Arendt and Taylor. This book's erudition and seriousness is a major contribution to Lonergan scholarship." —Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

"The true genius of Michael H. McCarthy's work is to show how Bernard Lonergan's own dissatisfaction with modernist epistemology led him to an interior appreciation of knowing that he would dub 'method,' by contrast with simple logic, and certainly with Descartes. Lonergan's special and peculiar use of 'method' is the key, as McCarthy demonstrates, showing deep affinities with Aquinas, particularly through Lonergan's study of verbum. A study of a complex thinker who can easily be complicated by his commentators, McCarthy's analysis shows his own maturity as a philosopher as well as his indebtedness to Lonergan in a way that cuts to the heart of Lonergan's philosophy and theology by demonstrating how the former can be at the service of the latter." —David Burrell, C.S.C., Theodore Hesburgh C.S.C. Professor emeritus in Philosophy and Theology, University of Notre Dame

"To address the cultural crises of our time—epistemic, moral, and spiritual—Michael McCarthy lucidly details their sources in Western history, and he expounds Bernard Lonergan’s remedial prescriptions. McCarthy’s timely diagnosis will help readers to understand better the past and the present of influential views, and to envision the future of the human race with both hope and realism." —Louis Roy, Dominican University College in Ottawa

"Michael McCarthy's book is a masterpiece of cultural synthesis and interpretation. I know of no other recent books on the same or similar topic to which Authenticity as Self-Transcendence can be compared. It is definitely unique. It will interest students and teachers of modern philosophy, theology, and history. It will be a fine classroom text, especially in courses on history and culture, politics, and religion, as well as specifically Catholic thought." —Richard Liddy, University Professor of Catholic Thought and Culture at Seton Hall University

Michael H. McCarthy is professor emeritus of philosophy at Vassar College. He is the author of a number of books, including The Political Humanism of Hannah Arendt.

Preface

1. The Tangled Knot of Old and New: Lonergan’s Project of Critical Appropriation

• The Tangled Knot
• Where Are We Now?
• A Critical Cultural Center
• The Vetera
• The Nova

2. Objective Knowing and Authentic Living

• The Defining Revolutions of Modernity
• The Anthropological Turn: Human Nature and History
• The Critique of Objectivity and Truth
• The Polymorphic Subject
• Cognitional Theory: From Logic to Method
• The Centrality of Insight
• Critical Realism
• Objectivity Reconsidered
• Authenticity as Self-Transcendence
• Maturity Is Comprehensive

3. Authentic Faith in a Secular Age

• Our Secular Age
• Rising to the Challenge of Our Time
• Enlightenment, Science, and Faith
• Exclusive and Religious Humanism
• Religious Authenticity

4. The Chill Winds of Modernity: The Profound Challenge of Catholic Renewal

• Critical Christian Humanism
• The Catholic Struggle with Modernity
• Aggiornamento
• The Second Vatican Council
• Critical Aggiornamento
• Critical Reason and Religious Truth
• An Ethics of Authenticity: Personal and Communal
• Realism, Repentance, Reform, and Renewal

Epilogue

Notes

Bibliography

Index