| Summary: | This study consists of an exploration and expansion of Bernard Lonergan's
intentionality analysis into the field of educational philosophy. It contends that
Lonergan's account of the structure and operations of human consciousness directed
toward human experience, understanding, judgment and decision offers a mode of
understanding a range of key topics in the field of secular education and educational
philosophy. Moreover, the integrative nature of Lonergan's intentionality analysis
provides a means of systematically ordering issues in educational philosophy related to
human cognitive and existential development.
Following a discussion of the key terms: education; philosophy; intentionality;
knowledge; and consciousness; the first chapter contextualizes the study in reference to
educational philosophy and to Lonergan Studies. Chapter two explores Lonergan's
intentionality analysis as it occurs throughout his writings, but especially his principal
philosophical text, Insight: A Study of Human Understanding. Lonergan's lectures on
various topics in education and educational philosophy are discussed in chapter three,
with the interpretive framework being his intentionality analysis.
An expansion unfolds in chapter four where the structure and process of human
intentionality are shown to inform educational issues related to the centrality and quality
of human experience. These issues include the desire to know, the sense of wonder, the
raising of questions, and the creative dimensions of imagination. Further issues emerge
on the level of intelligence, including the notion of the self-correcting process of learning
These dimensions of human intentionality then lead to an extensive account of the
elements and processes of general human development.
The expansion continues in chapter five concerning metaphysics and ethics.
Educational topics pertinent to this dimension of his analysis include critical thinking,
self-knowledge and humanness, human authenticity, wisdom as practical reasoning, the
emergence of a worldview, certain social implications, and the ethical and moral
ramifications of this account of intentionality.
The study concludes with some criticisms and assessments, and finds, overall, in
Lonergan's intentionality analysis a relatively systematic and comprehensive framework
in which to understand and order key elements of educational philosophy. === Education, Faculty of === Educational Studies (EDST), Department of === Graduate
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