Bernard Lonergan, Article: Objectivity is the Fruit of Authentic Subjectivity

Lonergan, Bernard. Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan: Understanding and Being. Edited by, Morelli Elizabeth A. and Morelli Mark D. Vol 5. New York: E. Mellen Press, 1980. 

Lonergan, Bernard. Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan: Philosophical and Theological Papers 1961980. Edited by, Croken Robert C. and Doran Robert M. Vol 17. London: Toronto Press, 1980.

Lonergan, Bernard. Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan: Insight: A study of Human Understanding. Edited by, Crowe Frederick E. and Doran Robert M. Vol 3. London: Toronto Press, 1957.

Lonergan, Bernard. Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan: Topics in Education. Edited by, Doran Robert M. and Crowe Frederick E. Vol 10. London: Toronto Press, 1959.

Lonergan, Bernard. Method in Theology. London: Toronto Press, 1971.

In the year 2006, I screened the film High School Musical (HSM) starring Zac Efron, Vanessa Anne Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Corbin Bleu, Lucas Grabeel, Monique Coleman, Bart Johnson, Oleysa Rulin and Alyson Reed. A Disney Channel original movie, High School Musical is a true teenage love story. Troy (Zac Efron) and Gabriella (Vanessa Anne Hudgens) meet on a karaoke stage one night while on vacation.[1] I was enamoured by the song ‘Start of Something New.’[2]

Living in my own world
Didn't understand
That anything can happen
When you take a chance
I never believed in
What I couldn't see
I never opened my heart (ooh)
To all the possibilities (ooh)
I know that something has changed
Never felt this way
And right here tonight

This could be the start
Of something new
It feels so right
To be here with you (ooh)
And now looking in your eyes
I feel in my heart (feel in my heart)
The start of something new

Now who'd of ever thought that (ooh)
We'd both be here tonight (ooh yeah)
And the world looks so much brighter (brighter)
With you by my side
I know that something has changed
Never felt this way
I know it for real

This could be the start
Of something new
It feels so right
To be here with you (ooh)
And now looking in your eyes
I feel in my heart
The start of something new

I never knew that it could happen
Till it happened to me
I didn't know it before
But now it's easy to see

It's the start
Of something new
It feels so right
To be here with you (ooh)
And now looking in your eyes
I feel in my heart

That it's the start
Of something new
It feels so right (so right)
To be here with you (ooh)
And now looking in your eyes
I feel in my heart
The start of something new
Start of something new
The start of something new

The thought that led me to this song is precisely what will perhaps be the fruit of the tree I plant now.

I, me, and myself were or rather are History. I am a Historical Being, as a matter of fact You and I are Historical Beings. But do we create History?….Think about this friends?…Now a question arises as to how can I (subject) create History living in my own world (context)…I am saying something that is within to live –dreams, goals, aims, desires, passion… give a chance, an opportunity for it to live, to grow. For this to happen you and I must let go of ourselves to become something new, give a start anew…How can this be done? Simply by giving meaning (adding meaning), and colouring the meaning with the experiences, understanding the experiences, and then judging the understanding of these experiences (Lonergan’s EUJ formulae). This act leads You and Me (subjects) to be Authentic Subjective Being in becoming Historical Being. In Being or Becoming History, in our daily lives we can or rather we have reached this Fruit of Objectivity.

Therefore, after reading and re-reading the Philosophy of Communication of Bernard Lonergan, I (subject – Romero D’Souza) as a prosumer  of this product has in a way made an attempt to advertise his (Lonergan’s method of communication) to you all. Now is the time for you all to buy this product which will serve you for lifetime. The secret of Lonergan’s Philosophy of Communication will unfold … as you read this article, of which are snippets from his (Lonergan’s) Collected works.

For the man who knows his logic and does not think of method, objectivity is apt to be conceived as the fruit of immediate experience, of self-evident and necessary truths, and of rigorous inferences. When method is added to the picture, one may succeed in discovering that objectivity is the fruit of authentic subjectivity, of being attentive, intelligent, reasonable, and responsible.[3] Take for instance, this common ground or rather this common origin in the religious experience that it varies with every difference of culture, class or individual. But on a theological ground, such experiences are God’s gift of his love. Religious experience at its root is experience of an unconditional and unrestricted being in love. Here we see objectivity is conceived as the fruit of authentic subjectivity, and to be genuinely in love with God is the very height of authentic subjectivity.[4] Let us take this as an utopia - speaking about utopia is a wonderful thing even though it does exist. It differs in reality from the content yet similar in the structure. It involves claim to objectivity, objectivity in the world mediated by meanings and motivated by values. And, in what does this objectivity consist? It derives its claim from self-transcendence: the sense in which objectivity is authentic subjectivity, the subjectivity of a person who is attentive, intelligent, reasonable, and responsible.[5] Making an attempt to understand objectivity, there was a need to develop a doctrine of objectivity that is relevant to a world mediated by meaning and motivated by values. The position of objectivity is the fruit of authentic subjectivity, and authentic subjectivity is the result of raising and answering all relevant questions for intelligence, for reflection, and for deliberation. Further, while man is capable of authenticity, he is also capable of unauthenticity. Insofar as one is unauthentic, there is needed an about-turn, a conversion and indeed, a threefold conversion: an intellectual conversion, by which without reserves one enters the world mediated by meaning; a moral conversion, by which one comes to live in a world motivated by values; and a religious conversion, when one accepts God’s gift of his love bestowed through holy spirit.[6] Objectivity rests upon the unrestricted, detached, disinterested desire to know. It is this desire that sets up the canons of Relevance: demands that the interpreter begin from the universal viewpoint to eliminate the bias of the interpreter and his audience. Explanation: Interpreter’s’ differentiation of the protean notion of being must be explanatory and not descriptive.  Contents and contexts of interpretation as related to one another and not to us. Residues: call for recognition of non-systematic components in the field of meaning. Genetic must not be confused with the dialectical or Lag of expression, while new viewpoints emerge. Speech and writing carry indications of the underlying psychic flow. Parsimony: Excludes the bogus aim of interpreters at the unverifiable through imaginable and invokes the resources of critical reflection. Successive Approximation: Need for scientific collaboration because the totality of document cannot be interpreted scientifically by a single interpreter. This gives rise to the absolute objectivity implicit in judgment from the experiential objectivity and the normative objectivity.[7] Intelligence inquires on what reasonableness reflects. Therefore, we ask the question, what is objectivity? This attempt unfolds in you and me a pure desire to know, which claims to be an extension and refinement of common sense.[8] The attainment of truth demands a willingness to follow the lead of intelligence and truth. So it is that man is boxed in, without the appropriation of truth. Here the account of genuineness and integration can be questioned with regards to the notion of objectivity.[9] The problem of interpretation can best be introduced by cutting between expression, simple interpretation (second expression), and reflective interpretation (smart idea, a beautiful object of thought).[10] In life, when we ask what do we mean by objectivity, the first spontaneous answer is that the objective is what is out there, secondly one might think of it as impartial detachment and another when we reach the absolute, the unconditioned. Making an attempt to combine the above we may come to the realization that the truth is the medium by which one knows being. An object is a being that is. One knows a universe of objects and the subject as one of the objects in the universe. We know that it is judgment and truth, and truth alone that is the criterion.[11] For it is now apparent that in the world, mediated by meaning and motivated be value, objectivity is simply the consequence of authentic subjectivity, of genuine attention, genuine intelligence, genuine reasonableness, genuine responsibility. There are fields of science and all of us study, have interests and passions of our own liking, like mathematics, science, philosophy, ethics, theology, communication, psychology and many other that differ in many manners, but they have in common a feature that their objectivity is the fruit of attentiveness, intelligence, reasonableness and responsibility[12] (airr… that we breathe in our daily lives). Thus genuine objectivity is the fruit of authentic subjectivity.[13] Being a Catholic and now a consecrated religious basing oneself on theology one sees the objectivity of theology. Theology has been conceived as reflection on religion and, indeed, in the present age as a highly differentiated and specialized reflection. Research, which assembles the data thought relevant, and interpretation, which ascertains their meaning, and history, find meanings incarnate in deeds and movements. Further dialectic, investigates the conflicting conclusions of historians, interpreters, researchers and foundations, which objectifies the horizon effected by intellectual, moral, and religious conversion. Further doctrines, uses foundations as a guide in systematic, which seeks an ultimate clarification of the meaning of doctrine, there finally emerges our present concern with the eighth functional speciality, viz., communications. It is a major concern, for it is in this final stage that theological reflection bears fruit. Without the first seven stages, of course, there is no fruit to be borne. But without the last the first seven are in vain, for they fail to mature.[14] The Genesis of this thought can be seen in the seed as well as the fruit.

Recalling the movie Rab Ne Bana de Jodi starring: Shah Rukh Khan, Anushka Sharma, Vinay Pathak, directed by Aditya Chopra in the year 2008.[15] Taking the song ‘tujhe mei rab dikta hai.’[16]

Movie : Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008)
Music Director: Salim Merchant, Sulaiman Merchant
Director: Aditya Chopra
Producer: Yash Chopra
Lyricists: Jaideep Sahni
Starring: Shahrukh Khan, Anushka Sharma, Vinay Patak
Song Title Tujh Mein Rab Dikhta Hai

Tujh Mein Rab Dikhta Hai Lyrics

Tu hi toh jannat meri, Tu hi mera junoon
Tu hi to mannat meri, Tu hi rooh ka sukoon
Tu hi aakhion ki thandak, tu hi dil ki hai dastak
Aur kuch na janu mein, bas itna hi jaanu
Tujh mein rab dikhta hai
Yaara mein kya karu
Tujh mein rab dikhta hai
Yaara mein kya karu
Sajdhe sar jukhta hai
Yaara mein kya karu
Tujh mein rab dikhta hai
Yaara mein kya karu

Ohhhh hoooo ohh….

Kaisi hai yeh doori, kaisi majboori
Meine nazron se tujhe choo liya
Oh ho ho Kabhi teri khusboo
Kabhi teri baatein
Bin mange yeh jahan pa liya
Tu hi dil ki hai raunak,
Tu hi janmo ki daulat
Aur kuch na janoo
Bas itna hi janoo
Tujh mein rab dikhta hai
Yaara mein kya karu

Tujh mein rab dikhta hai
Yaara mein kya karu
Sajdhe sar jukhta hai
Yaara mein kya karuo
Tujh mein rab dikhta hai
Yaara mein kya karuo

Vasdi vasdi vasdi, dil di dil vich vasdi
Nasdi nasdi nasdi, dil ro ve te nasdi
Rab Ne… Bana Di Jodi…..haiiiiii
Vasdi vasdi vasdi, dil di dil vich vasdi
Nasdi nasdi nasdi, dil ro ve te nasdi

Cham cham aaye, mujhe tarsaye
Tera saaya ched ke chumta
Oh ho ho… tu jo muskaye
Tu jo sharmaye
Jaise mera hai khuda jhumta
Tu hi meri hai barkat, tu hi meri ibadat
Aur kuch na janu, bas itna hi janu
Tujh mein rab dikhta hai
Yaara mein kya karu
Tujh mein rab dikhta hai
Yaara mein kya karu
Sajdhe sar jukhta hai
Yaara mein kya karu
Tujh mein rab dikhta hai
Yaara mein kya karu

Vasdi vasdi vasdi, dil di dil vich vasdi
Nasdi nasdi nasdi, dil ro ve te nasdi
Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.. haiiiiii

Making an attempt to critically appreciate this song has lead my thinking to a search of Objectivity in my religious living (authentic subjectivity). The song goes on to say…’I see God in you.’ In this film, it is referred to his love. For me I would rephrase the thinking and address it to everyone especially the youth for whom I have chosen and decided to follow in the Don Bosco Way. It raises questions in my mind, such as Can I see God in the youth? Can I feel God in the youth? Can I have a God experience in and among the youth? Such fundamental and existential questions set my soul on fire that is ever burning for that ‘one thing’ I think and believe is the objectivity – To save souls and to conclude with in the words of Don Bosco, ‘ Da Mihi Animas, Cetera Tolle’[17] (Give me Souls, take away the rest).

---

[1] Taken from the film High School Musical, Accessed from http://kidstvmovies.about.com/od/highschoolmusical/fr/hsmusrev.htm, Accessed at 1: 03 pm, Accessed on 21^st January 2011.

[2] Taken from the film High School Musical, Accessed from http://www.lyricsmania.com/start_of_something_new_lyrics_high_school_musical_cast.html,   Accessed at 9:52 am, Accessed on 1^st February 2011.

[3] Bernard Lonergan, Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan: Philosophical and Theological Papers 1961980    (London: Toronto Press, 1980), 202.

[4] Lonergan, Philosophical and Theological Papers, 204.

[5] Lonergan, Philosophical and Theological Papers, 339.

[6] Lonergan, Philosophical and Theological Papers, 389-390.

[7] Bernard Lonergan, Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan: Insight: A study of Human Understanding (London: Toronto Press, 1957), 407.

[8] Lonergan, Insight: A study of Human Understanding, 408-409.

[9] Lonergan, Insight: A study of Human Understanding, 584.

[10] Lonergan, Insight: A study of Human Understanding, 587.

[11] Bernard Lonergan, Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan: Topics in Education (London: Toronto Press, 1959), 175-176.

[12] Bernard Lonergan, Method in Theology (London: Toronto Press, 1971), 265.

[13] Lonergan, Method in Theology, 292.

[14] Lonergan, Method in Theology, 355.

[15] Taken from the film Rab Ne Bana de Jodi Accessed from http://www.indianexpress.com/news/movie-review-rab-ne-bana-di-jodi/397711/, Accessed at 2: 06 pm, Accessed on 21^st January 2011.

[16] Taken from the film Rab Ne Bana de Jodi Accessed from http://www.indicine.com/movies/bollywood/tujh-mein-rab-dikhta-hai-lyrics-rab-ne-bana-di-jodi/, Accessed at 9:50 am, Accessed on 1^st February 2011.

[17] Lemoyne, Memorie Biografiche Vol. XVII, 365-366.