Where is Knowing Going? The Horizons of the Knowing Subject.

Liddy, Richard M.

WHERE IS KNOWING GOING? THE HORIZONS OF THE KNOWING SUBJECT. By John C. Haughey. Washington: Georgetown University, 2009. Pp. xv + 173. $34.

John Haughey states that his book addresses "two poverties" manifest in the Catholic intellectual tradition and especially in Catholic universities. "The first is a poverty not of educational theory, but more foundationally of cognitional theory. Another way of saying this is that there is an almost universal inattentiveness to the spirituality latent in the act of coming to know" (xiii). The second poverty, peculiar to Catholicism, is doctrinal: the ecclesiological mark of "catholic" has been undeveloped; consequently, Catholicism's contribution to education itself is also largely undeveloped.

The integrating bridge-notion in H.'s understanding of Catholic universities is Bernard Lonergan's "notion of being," that is, that toward which all our searching--and our research--is heading. Such a notion is not just a concept; primarily it is the very dynamism of our human spirit as it moves out to explore this or that area on its way to all that is true and good. H. develops this notion in terms of "catholicity," that is, the search for meaning in any and every particular area. As he describes it, he is "connecting the dots," making "wholes" where previously there had been only unintelligible heaps.

If it is true that Jesus is fully human as well as fully divine, then whatever contributes to a fuller humanity in whatever area can be integrated into the Catholic intellectual tradition; this includes the contributions made by faculty members--whether Catholic or not--at Catholic universities. H. concretizes his thesis with several biographical accounts of faculty who in their research are extending the frontiers of knowledge. They are professors of Islamic studies, international economics, Kantian philosophy, international migration. Is it possible that each of these is contributing to the Catholic intellectual tradition? H.'s answer is a resounding yes! insofar as each is following the light of intelligence and extending the boundaries of knowledge for the good of all. H. calls attention to the inner experience of "catholicity," that is, the drive for wholeness that sparks such journeys. If a person comes to understand her own academic specialty through this "inner road," she will find the core vein that is the key to an interdisciplinary view of the university.

To live in line with this vision, however, Catholic universities have to become truly welcoming of the faculty who through the years have been teaching on their campuses. Such a spirit of hospitality requires truly listening to these experts in "where knowing is going." H. concretely recommends that each Catholic university have some group specifically dedicated to fostering such a spirit of hospitality. Within the context of such welcoming interdisciplinary dialogue, faculty can come to understand the important role they play in extending the boundaries of the Catholic intellectual tradition.

This is an optimistic book. It does not begin with hand wringing about "how few Catholics we have on our faculty"; rather, it begins by asking how we can help the faculty we now have to understand the relationship of their expertise to the Catholic intellectual tradition. If the incarnation means that God truly entered our world to sanctify our human endeavors, then the research going on at Catholic campuses is truly holy. Unlike Max Weber who saw the academic enterprise as an unceasing cycle of improving upon one's predecessors only to be surpassed by younger scholars, H. sees a theological telos or goal in authentic scholarship itself. In a wonderful chapter he invokes Maximus the Confessor, Karl Rahner, and Teilhard de Chardin in their testimonies as to where knowing is going. Teilhard's "Mass upon the World," for example, links all genuine research to that fullness of consciousness in which "Christ will be all in all." This eschatological future-orientation of all scholarship can help explain why we go to so much trouble maintaining more than 200 Catholic colleges and universities in the United States.

To my mind, H. has thrown his whole self into this work. Where Is Knowing Going? manifests a cosmic desire expressed in lapidary formulae, pithy expressions, and gripping turns of phrases. In answer to the question posed by the title, one follows here a theologically intuitive mind in his search for Being. One follow-up suggestion would be to set these incisive reflections within the context of Lonergan's functional specializations in theology. In that way the Catholic intellectual tradition, flowing from and feeding into the doctrinal tradition, could become even more a leaven within contemporary academia, infiltrating like yeast the whole enterprise and illuminating contemporary efforts.

RICHARD M. LIDDY

Seton Hall University, South Orange, N.J.