An investigation of how the Catholic tradition of educational thought might be given new articulation in the light of selected aspects of the work of three contemporary philosophers
Foley, Michael J.
(2014)
An investigation of how the Catholic tradition of educational thought might be given new articulation in the light of selected aspects of the work of three contemporary philosophers.
PhD thesis, Dublin City University.
This thesis exam ines the work o f three philosophers - Jacques M aritain, Bernard
Lonergan and Terence H. M cLaughlin - with a view to recovering from their
educational w ritings important insights and approaches pertinent to the task o f giving
new articulation to Catholic philosophy o f education today.
Having noted the virtual disappearance o f the Thom ist-A ristotelian tradition in Catholic
educational discourse over the past half-century, the thesis seeks to identify in these
authors elements that suggest new perspectives on the Catholic educational tradition in
a postm odern age.
The thesis selects aspects of the work o f these thinkers that m erit critical appraisal in
any attempt to give a systematic and detailed expression to the Catholic tradition o f
educational thought today, namely: (1) M aritain’s integral Christian humanism, (2)
Lonergan’s transcendental method, and (3) M cLauglin’s notion and practice o f
pedagogic phronesis.
This study concludes with a reflection on how selected aspects o f the work o f these
scholars m ight complement and strengthen the Congregation for Catholic Education’s
discourse in term s o f the provision of a philosophic basis and fram ew ork o f analysis.