Autor: Lonergan, Bernard J. F.

Buch: The Way to Nicea

Titel: The Way to Nicea

Stichwort: Bibel; Bewusstsein: differenziert- undifferenziert

Kurzinhalt: ... what corresponds to the gospels is undifferentiated consciousness, whereas what corresponds to dogma is differentiated consciousness

Textausschnitt: 2a To this objective aspect of dogmatic development there corresponds of necessity a subjective aspect. For if there is a change in literary genre and a change in the manner of apprehending and considering the truth, then there is a change in man himself. But what exactly is this change in man himself?1 (Fs)

2b To begin with what is most obvious, there is no doubt that the interior state of a person who is asleep and dreaming is quite different from that of one who is wide awake: the kind of law that governs the succession and interrelation of dream-images, and the kind of pattern in which they emerge, are totally different from the patterns and laws that govern and order our daytime experiences. Not so obvious, perhaps, is the fact that waking consciousness is anything but a uniform, homogeneous state-that there are many different patterns in which our conscious acts emerge, some preceding and calling forth others, others following and complementing those that preceded them and called them forth. Quite different from each other are the interior states that accompany involvement with practical problems, the enjoyment of aesthetic experience, the arousal of mythic consciousness, the ardour of mystical illumination, the joyful sharing of friends in human intersubjectivity, and the specifically intellectual pursuits of the scientific mind. (Fs)

2c Conscious human acts emerge, therefore, within different patterns of experience, patterns that can be identified and described, distinguished from and related to each other. But the basic distinction to be made is between undifferentiated and differentiated consciousness. Consciousness is undifferentiated where the whole person is involved, operating simultaneously and equally with all of his powers. Differentiated consciousness, on the other hand, is capable of operating exclusively, or at least principally, on a single level, while the other levels are either entirely subordinated to the attainment of the goal of that level, or at least are held in check, so that they do not hinder its attainment. In the man of action, for example, imagination, affectivity, will, senses and practical intelligence all operate together: imagination represents the goal to be achieved, affectivity is drawn towards it, will embraces it, practical intelligence, with the aid of the senses, figures out how the goal is to be achieved and how the obstacles are to be removed that stand in the way of its attainment. Thus the whole person, with all his powers, tends towards a goal that is proportionate to man. In contrast, the scientist, or the speculative thinker, tends towards a goal that is not that of the whole man, but only of his intellect. The will is therefore restricted to willing the good of intellect, which is the truth; imagination throws up only those images that induce understanding or suggest a judgment; feelings and emotions, finally, are as if anaesthetised, so firmly are they kept in control. (Fs)

3a Bearing this basic distinction in mind, it is not hard to see that what corresponds to the gospels is undifferentiated consciousness, whereas what corresponds to dogma is differentiated consciousness. For the gospels are addressed to the whole person, on all levels of operation. The dogmas, on the contrary, demand a subject who can focus attention on the aspect of truth alone, so that other powers are under the sway of intellect, or else are somehow stilled. (Fs)