The Ontological Structure of the Hermeneutic Circle

Clayton Shoppa, William Zanardi

In his recent review of a book by Fred Lawrence, Jeremy Wilkins remarked that the author left undeveloped his claim that Lonergan’s functional specialties “thematize the ontological structure of the hermeneutic circle.” Why, he asked, did the author offer no further commentary on his claim? This essay is our experiment in filling in some of what was left unstated. It is also another exercise in doing the three objectifications Lonergan included as final steps in the fourth functional specialty of dialectic.