Insight is Bernard Lonergan's masterwork. It aim is nothing less than insight into insight itself, a comprehensive view of knowledge and understanding, and to state what one needs to understand and how one proceeds to understand it. In Lonergan's own words: 'Thoroughly understand what it is to understand, and not only will you understand the broad lines of all there is to be understood but also you will possess a fixed base, and invariant pattern, opening upon all further developments of understanding.' The editors of the Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan have established the definitive text for Insight after examining all the variant forms in Lonergan's manuscripts and papers. The volume includes introductory material and annotation to enable the reader to appreciate more fully this challenging work.

In the introduction to Insight: A Study of Human Understanding, Bernard Lonergan writes of the "startling strangeness" that overtakes someone who really understands what the act of "insight" is all about. The present work is about that experience in the life of Richard Liddy as he wrestled with Insight in the 1960s. Liddy was Lonergan's student in Rome during the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) and in this work he recounts his encounter with Lonergan and with Insight. He includes memories of other Lonergan students as well as witnesses to the "startling strangeness" the reading of Insight engenders.

For the edition of A Second Collection prepared for the Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan, editors Robert M. Doran and John D. Dadosky have added archival materials directly related to almost every one of the papers, bringing the reader closer to the original compositions. The papers date from 1966 to 1973, and span the most creative period in Lonergan's development. Two major themes run through these papers: the primacy of the fourth, existential level of human consciousness, and the significance of historical mindedness with all its implications for culture, hermeneutics, and phenomenological thinking. The theme of conversion makes a grand entrance in 'Theology in Its New Context,' a paper that charted the course for the unfolding of Method in Theology. This new edition makes extensive use of original manuscripts, variants in drafts of the essays, and hand-written corrections.

Bernard Lonergan's Insight: A Study of Human Understanding is one of the most profound and challenging books of the 20th century. This book is a comprehensive explanation, commentary and criticism of this work, which no one, according to the author, has previously attempted.

In order to make Lonergan's unique contribution to philosophy and theology accessible to students and teachers, the editors of The Lonergan Reader have brought together in a single volume selections that represent the depth and breadth of his thought.