From dialectics to foundations: objectifying subjectivity through an encounter with Thomas Müntzer (1489?-1525)

This work is grounded in a moral horizon constructed around the worldview of emergent probability as central to a generalized theory of evolution reaching finality in the Trinity, in Otto Friedman's transdisciplinary framework for professional practice transposed into the realm of the transcendent, in Bernard Lonergan's transdisciplinary method in Insight and Method , and in an analysis of core problems in contemporary society. All these elements, when used as a guide to an encounter with the incarnate meaning of Thomas Müntzer, make explicit the horizons and intentions of the author as they relate to different levels of conversion required for intelligent, reasonable and responsible action during times of fundamental institutional change. This study offers one concrete approach to objectifying such foundations, where the heuristic notion of an encounter with the meaning of another's life provides data for objectifying one's own foundations. This objectified intentionality can then be used to expand one's horizon and intentions or initiate a shift to a higher viewpoint. This work operates not at the level of common sense understanding but in the explanatory theoretical realm of meaning grounded in a working knowledge of the realm of interiority. My encounter partner is Thomas Müntzer, an early 16 th century German reformer whose commitment to Church and God fills a grey area in my own scientific and policy-making background. Evaluating and extending my positions vis-à-vis Müntzer's foundations is the immediate task; knowing exactly how to do this is the general theme. The subject matter is neither Müntzer nor the Reformation, although both are extensively researched, but my own foundational stance. The objective is not to work out a complete program, but to present and test one concrete procedure for intentionality analysis in the functional speciality of Foundations