The Fragility of Consciousness is the first published collection of Frederick G. Lawrence’s essays and contains several of his best known writings as well as unpublished work.

Frederick G. Lawrence is an American hermeneutic philosopher and theologian, and a specialist in Bernard Lonergan, teaching in the Department of Theology at Boston College.
Rosenberg Randall S. :

Randall S. Rosenberg is an assistant professor in the Department of Theological Studies at Saint Louis University.
Vander Schel Kevin :

Kevin M. Vander Schel is an assistant professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Gonzaga University.

"Any serious-minded person who has accepted the dual risk of honestly engaging with contemporary thought, on the one hand, and of living into intellectual, moral, and religious inheritance of the broad Christian tradition, on the other hand will find a friend and a guide in these essays. While the erudition of these essays places them beyond most under graduates, decades of students, fellow theologians, and every library will find something new and vital here."

Daniel Lendman:

‘Any who are interested in Lonergan studies will find this text a valuable resource.’

Grant Kaplan:

‘Lawrence is a great scholar whose influence has been felt primarily in the classroom. The Fragility of Consciousness, his first book, lets the wider world know what his students have long had the benefit of.’

R.J. Snell, Director, Center on the University and Intellectual Life, The Witherspoon Institute:

"The Fragility of Consciousness brings together an excellent selection of Lawrence’s work, making available older pieces, those difficult to find, and unpublished essays that very few can access. The volume makes a real contribution, both as an introduction to Lawrence’s thought, to Lonergan studies more generally, and as an intellectual accomplishment in its own right."

Andrzej Wiercinski, Professor of Philosophy of Religion, University of Freiburg:

"Frederick G. Lawrence’s outstanding contribution to philosophy and theology is internationally respected and treasured. The fragility of consciousness reminds us of the essential incompleteness of any human action and as such calls for humility as the conscientious endeavour to rediscover our place in the created universe."

David Tracy, Andrew Thomas Greeley and Grace McNichols Greeley Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Catholic Studies, University of Chicago:

"The cumulative impact of this brilliant collection of essays make two things very clear: first, Professor Lawrence is undoubtedly the foremost interpreter of the highly original and complex work of Bernard Lonergan; second, Professor Lawrence’s own voice has become a major voice in the contemporary debates on the crisis of culture and the resources to deal with that crisis."