Dramatic Developments and Epistemological Crises

Abstract

John Thiel's development of the category of “dramatic development” in his stimulating and influential Senses of Tradition offers a valuable entry point into the current discussion of the continuity or discontinuity between Vatican II and traditional Roman Catholic thought. This article extends and modifies Thiel's arguments in light of criticisms by Kathryn Tanner and Alasdair MacIntyre's description of the different ways in which traditions make or fail to make progress. It tests this revised theory against an application to Dignitatis Humanae and its contested relation to traditional Roman Catholic thought.