Art And Prudence: Studies In The Thought Of Jacques Maritain (publications Of The Jacques Maritain Center)

In this collection of essays, Ralph McInerny portrays Jacques Maritain as a devoted Thomist, convinced that faith could never be divorced from reason and that reason without faith was meaningless. In addition, McInerny discusses Maritain's deployment of Thomistic doctrines into surprising new applications and pays tribute to the man as the best Thomistic writer on art in this century.--Reflections Jacques Maritain was one of the most profound and far-ranging thinkers in the wave of Thomism that gained momentum after World War I and crested just before Vatican II. His career makes manifest the intellectual, cultural, and spiritual liveliness of the pre-Conciliar period, and his thought is crucial to our understanding of the Church today. Art and Prudence highlights the social, political, and aesthetic achievements of the great French Catholic intellectual. In this collection of essays Ralph McInerny portrays Maritain as a devoted Thomist, convinced that faith could never be divorced from reason and that reason without faith was shallow and devoid of meaning. His eclectic tastes and penetrating intellect led him to scrutinize many topics, and although McInerny concedes that he cannot discuss all of Maritain 's ideas, he shows their inherent unity and underlying current of devotion. Taking as a starting point Maritain's Art and Scholasticism , Mclnerny investigates a number of Maritain's ideas. He explicates Maritain's paradoxical defense of the United Nations Universal Declaration on Human Rights, as well as the philosophical ramifications of the dispute over the common good. In addition, Mclnemy discusses Maritain's deployment of Thomistic doctrines into surprising new applications and pays tribute to the man as the best Thomistic writer on art in this century. Cover 1 Half title 2 Title Page 4 Copyright 5 CONTENTS 8 PREFACE 10 ONE: THE INTELLECTUAL VOCATION OF JACQUES MARITAIN 18 TWO: MARITAIN IN AND ON AMERICA 34 THREE: REFLECTIONS ON CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHY 50 FOUR: THE GOD OF THE PHILOSOPHERS 62 FIVE: THE DEGREES OF PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE 80 SIX: THE PRIMACY OF THE COMMON GOOD 94 SEVEN: LIBERTY IN THE CATHOLIC TRADITION 110 EIGHT: NATURAL LAW AND VIRTUE 120 NINE: MARITAIN AND NATURAL RIGHTS 140 TEN: ART AND CONNATURALITY 154 ELEVEN: MARITAIN AND POETIC KNOWLEDGE 174 TWELVE: MERTON AND MARITAIN 192 APPENDIX 204 INDEX 216 The Intellectual Vocation Of Jacques Maritain -- Maritain In And On America -- Reflections On Christian Philosophy -- The God Of The Philosophers -- The Degrees Of Practical Knowledge -- The Primacy Of The Common Good -- Liberty In The Catholic Tradition -- Natural Law And Virtue -- Maritain And Natural Rights -- Art And Connaturality -- Maritain And Poetic Knowledge -- Maritain And Merton -- Appendix : The Thomistic Studies Circle. Ralph Mcinerny. Includes Index.