Art and Prudence: Studies in the Thought of Jacques Maritain (University of Notre Dame Studies in the Philosophy of Religi)

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 Half title Title Page Copyright CONTENTS PREFACE ONE: THE INTELLECTUAL VOCATION OF JACQUES MARITAIN TWO: MARITAIN IN AND ON AMERICA THREE: REFLECTIONS ON CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHY FOUR: THE GOD OF THE PHILOSOPHERS FIVE: THE DEGREES OF PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE SIX: THE PRIMACY OF THE COMMON GOOD SEVEN: LIBERTY IN THE CATHOLIC TRADITION EIGHT: NATURAL LAW AND VIRTUE NINE: MARITAIN AND NATURAL RIGHTS TEN: ART AND CONNATURALITY ELEVEN: MARITAIN AND POETIC KNOWLEDGE TWELVE: MERTON AND MARITAIN APPENDIX INDEX 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. 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.