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 Mc Inerny 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 Mc Inerny 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.
Sobre o autor
Ralph Mc Inerny (1929–2010) was Michael P. Grace Professor of Medieval Studies and director emeritus of the Jacques Maritain Center at the University of Notre Dame. He was the author of numerous works in philosophy, literature, fiction, and journalism, including The Very Rich Hours of Jacques Maritain, A First Glance at St. Thomas Aquinas, and Characters in Search of Their Author, all published by the University of Notre Dame Press. He also wrote the well-known Father Dowling Mystery book series.