Jacques Maritain and ‘The Disaster’

Extract

The illustrious Catholic philosopher has not been idle during his enforced exile in New York. He left France at Christmas, 1939, to undertake his usual lectures in the Universities of Toronto and America, and then came the fall of France. He sojourns in a free country and believes it his duty to aid his own country to rise again, and to help to bring about the triumph of the universal human ideals and values symbolised by Christian Democracy. To this end he is writing books, articles and lectures. His students are the great public of Europe and America; his studies and ideas converge upon the philosophy of modern politics. He is not enclosed within the narrow confines of any party, bur soars to the heights, untrammeled by preoccupations with slogans. In all his social writings his calm judgment, at once profound and deeply human, has always stood out. The philosopher usually follows the paths of mere speculation; Maritain takes pleasure in turning the searchlight of Catholic philosophy upon the living reality offered in the succession of great events through which we are now passing.