Jacques Maritain's Philosophy of Action

Maritain's social and political writings were impressively influential in Europe and North and South America. He also compiled an impressive record as an activist by speaking out against injustice. My goal in this book is to show the connection between Maritain's philosophical commitment and his commitment to social activism. There can be no doubt that he took his calling as a philosopher seriously. He gave pride of place to the study of speculative philosophy and to contemplation, insisting that the search for truth and goodness in themselves transcends utility and, in so doing, reminds society of the supreme importance of what are not means to ends but ends in themselves, things worth aspiring to just for themselves: "What we need is not truths that serve us but a truth that we may serve." Even so, Maritain is just as insistent that the call to eternal verities must not blind the philosopher to the reality that he is a member of society with social duties that his calling imposes on him. He has no claim to life in an ivory tower. Chapter 1 portrays Maritain's early life and his struggle to find an account of human knowledge that initially led him to become a disciple of Henri Bergson, only to renounce that discipleship in favor of the theory of knowledge of Thomas Aquinas; Chapter 2 examines Maritain's development of his theory of knowledge, leading him to the conclusion that our knowledge not only tells us what things are but also grasps their existence, uniqueness, and dynamism; Chapter 3 unfolds Maritain's doctrine of subsistence, which leads him to the conclusion that only subjects exist, sources of existence, and for persons, this means a subjective life, for whom "the freedom of personal expansion" is the core of freedom and happiness; Chapter 4 presents the levels of freedom and what freedom means for the human subject; Chapter 5 defines how the common good and human rights constitute the just society for the human subject.