Integral Humanism, Freedom in the Modern World, and A Letter on Independence, Revised Edition (ND Maritain Collected Works) [Hardcover]

Jacques Maritain (Author), Otto Bird (Editor, Translator), Joseph Evans (Translator), Richard O'Sullivan K.C. (Translator)

Book Description

Series: ND Maritain Collected Works | Publication Date: April 1, 1996

About this book - The three books presented here were all written in the early 1930s, a time of troubles for France. It was then surrounded by enemies and was itself on the verge of civil war. Here, Maritain accepts the responsibility of a Christian philosopher to address the practical problems of the time. Language Note - This is an English translation from the original French text. About the author Jacques Maritain (18 November 1882–28 April 1973) was a French Catholic philosopher. Raised as a Protestant, he converted to Catholicism in 1906. An author of more than 60 books, he is responsible for reviving St. Thomas Aquinas for modern times and is a prominent drafter of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Pope Paul VI presented his "Message to Men of Thought and of Science" at the close of Vatican II to Maritain, his long-time friend and mentor.  

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press; Revised edition (April 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 026801177X
• ISBN-13: 978-0268011772
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,492,316 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Towards a new christian civilization, February 9, 2001

By 

cvp (Tilburg The Netherlands) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Integral Humanism, Freedom in the Modern World, and A Letter on Independence, Revised Edition (ND Maritain Collected Works) (Hardcover)

The book Integral Humanism can be considered as one of the most important books of the twentieth century. It is Maritains masterwork on social philosophy. It was first published in Spain as a result of six lectures on the university of Santander in 1934. The whole idea of the book, is that the crisis of the Modern times is a problem of the question of what humanism is? He shows that the great problems of communism and liberalism is that it is based on an antropocentric humanism. Against this form of humanism Maritain defends a theocentric humanism, which gives meaning and value to the human person. His idea of the human person has been known as Personalism. The person is more important than the totality of society. As an individual he belongs to society and therefore he has to obey the laws etc. But as a person, society must be serving his neccessary rights to live a full human life, which also means for men to find his supernatural destiny. Only a society which has a notion of a common good can provide meaning for the human life. The society is organic, build up of lower relative autonomous groups. This idea is consistent with the earlier encyclical views of a Pope like Leo XIII and the ideas or roman catholicism on social issues. Maritain has been praised for the book, but also been criticized because of his lack of insight on economic issues. Altought he rejects marxism, he also has an anti-capitalist attitude.

Maritain can be considered as one of the most influential roman catholic philosophers of the twentieth century and I think this work has still a lot of value for the problems of our time.

Cornelis van Putten

4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What it means to be human, July 11, 2000

By 

D. A. Hosek (Santa Monica, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Integral Humanism, Freedom in the Modern World, and A Letter on Independence, Revised Edition (ND Maritain Collected Works) (Hardcover)

A bit of philosophy that occasionally reached beyond me, but an engaging read on the meaning of being human.