Free Republic

Jacques Maritain (1882-1973) was a moral and political philosopher of the twentieth century who wrote and spoke extensively about the threats that secularism, materialism and coercive social engineering by state authorities pose to the democratic experiment. From a Jacques Maritain compendium edited by James P. Kelly III: The American body politic is the only one that was fully and explicitly born of freedom, of the free determination of men to live together and work together at a common task. And in this new political creation, men who belonged to various national stocks and spiritual lineages and religious creeds – and...

"Catholic intellectual?" Is that a contradiction in terms? Of course not. It is silly to say so, even though progressives like to float the idea every once in a while when they are having a hard time pushing through one of their favored reforms. The 20th century was, after all, the century of Chesterton, Belloc, Christopher Dawson, Ronald Knox and Jacques Maritain.In fact, it would be easier to make the case that Catholic intellectuals sometimes spend too much time being intellectuals, too much time with scholarly explorations of the Faith, and not enough with the child-like imagery on their Christmas...

The French, ever proud of their great thinkers, complain they have all but disappeared today. In Church circles it is the same. But are those fine minds out there, simply biding their time, waiting for the right moment? IN ENGLAND, “intellectual” is a dirty word; in France, being described as such is akin to consecration, something devoutly desired. Whereas the pragmatic English wear their learning lightly and wouldn’t be seen dead signing a petition as “a group of intellectuals”, the French parade their erudition proudly and expect their intellectuals – a recognised and revered class – who are naturally engages,...