Synopses & Reviews
French philosopher Maurice Blondel had a tremendous impact on both philosophy and religion over the first half of the twentieth century. He was at once a postmodern critical philosopher and a devout traditional Catholic, trying not only to reconcile these two seemingly disparate factors in his own mind, but also to prove to others that the two must go together. / In the first critical examination of the philosophers life Oliva Blanchette tells the story of Blondels stormy life confronting an Academy dismissive of religion and a Religion uncomfortable with rational philosophy. This book not only follows his biographical history, but also presents his systematic philosophy, from the beginning of his journey to the culmination found in Philosophical Exigencies of Christianity, the book for which he signed the publishing contract the day before he died. / Maurice Blondel is part of the Ressourcement: Retrieval and Renewal in Catholic Thought series, edited by David L. Schindler.
Table of Contents
Pt. 1. The journey inward. Breaking into the intellectual scene -- Awakening to the divine light in human action -- The original philosophy of the supernatural -- The vocation to philosophy -- Discourse on method for philosophy of religion -- Crisis of modernity for Catholic apologetics -- The broader social involvement -- The philosopher of Aix -- The philosophical itinerary -- The question of a Catholic philosophy -- Pt. 2. The systematic summation. The question of thought -- The responsibilities of thought -- Ontology of consolidation in being in, through, and of itself -- Action as cooperation with the first cause -- The original philosophy of action revisited -- The expanded philosophy of the supernatural -- Symbiosis of the human and the divine in history -- Christian spirit and historical civilization.