The Mind That Is Catholic: Philosophical & Political Essays

by Schall, James V.

• ISBN13: 9780813215419
• ISBN10: 0813215412
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-11-01
• Publisher: Catholic Univ of Amer Pr

Summary

James V. Schall is a treasure of the Catholic intellectual tradition. A prolific author and essayist, Schall readily connects with his readers on sundry topics from war to friendship, philosophy, politics, and to ordinary everyday living. In his newest work, The Mind That Is Catholic, he presents a retrospective collection of his academic and literary essays written in the past fifty years. In each essay, he exemplifies the Catholic mind at its bestseeing the whole, leaving nothing out. The "Catholic mind" seeks to recognize a consistent and coherent relation between the solid things of reason and the definite facts of revelation. Its thought aims to understand how they belong together in a fruitful manner, each profiting from the other; each being what it is. The Catholic mind is not a confusion of disparate sources. It respects and makes distinctions. It sees where things separate. It is in fact delighted by what is. This delightful book is not polemical, but cont

Author Biography

James V. Schall is professor of political philosophy at Georgetown University.

Table of Contents

"A Certain Crime Unobserved"	p. 1
On Catholic Thinking
The Mind That Is Catholic	p. 9
"Infinitized by the Spirit": Maritain and the Intellectual Vocation	p. 19
Chesterton, the Real "Heretic": "The Outstanding Eccentricity of the Peculiar Sect Called Roman Catholics"	p. 33
"The Very Graciousness of Being"	p. 45
Reckoning with Plato
On the Uniqueness of Socrates: Political Philosophy and the Rediscovery of the Human Body	p. 61
On the Death of Plato: Some Philosophical Thoughts on the Thracian Maidens	p. 80
What Is Piety?	p. 95
The Abiding Implications of Friendship
Aristotle on Friendship	p. 105
The Totality of Society: From Justice to Friendship	p. 114
The Trinity: God Is Not Alone	p. 128
The Medieval Experience
The Point of Medieval Political Philosophy	p. 151
"Possessed of Both a Reason and a Revelation"	p. 162
Aquinas and the Defense of Ordinary Things: On "What Common Men Call Common Sense"	p. 178
Implications of Catholic Thought
The "Realism" of St. Augustine's "Political Realism": Augustine and Machiavelli	p. 193
"Mystifying Indeed": On Being Fully Human	p. 208
Transcendence and Political Philosophy	p. 220
Mysticism, Political Philosophy, and Play	p. 237
Things Practical and Impractical
Sports and Philosophy	p. 251
The Real Alternatives to Just War	p. 261
Where Does It Lead?
On Choosing Not to See	p. 279
The Ultimate Meaning of Existence	p. 286
"The Beginning of the Real Story"	p. 296
Conclusion. On Being Allowed to Read	p. 307
Political Philosophy's "Hint of Glory": Interview of James V. Schall by Kenneth Masugi	p. 313
Bibliography	p. 317
Index	p. 333
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.