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Integralism: A Manual of Political Philosophy
Integralism is the application to the temporal, political order of the full implications of the revelation of man’s supernatural end in Christ and of the divinely established means by which it is to be attained. These implications are identified by means of the philosophia perennis exemplified in the fundamental principles of St Thomas Aquinas. Since the first principle in moral philosophy is the last end, and man’s last end cannot be known except by revelation, it is only by accepting the role of handmaid of theology that political philosophy can be adequately constituted. Integralism: A Manual of Political Philosophy is a handbook for those who seek to understand the consequences of this integration of faith and reason for political, economic and individual civic life. It will also serve as a scholastic introduction to political philosophy for those new to the subject. Each chapter finishes with a list of the principal theses proposed.
Fr Thomas Crean is a friar of the English Province of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans). He has published with Ignatius Press and Gracewing, and is a Fellow of the Dialogos Institute. He has taught philosophy and theology in Austria, the United States and Northern Ireland. Alan Paul Fimister is Assistant Professor of Theology at Saint John Vianney Theological Seminary in Denver, Colorado, USA and a Fellow of the Dialogos institute. He is the author of Robert Schuman: Neo-Scholastic Humanism and the Reunification of Europe (2008)
Fr Thomas Crean is a friar of the English Province of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans). He has published with Ignatius Press and Gracewing, and is a Fellow of the Dialogos Institute. He has taught philosophy and theology in Austria, the United States and Northern Ireland. Alan Paul Fimister is Assistant Professor of Theology at Saint John Vianney Theological Seminary in Denver, Colorado, USA and a Fellow of the Dialogos institute. He is the author of Robert Schuman: Neo-Scholastic Humanism and the Reunification of Europe (2008)
290 pages, Hardcover
First published April 26, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 27, 2020
Crean and Fimister give a very rigorous treatment of Catholic political philosophy and write with extreme precision. This book is worth reading for its treatment of the family as a natural and necessary society alone. It avoids polemics and heightened rhetoric in what is certainly a contentious topic, sticking rather to magisterial texts and concise theses — the type of book one returns to often and thinks deeply with the arguments made therein.
July 6, 2020
This is only one of the best books on political philosophy in decades, but also an important work of Catholic ecclesiology. I disagree with some particular points made in it, but as a whole it is excellent.
July 6, 2020
A very important book, and a must-read for those who wonder what the Catholic faith teaches about temporal authority and the proper ordering of society. Its discussion of slavery, in particular, interested me greatly. The best chapter, I think, or the one I liked best, was entitled "The Family."
March 17, 2021
This is an excellent summary of Catholic Political Philosophy up until 1965. But it claim to be a statement of contemporary Catholic thought, and in that respect it becomes problematic.
It claims that Catholics believe that husbands should “govern” their wives and be heads of their households because men are more psychologically able to exercise leadership than women (Chp 3). It suggests that if a non-Christian baby is accidentally baptised then the Church can kidnap the baby in order to raise the child as a Catholic. (An example of this occurred in 1858 when Pius IX authorised the removal of 6 year old Edgardo Mortara from his Jewish parents).
Furthermore, it claims that the Church should exercise governance over societies, only allowing baptised (Catholics) to exercise secular power in government. Non Catholics and Atheists should be punished by governments. Secular (atheistic) schools should be closed and children should be removed from families that dare to raise them as atheists (Chp.6)
The authors claim that (Catholic) clergy cannot be compelled to follow secular laws, but they will kindly choose to do so in order to set a good example (Chp 7). They believe that the Pope can depose any non-baptised leader of any country, if there is an appropriate (Catholic) spiritual advantage in doing so (Chp 11). However, they think that the pope is currently, generously, choosing not to use this power; in order to avoid causing scandal in international politics.
Are these claims really the teaching of the Catholic Church? Views like this cannot be found in the 1992 Catechism of the Catholic Church. So there are questions about whether this book is being fair in its portrayal of contemporary Catholic thought.
Yes, the book is undoubtedly accurate in its depiction of medieval Catholicism. But has nothing really changed since then? People can see for themselves that popes no longer wear crowns. They can see that popes no longer speak or act in the ways that popes of yester-century did. Something seems different in the modern era. Consequently the book seems incomplete in failing to explore that issue.
There is the beginning of an exploration towards the end of the book (Chp 12). The authors refer to Jacques Maritain’s view that the modern Church has laid aside its medieval attitudes. But they quickly dismiss Maritain's position as wrong. They say that Maritain argued that the Church has changed its policies to avoid scandal in the modern world. The authors insist that a fear of scandal is not sufficient reason for doing so. Yet, they themselves cited fear of scandal as a good reason for the pope to no longer depose rulers. How can a fear of scandal justify their position, but not Maritain's argument against their position? Sadly the book doesn’t really probe the issue.
If this book were just a survey of pre-1965 Catholic views then I would un-hesitantly give it 5 stars. But, it fails to recognise and analyse that the modern church has some far more nuanced views on the issues which it cover. This means that the book is 'incomplete' and thus potentially misleading for readers thinking that it is an accurate summary of contemporary Catholic political philosophy.
It claims that Catholics believe that husbands should “govern” their wives and be heads of their households because men are more psychologically able to exercise leadership than women (Chp 3). It suggests that if a non-Christian baby is accidentally baptised then the Church can kidnap the baby in order to raise the child as a Catholic. (An example of this occurred in 1858 when Pius IX authorised the removal of 6 year old Edgardo Mortara from his Jewish parents).
Furthermore, it claims that the Church should exercise governance over societies, only allowing baptised (Catholics) to exercise secular power in government. Non Catholics and Atheists should be punished by governments. Secular (atheistic) schools should be closed and children should be removed from families that dare to raise them as atheists (Chp.6)
The authors claim that (Catholic) clergy cannot be compelled to follow secular laws, but they will kindly choose to do so in order to set a good example (Chp 7). They believe that the Pope can depose any non-baptised leader of any country, if there is an appropriate (Catholic) spiritual advantage in doing so (Chp 11). However, they think that the pope is currently, generously, choosing not to use this power; in order to avoid causing scandal in international politics.
Are these claims really the teaching of the Catholic Church? Views like this cannot be found in the 1992 Catechism of the Catholic Church. So there are questions about whether this book is being fair in its portrayal of contemporary Catholic thought.
Yes, the book is undoubtedly accurate in its depiction of medieval Catholicism. But has nothing really changed since then? People can see for themselves that popes no longer wear crowns. They can see that popes no longer speak or act in the ways that popes of yester-century did. Something seems different in the modern era. Consequently the book seems incomplete in failing to explore that issue.
There is the beginning of an exploration towards the end of the book (Chp 12). The authors refer to Jacques Maritain’s view that the modern Church has laid aside its medieval attitudes. But they quickly dismiss Maritain's position as wrong. They say that Maritain argued that the Church has changed its policies to avoid scandal in the modern world. The authors insist that a fear of scandal is not sufficient reason for doing so. Yet, they themselves cited fear of scandal as a good reason for the pope to no longer depose rulers. How can a fear of scandal justify their position, but not Maritain's argument against their position? Sadly the book doesn’t really probe the issue.
If this book were just a survey of pre-1965 Catholic views then I would un-hesitantly give it 5 stars. But, it fails to recognise and analyse that the modern church has some far more nuanced views on the issues which it cover. This means that the book is 'incomplete' and thus potentially misleading for readers thinking that it is an accurate summary of contemporary Catholic political philosophy.
February 8, 2022
This book is for Catholics who have begun to seriously question the dominant political ideologies of our times, in particular the supremacy of liberal representative democracy, secularism, and separation of Church and State (among others). These ideologies, conceived in the Enlightenment, are so much a part of the modern mentality that most people don't even question them.
As we enter the third decade of the 21st century, more and more Catholics are seeing the obvious: that liberal democracy is degenerating into a dystopia with widespread religious persecution, tech censorship, mass illegal immigration, sexual perversion, abortion, a growing acceptance of socialism and communism, and even violence (BLM, Antifa, Covid restrictions, etc.) all sanctioned by the government in the name of "democracy."
In Integralism: A Manual of Political Philosophy, Father Thomas Crean, O.P. and Dr. Alan Fimister present the traditional Catholic teachings on a series of topics such as the source of authority, the nature of the state, the family, the doctrine of the two swords, the union of Church and States, the common good, international relations, and many others.
The book is excatly what the title says, a manual regarding the nature of the State and its relation to the Church and man's final end. In that sense, the book is not presenting any new doctrines but is simply a summary of what the Church has always taught right up to and including the 20th century.
In a nutshell, man's primary end is spiritual: to know, love, and serve God in this world and be happy with Him in the next. Temporal society has a role in helping man obtain this end, and therefore the ends of temporal society should be aligned with the ends of the spiritual society, the Catholic Church. Spiritual and temporal ends should be "integrated," so to speak, with the latter submitting to (but not subsumed by) the former. Church (that is, the One True Church, which is the Catholic Church) should be united with the State, both serving to aid man to obtain his final end, albeit in different spheres. This happy concord between the two spheres existed in the past, and we can call it Christendom.
The authors base themselves mostly on the Fathers and Doctors of the Church, especially Saint Thomas Aquinas and Saint Robert Bellarmine, but there are many citations of other popes and theologians such as Saint Gregory VII, Innocent III, Boniface VIII, Francisco Suarez, and others.
The book is very politically incorrect. Nearly all but the most radical Catholics have swallowed the Enlightenment ideas of Rousseau, Hobbes, Locke, and Montesquieu (especially the clergy), so some readers might have difficulty accepting the Church's traditional, perennial teachings on these matters. Truth, of course, doesn't change no matter what the modern world thinks.
I found it interesting that they even attack Jacques Maritain's "secular Christendom" which is must beloved by many "conservative" and even traditional Catholics in the 20th and 21st centuries, Maritain being somewhat of a celebrity in his day and still admired today.
I was also hoping that they would explain why they chose the term "Integralism." The word "integralism" means different things to different people. It has been used by very good and very bad movements over the past 200 years or so. It would have been helpful for there to be a chapter on the origins of the word, what integralism is, what it is not, and why the authors chose the term.
The objective of the book was to make a manual of Catholic political philosophy, not necessarily to explain the crisis of the modern world. Most readers, however, are going to see it like that. Knowing the abstract doctrine of the Church on politics is only part of the solution. The other part is knowing the nature and cause of the crisis of contemporary society. Those are two related but distinct things.
Take, for example, a person dying of cancer. It is very important to know what a healthy body looks like and how it functions. We have to have a biology manual that shows this. Also necessary is a manual on cancer: what it is, how it spreads, and how to defeat it.
Western society today is like a person dying of cancer. Father Crean and Professor Fimister wrote an excellent manual explaining what a healthy society should look like. Although they don't say it, the closest that mankind ever got to this ideal society was the Middle Ages, when saint kings and popes ruled over Christendom. Their book is very important, but its scope was describing the body, not the cancer. They do address and refute many bad philosophers in the text, such as Hobbes and Locke, but that was not the focus of the book. Their book, though excellent, is not sufficient in itself to restore temporal society to good health. It is not just a matter of replacing the current system with another one in line with the principles of the book. We need to fight and destroy the cancer itself before any restoration can occur. Our Lady of Fatima came to explain the crisis and present a solution. It was also masterfully described in the 1959 book Revolution and Counter-Revolution by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira (and his many other books and articles).
If Catholics by the 20th century finally embraced the political ideologies of liberal democracy, then the 21st century is seeing a growing reversal of this trend. As Western governments persecute the Church and even work to destroy the societies they govern in the name of "democracy," many Catholics are coming to the conclusion that something is seriously wrong. This book will help Catholics learn the true Catholic political philosophy and give a good foundation for the future restoration of Christendom.
As we enter the third decade of the 21st century, more and more Catholics are seeing the obvious: that liberal democracy is degenerating into a dystopia with widespread religious persecution, tech censorship, mass illegal immigration, sexual perversion, abortion, a growing acceptance of socialism and communism, and even violence (BLM, Antifa, Covid restrictions, etc.) all sanctioned by the government in the name of "democracy."
In Integralism: A Manual of Political Philosophy, Father Thomas Crean, O.P. and Dr. Alan Fimister present the traditional Catholic teachings on a series of topics such as the source of authority, the nature of the state, the family, the doctrine of the two swords, the union of Church and States, the common good, international relations, and many others.
The book is excatly what the title says, a manual regarding the nature of the State and its relation to the Church and man's final end. In that sense, the book is not presenting any new doctrines but is simply a summary of what the Church has always taught right up to and including the 20th century.
In a nutshell, man's primary end is spiritual: to know, love, and serve God in this world and be happy with Him in the next. Temporal society has a role in helping man obtain this end, and therefore the ends of temporal society should be aligned with the ends of the spiritual society, the Catholic Church. Spiritual and temporal ends should be "integrated," so to speak, with the latter submitting to (but not subsumed by) the former. Church (that is, the One True Church, which is the Catholic Church) should be united with the State, both serving to aid man to obtain his final end, albeit in different spheres. This happy concord between the two spheres existed in the past, and we can call it Christendom.
The authors base themselves mostly on the Fathers and Doctors of the Church, especially Saint Thomas Aquinas and Saint Robert Bellarmine, but there are many citations of other popes and theologians such as Saint Gregory VII, Innocent III, Boniface VIII, Francisco Suarez, and others.
The book is very politically incorrect. Nearly all but the most radical Catholics have swallowed the Enlightenment ideas of Rousseau, Hobbes, Locke, and Montesquieu (especially the clergy), so some readers might have difficulty accepting the Church's traditional, perennial teachings on these matters. Truth, of course, doesn't change no matter what the modern world thinks.
I found it interesting that they even attack Jacques Maritain's "secular Christendom" which is must beloved by many "conservative" and even traditional Catholics in the 20th and 21st centuries, Maritain being somewhat of a celebrity in his day and still admired today.
I was also hoping that they would explain why they chose the term "Integralism." The word "integralism" means different things to different people. It has been used by very good and very bad movements over the past 200 years or so. It would have been helpful for there to be a chapter on the origins of the word, what integralism is, what it is not, and why the authors chose the term.
The objective of the book was to make a manual of Catholic political philosophy, not necessarily to explain the crisis of the modern world. Most readers, however, are going to see it like that. Knowing the abstract doctrine of the Church on politics is only part of the solution. The other part is knowing the nature and cause of the crisis of contemporary society. Those are two related but distinct things.
Take, for example, a person dying of cancer. It is very important to know what a healthy body looks like and how it functions. We have to have a biology manual that shows this. Also necessary is a manual on cancer: what it is, how it spreads, and how to defeat it.
Western society today is like a person dying of cancer. Father Crean and Professor Fimister wrote an excellent manual explaining what a healthy society should look like. Although they don't say it, the closest that mankind ever got to this ideal society was the Middle Ages, when saint kings and popes ruled over Christendom. Their book is very important, but its scope was describing the body, not the cancer. They do address and refute many bad philosophers in the text, such as Hobbes and Locke, but that was not the focus of the book. Their book, though excellent, is not sufficient in itself to restore temporal society to good health. It is not just a matter of replacing the current system with another one in line with the principles of the book. We need to fight and destroy the cancer itself before any restoration can occur. Our Lady of Fatima came to explain the crisis and present a solution. It was also masterfully described in the 1959 book Revolution and Counter-Revolution by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira (and his many other books and articles).
If Catholics by the 20th century finally embraced the political ideologies of liberal democracy, then the 21st century is seeing a growing reversal of this trend. As Western governments persecute the Church and even work to destroy the societies they govern in the name of "democracy," many Catholics are coming to the conclusion that something is seriously wrong. This book will help Catholics learn the true Catholic political philosophy and give a good foundation for the future restoration of Christendom.
September 23, 2025
A great and detailed introduction to Catholic thought on political philosophy. Even years after completing this book, the impacts it had on my way of thinking still persist.
Although I have disagreements with certain sections of the book (which is to be expected when it covers such a wide-spanning topic), I still believe it is a must-read for anybody willing to expand their understanding of Catholic thought and doctrine in general, but especially political philosophy.
Although I have disagreements with certain sections of the book (which is to be expected when it covers such a wide-spanning topic), I still believe it is a must-read for anybody willing to expand their understanding of Catholic thought and doctrine in general, but especially political philosophy.
October 4, 2025
Fr. Crean and Mr. Fimister have done wonderfully.
The amount of footnotes speak well to exactly what Integralism is: namely, Catholic political philosophy; that is, as opposed to the private opinion of some group of theologians.
I just wish there were some more objections and responses, however, that is not entirely within the scope of this book so not a huge deal.
The amount of footnotes speak well to exactly what Integralism is: namely, Catholic political philosophy; that is, as opposed to the private opinion of some group of theologians.
I just wish there were some more objections and responses, however, that is not entirely within the scope of this book so not a huge deal.
June 21, 2020
Despite certain weaknesses, this book is a fantastic presentation of Catholic political philosophy. It serves as a good introduction to Catholic social teaching on a broad range of topics.
October 17, 2020
The necessary political philosophy if one is convinced of Roman ecclesiology.
June 1, 2023
Giving it three stars to respect the Trinity (Vermeule, Deneen, and their slave boy, Finewine), and doing so under NO force majeure.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews