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Art and Scholasticism With Other Essays
Art and Scholasticism with Other Essays is a work by Catholic French Philosopher Jacques Maritain. This collection of Maritain essay's on art include Schoolmen and the Theory of Art, Art an Intellectual Virtue, Rules of Art, Art and Beauty and Some Reflections Upon Religious Art. This is an excellent publication for collectors of the writing of Jacques Maritain and also individuals in the early stages of discovering his work.
123 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1927
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About the author
Jacques Maritain
415 books169 followersT. S. Eliot once called Jacques Maritain "the most conspicuous figure and probably the most powerful force in contemporary philosophy." His wife and devoted intellectual companion, Raissa Maritain, was of Jewish descent but joined the Catholic church with him in 1906. Maritain studied under Henri Bergson but was dissatisfied with his teacher's philosophy, eventually finding certainty in the system of St. Thomas Aquinas. He lectured widely in Europe and in North and South America, and lived and taught in New York during World War II. Appointed French ambassador to the Vatican in 1945, he resigned in 1948 to teach philosophy at Princeton University, where he remained until his retirement in 1953. He was prominent in the Catholic intellectual resurgence, with a keen perception of modern French literature. Although Maritain regarded metaphysics as central to civilization and metaphysically his position was Thomism, he took full measure of the intellectual currents of his time and articulated a resilient and vital Thomism, applying the principles of scholasticism to contemporary issues. In 1963, Maritain was honored by the French literary world with the national Grand Prize for letters. He learned of the award at his retreat in a small monastery near Toulouse where he had been living in ascetic retirement for some years. In 1967, the publication of "The Peasant of the Garonne" disturbed the French Roman Catholic world. In it, Maritain attacked the "neo-modernism" that he had seen developing in the church in recent decades, especially since the Second Vatican Council. According to Jaroslav Pelikan, writing in the Saturday Review of Literature, "He laments that in avant-garde Roman Catholic theology today he can 'read nothing about the redeeming sacrifice or the merits of the Passion.' In his interpretation, the whole of the Christian tradition has identified redemption with the sacrifice of the cross. But now, all of that is being discarded, along with the idea of hell, the doctrine of creation out of nothing, the infancy narratives of the Gospels, and belief in the immortality of the human soul." Maritain's wife, Raissa, also distinguished herself as a philosophical author and poet. The project of publishing Oeuvres Completes of Jacques and Raissa Maritain has been in progress since 1982, with seven volumes now in print.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
April 14, 2012
Along with Orthodoxy, this book belongs up on top of my favorite nonfiction reads. It puts into words everything you know only in your guts. Quite a philosophical and artistic feat. This book greatly influenced many artistic giants, especially Flannery O'Connor, Walker Percy, and Thomas Merton.
July 29, 2012
Really dense in the first few chapters (just like the Schoolmen he imitates), but plugging through them is worth it for the chapter on Christian Art and the chapter on Beauty. Stunning.
PS somehow, he manages to like Erik Satie. Huh.
PS somehow, he manages to like Erik Satie. Huh.
May 16, 2013
Wow.
I feel like I was meant to read this book my whole life.
If you are an artist of any kind (well, if you are a human) you need to read this book.
I feel like I was meant to read this book my whole life.
If you are an artist of any kind (well, if you are a human) you need to read this book.
July 8, 2020
Skúsil som si prečítať tento Maritainov súbor esejí, pretože som si myslel, že to bude krásne a jednoduché čítanie, inšpirované Tomášom Akvinským. Nebolo. Maritain sa síce naozaj inšpiroval Tomášom, ale až tak, že človek nevie, kedy rozpráva on, kedy Tomáš, kedy dáky iný Scholastik, kedy dáky iný moderný autor. Ide podľa mňa o filozoficky náročné (treba mať základy z Tomáša Akvinského) a miestami hutné úvahy, ktoré sa z času na čas menia na prúd voľných Maritainových myšlienok, ktorým sa čitateľ musí nechať strhnúť, inak ho to nebude baviť. Preto dávam 3 a pol hviezdičky.
Každopádne, knižočka je útla, obsahuje eseje o tom, ako vnímali umenie scholastici, kam ho zaraďovali vo svojom systéme metafyziky a fungovania človeka, prečo umenie patrilo pod intelektuálne cnosti, aký je vzťah umenia a krásy (podľa scholastikov), aké má umenie pravidlá (ak vôbec nejaké má) a v čom spočíva čistota alebo rýdzosť umenia. Odtiaľ sa Maritain presúva k pojednávaniu o kresťanskom umení a vzťahu umenia a morálky. Pod prídavkom "with Other essays" sa ukrývajú ďalšie zamyslenia nad umením (napríklad o jeho hrdosti), úvahy nad náboženským umením či úvahy o Tomášovi Akvinskom. Nižšie ponúkam pár poznámok.
Napríklad, aké je to teda kresťanské umenie?
Je to umenie kresťana, podobne ako obyčajné umenie je umenie človeka, je závislé na kresťanských hodnotách, tvorené kresťanskou dušou a malo rodiť kresťanské ovocie; je náročné, pretože je náročné byť umelcom a je náročné byť kresťanom a je obzvlášť náročné byť aj jedným aj druhým; je to umenie, kde je prítomná živá božská inšpirácia, kde je prítomná nádej a božia milosť; ak chcete robiť kresťanské umenie, buďte kresťanmi a snažte sa byť umelcami a robte umenie, ale nesnažte sa robiť kresťanské umenie samo o sebe; kresťanstvo by sa malo vpísať do vašej snahy robiť umenie (ak ste kresťanmi); zároveň však neseparujte svoje umenie od viery a zároveň sa nesnažte spájať, čo spájať nejde;
Alebo aký je vzťah umenia a morálky?
Práca ľudských rúk (umenie) vchádza aj do sféry ľudského konania a tým aj do sféry morálky, pričom v tejto sfére je umenie vždy len prostriedkom; v tejto sfére by teda umelec vždy mal vedieť, že jeho cieľom je niečo iné, ako jeho výtvor – Boh;
Ak umenie vyprodukuje niečo, čo človek nemôže využiť bez toho, aby zhrešil, samotný umelec zhrešil, pretože pohoršil druhého; v tomto smere je teda umenie podriadené morálke;
Umenie je teda závislé na všetkom, čo ľudstvo, duchovná tradícia a história odkazuje telu a duši človeka; Tým, že je ľudským subjektom a má ľudské korene, je taktiež závislé od času a miesta;
Z inej stránky je však umenie nadradené morálke a konflikt je na svete – pretože aj umenie aj rozumnosť si kladú za svoje dominanciu v ľudských skutkoch – z pohľadu umelca však rozumnosť nie je kompetentná rozhodovať; z pohľadu človeka a ľudských hodnôt však nie je kompetentné rozhodovať umenie; keďže však rozumnosť je morálna cnosť, Rozumný človek bude vždy obraňovať tieto cnosti, pretože od nich závisí dobro človeka; umenie však závisí od intelektuálnych cností (vlastne je jednou z nich) a Umelec má taktiež istotu, že bráni posvätné dobro, dobro krásy, pričom má na mysli Aristotelovo – život podriadený intelektu je lepší ako život podriadený človeku; tento spor dokáže vyriešiť jedine cnosť Múdrosti, najväčšia zo všetkých cností; a jedine Kontemplatívny človek dokáže správne užívať obe;
Každopádne, knižočka je útla, obsahuje eseje o tom, ako vnímali umenie scholastici, kam ho zaraďovali vo svojom systéme metafyziky a fungovania človeka, prečo umenie patrilo pod intelektuálne cnosti, aký je vzťah umenia a krásy (podľa scholastikov), aké má umenie pravidlá (ak vôbec nejaké má) a v čom spočíva čistota alebo rýdzosť umenia. Odtiaľ sa Maritain presúva k pojednávaniu o kresťanskom umení a vzťahu umenia a morálky. Pod prídavkom "with Other essays" sa ukrývajú ďalšie zamyslenia nad umením (napríklad o jeho hrdosti), úvahy nad náboženským umením či úvahy o Tomášovi Akvinskom. Nižšie ponúkam pár poznámok.
Napríklad, aké je to teda kresťanské umenie?
Je to umenie kresťana, podobne ako obyčajné umenie je umenie človeka, je závislé na kresťanských hodnotách, tvorené kresťanskou dušou a malo rodiť kresťanské ovocie; je náročné, pretože je náročné byť umelcom a je náročné byť kresťanom a je obzvlášť náročné byť aj jedným aj druhým; je to umenie, kde je prítomná živá božská inšpirácia, kde je prítomná nádej a božia milosť; ak chcete robiť kresťanské umenie, buďte kresťanmi a snažte sa byť umelcami a robte umenie, ale nesnažte sa robiť kresťanské umenie samo o sebe; kresťanstvo by sa malo vpísať do vašej snahy robiť umenie (ak ste kresťanmi); zároveň však neseparujte svoje umenie od viery a zároveň sa nesnažte spájať, čo spájať nejde;
Alebo aký je vzťah umenia a morálky?
Práca ľudských rúk (umenie) vchádza aj do sféry ľudského konania a tým aj do sféry morálky, pričom v tejto sfére je umenie vždy len prostriedkom; v tejto sfére by teda umelec vždy mal vedieť, že jeho cieľom je niečo iné, ako jeho výtvor – Boh;
Ak umenie vyprodukuje niečo, čo človek nemôže využiť bez toho, aby zhrešil, samotný umelec zhrešil, pretože pohoršil druhého; v tomto smere je teda umenie podriadené morálke;
Umenie je teda závislé na všetkom, čo ľudstvo, duchovná tradícia a história odkazuje telu a duši človeka; Tým, že je ľudským subjektom a má ľudské korene, je taktiež závislé od času a miesta;
Z inej stránky je však umenie nadradené morálke a konflikt je na svete – pretože aj umenie aj rozumnosť si kladú za svoje dominanciu v ľudských skutkoch – z pohľadu umelca však rozumnosť nie je kompetentná rozhodovať; z pohľadu človeka a ľudských hodnôt však nie je kompetentné rozhodovať umenie; keďže však rozumnosť je morálna cnosť, Rozumný človek bude vždy obraňovať tieto cnosti, pretože od nich závisí dobro človeka; umenie však závisí od intelektuálnych cností (vlastne je jednou z nich) a Umelec má taktiež istotu, že bráni posvätné dobro, dobro krásy, pričom má na mysli Aristotelovo – život podriadený intelektu je lepší ako život podriadený človeku; tento spor dokáže vyriešiť jedine cnosť Múdrosti, najväčšia zo všetkých cností; a jedine Kontemplatívny človek dokáže správne užívať obe;
March 30, 2024
When I didn't think it was a 5-star was when I was too obtuse to believe otherwise. I would dare to say essays I-VIII are essential reading.
November 12, 2023
Some interesting insights throughout, but this reminded me of how skeptical I am about scholasticism as an all-encompassing system. I've described myself as a "qualified fan" of scholasticism because I do think it has many helpful uses, more so in metaphysics and ethics than theology. But in his attempts to ape Aquinas, Maritain just ends up being impenetrable and pretentious. If he wrote more conventionally and not in homage to the Angelic Doctor, it would be much more effective. But I'm not sure I actually disagree with much of what he says about aesthetics... It's thankfully short, and spoken of very highly by several whom I respect, so I'll have to reread it when I'm in clearer mind sometime.
December 23, 2014
Amazing.
“A sort of conflict may therefore be observed between the transcendence of beauty and the material narrowness of the work to be made, between, on the one hand, the formal ratio of beauty, the splendor of being and of all the transcendentals combined, and, on the other hand, the formal ratio of art, undeviating ingenuity in the realm of works-to-be-made. No form of art, however perfect, can encompass beauty within its limits, as the Virgin contained her Creator. The artist is faced with an immense and lonely sea,
. . . sans mâts, sans mâts, ni fertiles îlots,
and the mirror he holds up to it is no bigger than his own heart.”
“A sort of conflict may therefore be observed between the transcendence of beauty and the material narrowness of the work to be made, between, on the one hand, the formal ratio of beauty, the splendor of being and of all the transcendentals combined, and, on the other hand, the formal ratio of art, undeviating ingenuity in the realm of works-to-be-made. No form of art, however perfect, can encompass beauty within its limits, as the Virgin contained her Creator. The artist is faced with an immense and lonely sea,
. . . sans mâts, sans mâts, ni fertiles îlots,
and the mirror he holds up to it is no bigger than his own heart.”
March 15, 2021
Do I agree with Maritain's arguments here? No. But this is a very, very under-rated work in philosophy of art, and this edition is beautifully put together.
October 9, 2021
A splendid work on how an Aristotelian and a Thomist can and should view art.
March 13, 2023
A COLLECTION OF ESSAYS FROM THE CATHOLIC PHILOSOPHER
The Translator’s Note explains, “This new translation of ‘Art and Scholasticism’ was undertaken at Professor Maritain’s suggestion, and is made from the third and final edition (1935)… The ‘Frontiers of Poetry’ essay… is translated from the revised version (1935).”
He begins, “The Schoolmen did not write a special treatise entitled ‘Philosophy of Art.’ This was no doubt due to the struct pedagogical discipline to which the philosophers of the Middle Ages were subjected; occupied in sifting and probing the problems of the School in all directions, they cared little that they left unworked regions between the quarries they excavated. Yet we find in them a very profound theory of Art; but we must look for it in austere treatises on some problem of logic… or of moral theology… In these treatises, in which the nature of art is studied only incidentally, art in general is the subject of debate, from the art of the shipbuilder to the art of the grammarian and the logician, not the fine arts in particular, the consideration of which has no ‘formal’ bearing on the matter under discussion…” (Pg. 3)
He explains, “Let us sum up now what the Schoolmen taught about art in general, considered in the artist or artisan and as something of himself. 1. Art, first of all, is of the intellectual order, it action consists in imprinting an idea in some mater; it is therefore in the intelligence of the ‘artifex’ that it resides, or, as is said, this intelligence is the subject in which it inheres. It is a certain QUALITY of this intelligence. 2. The ancients termed ‘habitus’ qualities of a class apart, qualities which are essentially stable dispositions perfecting in the line of its own nature the subject in which they exist. Health, beauty ad ‘habitus of the body; sanctifying grace is a habitus (supernatural) of the soul. Other habitus have for their subject the faculties or powers of the soul, and as the nature of these faculties or powers is to tend to action, the habitus which inhere in them perfect the way in their very dynamism, are ‘operative’ habitus: such as the intellectual virtues and the moral virtues.” (Pg. 10)
He states, “Saint Thomas, who was a simple as he was wise, defined the beautiful as that which, being seen, pleases… Beauty is essentially an object of INTELLIGENCE, for that which KNOWS in the full sense of the word is intelligence, which alone is open to the infinity of being.” (Pg. 23)
He concludes, “To turn away from Wisdom and Contemplation, and to aim lower than God, is for a Christian civilization the first cause of all disorder. It is in particular the cause of that ungodly divorce between Art and Prudence which one observes in times when Christians no longer have the strength to hear the integrity of their riches. This is doubtless why Prudence was sacrificed to Art at the time of the Italian Renaissance… in ‘right-thinking’ circles which no longer tended to anything but Respectability.” (Pg. 81)
In the ‘Frontiers of Poetry’ essay, he says, “God’s ideas are not like our concepts, that is, representative signs drawn from things, intended to introduce into a created mind the immensity of that which is, and to render this mind consonant with existents (actual or possible) independent of it. God’s ideas precede things, they create them. This is why theologians, in order to find some analogy to them from below, compare them to the artist’s ideas. Thomist theology thereupon considers the artist’s idea in its proper nature and deepens the notion of it.” (Pg. 120)
He suggests, “I do not at all pretend to say what will be. I am not trying to know what poets or novelists will do tomorrow. I am merely attempting to indicate how certain profound desires of contemporary art move in the direction of a Christian renaissance. I envisage a possible future---what could be, what would be if man were not always betraying the deposits entrusted to him. It seems to me, then, that modern poetry, at least where it has not opted for despair, in the order of art proposes the very thing of which Our Lady is forever, in the order of sanctity, the perfect exemplar: to do the ordinary things in a divine way.” (Pg. 148-149)
This will appeal to some seeking philosophical perspectives on art and poetry.
The Translator’s Note explains, “This new translation of ‘Art and Scholasticism’ was undertaken at Professor Maritain’s suggestion, and is made from the third and final edition (1935)… The ‘Frontiers of Poetry’ essay… is translated from the revised version (1935).”
He begins, “The Schoolmen did not write a special treatise entitled ‘Philosophy of Art.’ This was no doubt due to the struct pedagogical discipline to which the philosophers of the Middle Ages were subjected; occupied in sifting and probing the problems of the School in all directions, they cared little that they left unworked regions between the quarries they excavated. Yet we find in them a very profound theory of Art; but we must look for it in austere treatises on some problem of logic… or of moral theology… In these treatises, in which the nature of art is studied only incidentally, art in general is the subject of debate, from the art of the shipbuilder to the art of the grammarian and the logician, not the fine arts in particular, the consideration of which has no ‘formal’ bearing on the matter under discussion…” (Pg. 3)
He explains, “Let us sum up now what the Schoolmen taught about art in general, considered in the artist or artisan and as something of himself. 1. Art, first of all, is of the intellectual order, it action consists in imprinting an idea in some mater; it is therefore in the intelligence of the ‘artifex’ that it resides, or, as is said, this intelligence is the subject in which it inheres. It is a certain QUALITY of this intelligence. 2. The ancients termed ‘habitus’ qualities of a class apart, qualities which are essentially stable dispositions perfecting in the line of its own nature the subject in which they exist. Health, beauty ad ‘habitus of the body; sanctifying grace is a habitus (supernatural) of the soul. Other habitus have for their subject the faculties or powers of the soul, and as the nature of these faculties or powers is to tend to action, the habitus which inhere in them perfect the way in their very dynamism, are ‘operative’ habitus: such as the intellectual virtues and the moral virtues.” (Pg. 10)
He states, “Saint Thomas, who was a simple as he was wise, defined the beautiful as that which, being seen, pleases… Beauty is essentially an object of INTELLIGENCE, for that which KNOWS in the full sense of the word is intelligence, which alone is open to the infinity of being.” (Pg. 23)
He concludes, “To turn away from Wisdom and Contemplation, and to aim lower than God, is for a Christian civilization the first cause of all disorder. It is in particular the cause of that ungodly divorce between Art and Prudence which one observes in times when Christians no longer have the strength to hear the integrity of their riches. This is doubtless why Prudence was sacrificed to Art at the time of the Italian Renaissance… in ‘right-thinking’ circles which no longer tended to anything but Respectability.” (Pg. 81)
In the ‘Frontiers of Poetry’ essay, he says, “God’s ideas are not like our concepts, that is, representative signs drawn from things, intended to introduce into a created mind the immensity of that which is, and to render this mind consonant with existents (actual or possible) independent of it. God’s ideas precede things, they create them. This is why theologians, in order to find some analogy to them from below, compare them to the artist’s ideas. Thomist theology thereupon considers the artist’s idea in its proper nature and deepens the notion of it.” (Pg. 120)
He suggests, “I do not at all pretend to say what will be. I am not trying to know what poets or novelists will do tomorrow. I am merely attempting to indicate how certain profound desires of contemporary art move in the direction of a Christian renaissance. I envisage a possible future---what could be, what would be if man were not always betraying the deposits entrusted to him. It seems to me, then, that modern poetry, at least where it has not opted for despair, in the order of art proposes the very thing of which Our Lady is forever, in the order of sanctity, the perfect exemplar: to do the ordinary things in a divine way.” (Pg. 148-149)
This will appeal to some seeking philosophical perspectives on art and poetry.
June 16, 2023
A seminal work on the topic of art and artistry, to be sure, but this is DENSE philosophy. Not something I’d lightly recommend. Very glad I read it and struggled through it, and I will use it as a reference for future talks and writings, I’m sure. I aspire to be able to fully understand Jacques Maritain.
August 9, 2025
"Art & Scholasticism" is a must read, a deeply interesting & applicable document if you're at all interested in aesthetics, requires no fidelity to catholicsm or scholasticism to appreciate, &, contra some goodreads reviewers, incredibly accessibly written.
"Frontiers of Poetry" is a pretty meh application of the aesthetics of "Art & Scholastcism" & a limp criticism of modernist poetry
"Frontiers of Poetry" is a pretty meh application of the aesthetics of "Art & Scholastcism" & a limp criticism of modernist poetry
December 27, 2018
Will review later
September 1, 2023
Crazy.
April 15, 2024
Destined to be another annual read.
April 25, 2024
His Thomist viewpoint is a refreshing counterbalance to much of contemporary thoughts on the arts. Maritain has some insightful thoughts. Well worth the read.
June 22, 2025
Gonna have to read this one a few times in order to comprehend it all. Great insights though.
March 7, 2021
A delightful little book that some how managed to make me want to live virtuously and search out beautiful things.
The first few chapters are quite dense and require extra attentiveness. The book as a whole is filled with brilliant lines, metaphors, and concepts that helped make sense of the world (akin to that of Chesterton or Lewis). The sections on the purpose of art, the beauty of God, and religious art proved to be my favorite.
This is the type of book where I am left feeling like I only understood a fraction of the content—not because it is verbose, but because it is paradigm shifting. I could easily return to the book again and again and glean new insight.
The first few chapters are quite dense and require extra attentiveness. The book as a whole is filled with brilliant lines, metaphors, and concepts that helped make sense of the world (akin to that of Chesterton or Lewis). The sections on the purpose of art, the beauty of God, and religious art proved to be my favorite.
This is the type of book where I am left feeling like I only understood a fraction of the content—not because it is verbose, but because it is paradigm shifting. I could easily return to the book again and again and glean new insight.
Want to read
November 16, 2009Recommended by James Schall in Another Sort of Learning, Chapter 11, as one of Five Books about Art and Beauty.
February 24, 2012
Read for Arts & Ethics, VART 4200.
July 11, 2024
A book to selectively and entirely reread.
Read again in August 2013.
Read once in last May 2013.
Read again in August 2013.
Read once in last May 2013.
September 4, 2016
One of the most intellectually stimulating books I've read in a while. St. Thomas has something to say to painters and poets, not just philosophers.
August 26, 2021
A fantastic book with wonderful insights into the nature of art and beauty.
June 20, 2009
one of the two or three most influential books for me i have ever read.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews