The integration of knowledge in the work of Jacques Maritain

Abstract

The question of integration of knowledge is a particularly relevant matter in the scene of present epistemology. A favorable climate for discussion is promoted by our era, but the results have been of uneven value. One of the greatest Christian intellectuals of the 20th century, Jacques Maritain, devoted an important part of his work to reflecting on these issues. Following his motto distinguish to unite, this work unfolds in two parts: the first one, which is referred to the moment of distinction between disciplines, and the second one, which is referred to the moment of their -relative- unification. In the first part, there is an advance from the primary intuitions of metaphysical wisdom and the great categories of knowledge: knowledge in an analogical sense, philosophy, science and theology. Maritain introduces the criterion of division based on the speculative and the practical. Then, in the speculative order, he resources to the traditional doctrine on abstraction and its forms, striving to adapt the principles that inspire it to the complex subject matter of present science. The work is closed with a consideration about the modalities of practical knowledge. This distinction movement shall be completed in the second part of the work starting from the complementation requirements of the involved disciplines.