Maritain: "A technocratic society is but a totalitarian one"

“THE preface to Fascism and Nazism is a thorough disregard of the spiritual dignity of man, and the assumption that merely material or biological standards rule human life and morality. Thereafter, since man cannot do without some loving adoration, the monstrous adoration of the totalitarian Leviathan will have its day. Technology is good, as a means for the human spirit and for human ends. But technocracy, that is to say, technology so understood and so worshiped as to exclude any superior wisdom and any other understanding than that of calculable phenomena, leaves in human life nothing but relationships of force, or at best those of pleasure, and necessarily ends up in a philosophy of domination. A technocratic society is but a totalitarian one. But a technological society may be democratic, provided this society is quickened by an inspiration which is supra-technological, and if it recognizes, with Bergson, that “the body, now larger, calls for a bigger soul,” and that “the mechanical” summons up the “mystical.” ” 

~Jacques Maritain: Education at the Crossroads.

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"The cross itself on which Christ was crucified"

September 14th: Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

"AS stated above (a.3), honor or reverence is due to a rational creature only; while to an insensible creature, no honor or reverence is due save by reason of a rational nature. And this in two ways. First, inasmuch as it represents a rational nature: secondly, inasmuch as it is united to it in any way whatsoever. In the first way men are wont to venerate the king's image; in the second way, his robe. And both are venerated by men with the same veneration as they show to the king. If, therefore, we speak of the cross itself on which Christ was crucified, it is to be venerated by us in both ways – namely, in one way in so far as it represents to us the figure of Christ extended thereon; in the other way, from its contact with the limbs of Christ, and from its being saturated with His blood. Wherefore in each way it is worshiped with the same adoration as Christ, viz. the adoration of "latria." And for this reason also we speak to the cross and pray to it, as to the Crucified Himself. But if we speak of the effigy of Christ's cross in any other material whatever – for instance, in stone or wood, silver or gold - thus we venerate the cross merely as Christ's image, which we worship with the adoration of "latria," as stated above (a.3)."

~St. Thomas Aquinas: Summa Theologica, III, q. 25, a. 4.

Glorification of the Cross, by Adam Elsheimer.

Oil on copper, c. 1605; Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt.

On dulia and latria:
"Dulia (Greek doulia; Latin servitus), a theological term signifying the honour paid to the saints, while latria means worship given to God alone, and hyperdulia the veneration offered to the Blessed Virgin Mary. St. Augustine (City of God X.2) distinguishes two kinds of servitus: "one which is due to men . . . which in Greek is called dulia; the other, latria, which is the service pertaining to the worship of God". St. Thomas (II-II:103:3) bases the distinction on the difference between God's supreme dominion and that which one man may exercise over another. Catholic theologians insist that the difference is one of kind and not merely of degree; dulia and latria being as far apart as are the creature and the Creator. Leibniz, though a Protestant, recognizes the "discrimen infinitum atque immensum between the honour which is due to God and that which is shown to the saints, the one being called by theologians, after Augustine's example, latria, the other dulia"; and he further declares that this difference should "not only be inculcated in the minds of hearers and learners, but should also be manifested as far as possible by outward signs" (Syst. theol., p. 184). A further distinction is made between dulia in the absolute sense, the honour paid to persons, and dulia in the relative sense, the honour paid to inanimate objects, such as images and relics. With regard to the saints, dulia includes veneration and invocation; the former being the honour paid directly to them, the latter having primarily in view the petitioner's advantage." ~Catholic Encyclopedia

"Judge not"

"THOSE who stand guilty of grievous sins should not judge those who are guilty of the same or lesser sins, as Chrysostom [Hom. xxiv] says on the words of Mat. 7:1, "Judge not." Above all does this hold when such sins are public, because there would be an occasion of scandal arising in the hearts of others. If however they are not public but hidden, and there be an urgent necessity for the judge to pronounce judgment, because it is his duty, he can reprove or judge with humility and fear. Hence Augustine says: "If we find that we are guilty of the same sin as another man, we should groan together with him, and invite him to strive against it together with us." And yet it is not through acting thus that a man condemns himself so as to deserve to be condemned once again, but when, in condemning another, he shows himself to be equally deserving of condemnation on account of another or a like sin."

~St. Thomas Aquinas: S.T., I-II, q. 60, a. 2, ad 3.

"The Blessed Virgin"

September 12th: Memorial of the Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

"The sinner often seeks for something which he does not find; but to the just man it is given to find what he seeks: "The substance of the sinner is kept for the just." Thus, Eve sought the fruit of the tree (of good and evil), but she did not find in it that which she sought. Everything Eve desired, however, was given to the Blessed Virgin."

~St. Thomas Aquinas: The Angelic Salutation.

Annunciation (detail), by Fra Angelico.
Tempera on wood, 1433-34; Museo Diocesano, Cortona.

"The meaning of religion"

"IN order to understand the meaning of religion, we must know the etymology of the word. St. Augustine, in his book De vera religione considers it to be derived from "re-ligare" (to re-bind). One thing is bound to another, when it is so joined to it, that it cannot separate from it, and unite itself to anything else. The word "re-binding", however, implies that one thing, though united to another, has begun, in some degree, to disconnect itself from that other. Now every creature existed, originally, rather in God than in itself. By creation, however, it came forth from God, and, in a certain measure, it began, in its essence, to have an existence apart from Him. Hence every rational creature ought to be reunited to God, to whom it was united before it existed apart from Him, even as “unto the place whence the rivers come, they return to flow again” (Eccle. i.). Therefore, St. Augustine says, (De vera religione), “Religion reunites us to the one Almighty God.” We find the same idea expressed in the commentary of the Gloss, on the words, “for of Him, and by Him” (Rom. xi. 36)."

~St. Thomas Aquinas: Liber contra impugnantes Dei cultum et religionem, Part I.

"Heresy and schism"

"HERESY AND SCHISM are distinguished in respect of those things to which each is opposed essentially and directly. For heresy is essentially opposed to faith, while schism is essentially opposed to the unity of ecclesiastical charity. Wherefore just as faith and charity are different virtues, although whoever lacks faith lacks charity, so too schism and heresy are different vices, although whoever is a heretic is also a schismatic, but not conversely. This is what Jerome says in his commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians [In Ep. ad Tit. iii, 10]: "I consider the difference between schism and heresy to be that heresy holds false doctrine while schism severs a man from the Church." Nevertheless, just as the loss of charity is the road to the loss of faith, according to 1 Timothy 1:6: "From which things," i.e. charity and the like, "some going astray, are turned aside into vain babbling," so too, schism is the road to heresy. Wherefore Jerome adds (In Ep. ad Tit. iii, 10) that "at the outset it is possible, in a certain respect, to find a difference between schism and heresy: yet there is no schism that does not devise some heresy for itself, that it may appear to have had a reason for separating from the Church." "

~St. Thomas Aquinas: Summa Theologica, II-II, q. 39, a. 1, ad 3.

Expositions of Aristotelian thought

Recommended reading:

While there are a number of good books available to assist with understanding Aristotle’s works and thought, I am listing three titles that I highly recommend.

Aristotle for Everybody by Mortimer J. Adler is the ideal book for the beginner, though the advanced student will certainly benefit from Adler's insights. Read a description of this book at Amazon.

A History of Philosophy, Vol. 1: Greece and Rome From the Pre-Socratics to Plotinus, by Frederick Copleston, S.J. Perhaps the best history of philosophy in the English language, this first volume contains an excellent exposition of Aristotle's thought, as well as the philosophical thinking leading up to Aristotle's time. A background in pre-Socratic and Platonic thought is essential to the study of Aristotle. Read a description of this book at Amazon.

Aristotle, by Sir David Ross is a thorough exposition of Aristotle's thought by an eminent Aristotelian scholar. While this is an exemplary work there are a couple of problematic areas I should mention. First, the section on ethics contains no mention of the good versus the apparent good, which is a key concept for understanding ethical theory. I have no explanation for such an omission by this first-rate scholar. Second, Sir Ross is critical of Aquinas' view that each angel is a unique species. The question Ross raises in this regard reveals that he has not fully understood Aquinas' position. But it is not uncommon for writers to misunderstand Aquinas on this subject. The key to understanding the issue pertains to the specific meaning of Aquinas' analogical use of "species" in regard to the angelic forms. Nonetheless, I have been using Ross' book profitably for many years. Read a description of this book at Amazon. 

If the price of this book is a concern, one can save money by purchasing a used copy of an early edition (1959). This is the edition I own: Aristotle: A Complete Exposition of His Works and Thought