Tea at Trianon: A Philosopher for All Seasons

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Tuesday, January 13, 2026

A Philosopher for All Seasons

From The Public Discourse:

“The world is in trouble because of a lack of thinking.” These words, from Pope Paul VI in 1968, ring true as a fundamentally human problem. We do not give enough thought or consideration to so many of the things whirling about us. The late 1960s were no doubt an intensified moment of thoughtlessness, but so too, in different ways, is our own time.

But what does thinking look like? Or to put it a different way, what does a thinker look like? In the ancient world, philosophers wore certain clothing to indicate they were philosophers or to signal their school of thought. In China, Confucian scholars donned a White Sim-ui. In modern times, we might in the philosophical context think of an Oxford don, or one of those existentialist philosophers with a turtleneck and cigarette quick to hand.

Jason L. A. West’s recent book The Christian Philosophy of Jacques Maritain is far less sartorial than this. But the book does feature a dapper and very French-looking Maritain on the cover and is most compelling in showing what a philosopher ought to look like, or be like. West argues for the continuing centrality of Maritain in philosophy. His book contends that Maritain was neither a mere commentator on Thomas Aquinas nor a philosopher contained in his own time. Maritain, for West, provided a “dynamic and compelling approach to philosophy in his time” and one worth engaging now in the twenty-first century.

Part of the great strength of West’s book is the way that he details Maritain’s contributions to multiple fields of thought ranging from the philosophy of science to aesthetics. Maritain’s greatness influenced multiple fields of thought in contrast to many philosophers in our era of specialization. West’s development of each field of thought is thorough and engaging. He manages well the task of detailing complex intellectual developments and showing disputed questions regarding Maritain’s contributions, while also writing in a general, accessible way. The book lends itself to reading in full. But for those whose interests do not range as widely, reading specific chapters will be intellectually rewarding. While I read the whole book, I found certain chapters more interesting, especially those regarding metaphysics, ethics, and aesthetics. Others might dwell more with the chapters on science or history. But whether you read in full or in part, you will encounter the ideas and the thinker behind them.

In this, West’s depiction of Maritain as a philosopher is the most important aspect of the book. Maritain becomes a kind of model of what philosophy, or thinking itself, should look like in our time. While we might not all become existential Thomists like Maritain, we can not only learn from him but should consider aiming to be like him in his activity of thinking. It is worth considering then some of the essential features of Maritain that West puts forth in his book. (Read more.)