JACQUES MARITAIN AND PAUL MURRAY’S THOMISTIC INSIGHTS FOR YOUNG SCHOLARS ON HOW TO ‘EAT THE BOOK’

Abstract

Truth is the object of the intellect. Intellectual life is understood in the Dominican tradition as a good in itself. As Paul Murray puts it, ‘Dominicans in every age tend to insist that there can be no serious awakening to God without an awakening in the mind.’ In his article, ‘Eat the Book: Study in the Dominican Tradition’, Murray touches on several things necessary to succeed as an intellectual in our time. These insights are very profitable to young scholars, who are often aspiring for assiduous learning. This article explores how people like St Dominic, St Thomas Aquinas, Jacques Maritain and Murray have understood the Catholic intellectual tradition and valued education and their contributions towards it, especially on how to approach the sacred order of things. Questions like, how is study an intellectual and how is spiritual discipline conceived within the Dominican Order are the heart of this work. Hence, the paper attempts to discuss the indispensable value of reading and the disposition necessary for the acquisition of knowledge. This will enable moral living, spiritual purification, and wisdom that embodies the harmony between faith and reason, prayer and study, intellect and sanctity.