Episode 279: Richard Spinello on Edith Stein, Jacques Maritain, Dietrich von Hildebrand, and Karol Woytyla (March 6, 2024)

On this episode of The Open Door, panelists Jim Hanink, Mario Ramos-Reyes, and Valerie Niemeyer discuss four giants of 20th century Catholic thought: Edith Stein, Jacques Maritain, Dietrich von Hildebrand, and Karol Wojtyla (St. John Paul II). Our welcome guest is Prof. Rick Spinello. He teaches at Boston College and St. John’s Seminary in Boston. The author of numerous scholarly articles on ethics, Spinello has written or edited many books including The Encyclicals of John Paul II: An Introduction and Commentary and The Splendor of Marriage: John Paul II’s Vision of Love, Marriage, Family, and the Culture of Life. Among the questions we’ll be asking him are the following.

1. Rick, how did you end up authoring a book on four Catholic philosophers?
2. Your book combines biography with hard philosophical questions. Why did you write it?
3. Would the average Catholic layperson, if there is such a person, want to read this book?
4. What’s it like to write a book about four saintly figures who were also intellectual giants?
5. Why did you pick these four? Why not other Catholic “giants” of the last century?
6. Is there such a thing as Catholic philosophy? Why has this been such a contested issue?
7. What does this diverse group, Edith Stein, Jacques Maritain, Dietrich von Hildebrand, and Karol Wojtyla have in common?
8. Three of these philosophers are converts to Catholicism. How would you compare their conversion experiences?
9. Why are their philosophies important for the Church? What’s their message for us today?
10. Of the four, who was your favorite?

Four Catholic Philosophers: Rejoicing in the Truth (Jacques Maritain, Edith Stein, Dietrich von Hildebrand, Karol Wojtyła)

This book unfolds the intersecting life stories of four important Catholic philosophers of the 20th century, namely, Jacques Maritain, Edith Stein, Dietrich von Hildebrand, and Karol Wojtyla, and examines the salient themes of their respective philosophies. Exploring the lives of these four individuals will unlock for the reader the nature of Catholic philosophy, which always aspires to a higher wisdom and the discovery of the hidden harmony of the universe. The spiritual itinerary of these faithful scholars is part of a larger story, therefore, of the intimate relationship between faith and reason that is at the heart of Catholic intellectual life.

Four Catholic Philosophers: Rejoicing in the Truth (Jacques Maritain, Edith Stein, Dietrich von Hildebrand, Karol Wojtyła) | En Route Books and Media