CALL FOR PAPERS
Canadian Jacques Maritain Association
Annual Symposium
June 18-21, 2024
In conjunction with the
Canadian Philosophical Association and
Congress for the Humanities and Social Sciences
McGill University
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Theme: Maritain, Aquinas, and the Promise of Thomism
The influence of St. Thomas Aquinas on the life and work of Jacques Maritain is unmistakable. Aquinas inspired Maritain to become not only a philosopher, but an exponent and modern-day promulgator of Aquinas's philosophy. Since the publication of the papal encyclical Aeterni patris, many have turned their attention to Aquinas's work and have been convinced of its value to an age that had succumbed to depersonalizing ideologies and turned its back on the teachings of the perennial philosophy. In this respect, Aquinas was heralded as a guide to follow and a model to emulate.
The Spring Symposium 2024 of the Canadian Jacques Maritain Association will focus on the relationship between St. Thomas Aquinas and Jacques Maritain by assessing the importance of this intellectual and spiritual bond and the fruit that it has produced. A secondary focus is the influence of Aquinas on the Neo-thomistic movement, which include such eminent figures as Étienne Gilson, Joseph Maréchal, Mortimer J. Adler, W. Norris Clarke, Josef Pieper, Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, Erich Przywara, Charles De Koninck, Benedict Ashley, Ralph McInerny and Lawrence Dewan.
As we find humanity in the 21st-century beset by innumerable unique challenges, from the transhumanist agenda to the technological hegemony of the internet and artificial intelligence to the various afflictions in the moral and political order, Aquinas's wisdom is needed now more than ever. A pressing question that lies at the forefront is: how can the spirit of Thomism address the coming issues of our age?
The Canadian Jacques Maritain Association welcomes topics that treat aspects of Maritain's and Aquinas's thought either independently or in relation to each other. Of particular interest are papers that discuss the influence of Aquinas on the contemporary period as well as the promise that it affords for the philosophical, moral, political, social, and theological challenges that are felt to be current in our world or that ominously loom on the horizon.
Since the Canadian Jacques Maritain Association is a bilingual association, papers can be in either English or French. Selected papers will be published in Études maritainiennes-Maritain Studies, the official journal of the Canadian Jacques Maritain Association.
The conference will take place over one or two days during the period of June 18-21, 2024—the actual dates are yet to be determined—in conjunction with the spring conference of the Canadian Philosophical Association and the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences. McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada will be the host venue.
Those who wish to present a paper should send by e-mail a one-page abstract or proposal to:
Dr. Nikolaj Zunic
Department of Philosophy
St. Jerome's University
290 Westmount Road North, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G3, Canada
E-mail: nzunic@uwaterloo.ca
Deadline for submission of proposals: April 15, 2024
Papers should not exceed 35 minutes reading time.
For more information, please visit the website for the Canadian Jacques Maritain Association: https://www.maritain.info/