• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Degrees of Knowledge

Jacques Maritain
Translated from the fourth French edition under the supervision of Gerald B. Phelan
Presented by Ralph McInerny

The Collected Works of Jacques Maritain

Distinguer pour unir, ou Les degrés du savoir _ was first published in 1932 by Jacques Maritain. In this new translation of _The Degrees of Knowledge, Ralph McInerny attempts a more careful expression of Maritain’s original masterpiece than previous translations. Maritain proposes a hierarchy of the forms of knowledge by discussing the degrees of rational and suprarational understanding. Nine appendices, some longer than the chapters of the book, advance Maritain’s thought, often by taking on criticism of earlier editions of the work. Rightly called Maritain’s cardinal work, The Degrees of Knowledge is a magnificent and sagacious achievement.

RALPH MCINERNY is Michael P. Grace Professor of Medieval Studies and director of the Jacques Maritain Center, University of Notre Dame. He is the author of numerous works in philosophy, literature, and journalism, including Characters in Search of Their Author, also published by the University of Notre Dame Press.

Reviews

“One can open The Degrees of Knowledge to almost any page and discover there something worth thinking about.” — Pastoral Life

“The Degrees of Knowledge represents one of the most complete articulations of Maritain’s incorporation of the thinking of Saint Thomas Aquinas into his work.” — The Library Quarterly

“_The Degrees of Knowledge_ remains interesting and valuable because it deals with a theme that is characteristic of, but antedates, much of postmodern thought—i.e., the critique of ‘modern epistemology.’ — études maritainiennes