Based On Rational Poetry And Art And Its Transcendence

Jacques Maritain (1882-1973) was a French famous Christian philosopher in the20th century, and the leading figure of western New-Thomism. In the trend ofreligious revival, Jacques Maritain and the New-Thomism which was led byMaritain had a significant influence to western philosophy and culture in the20thcentury, his aesthetics as an important part of his thought and theory, also played animportant role. The tenet of Maritain’s philosophy is using Thomism to review andcriticize the modern philosophy and thoughts, at the same time, to strive to absorband reconcile the real result of modern thoughts, and on this basis, to restore thevitality of Thomism, and this principle can also be applied to the aesthetics ofMaritain. As Thomism advocates reason and vindicates the Christian belief,Maritain’s aesthetics also embodies both fully. The foundation of Maritain’saesthetics is Reason, but its purpose is to vindicate the Christian faith. These twoaspects constitute "Intellectualism" and "Transcendentalism" in Maritain’s aesthetics.Maritain lays Art’s foundation on the human reason, and makes the role of reasonin Art as a core and the basis of his aesthetic thoughts. He fuses the view of medievalscholasticism with Bergson’s intuitionism together, and puts forward the notion of"Intellectual intuition", and thinks that man’s intuition is rational. The rationalintuition in poetry and art, he calls "Creative Intuition" or "Poetic Knowledge", andmakes it the foundation of poetry and Art. He thinks that Art is an intellectual worldthat constitutes with rational intuition, practical reason and conceptual reason. Inaddition, Maritain’s intellectualism is also shown on his view of beauty-appreciation,he reconciles Thomas Aquinas’s thinking about beauty with Kant’s theory, and thinksthat the aesthetic feeling is the pleasure that the object-form gives to the intellect ofhuman.The foundation of Maritain’s aesthetics is intellectualism, but his purpose lies onthe transcendentalism. He thinks that as a form of rational knowledge，the "PoeticKnowledge" can grasp the essence of the "Things" and "Man", and thus can touchthe Existence and even the trace of God. So it is with the beauty-appreciation, likeThomas Aquinas, Maritain also thinks that God is Beauty itself, and the beauty ofthings is just the refraction and reflection of the beauty of God, so naturally thebeauty-appreciation can lead to God and realize its transcendence. However, he imposes restrictions on this transcendence and thinks that it is impossible to get aclear conclusion about this transcendence. The only possibility is getting a glimpseof God. According to this, Maritain criticizes the theory and practice that take Artand beauty as the final home，even make them replace the religious faith.Through applying Thomism, Maritain successfully reconciles many modernthinkers’ viewpoints, and has constructed a unique aesthetic system of intellectualismand transcendentalism. The establishment of Maritain’s aesthetic thoughts haschanged the situation that the Christian philosophy lacks of theoretical system ofaesthetic thought, and is also a strong response to the denying Christian faith fromthe worldly aesthetic community. Maritain’s aesthetics has also had a great influenceto the entire academia. The relationship between rationality and sensibility is alwaysan important and difficult task in the entire academia, the linking between these twomade by Maritain is a beneficial attempt. Furthermore, he has integrated Thomismwith Bergson’s intuitionism and created the "Illuminating Intellect","CreativeIntuition" and "Poetic Knowledge" and other concepts. Utilizing the theory ofAquinas’ soul structure, he has transformed Freud’s theory of "Unconsciousness",and put forward the concept of "Spiritual Unconscious ". These unique concepts willalso have an important impact on the later aesthetic and thought circles.