Integralism and the Common Good

Wisdom, in its broadest sense, is the knowledge of something that is not open to political debate, namely the First Principle and Last End of all things. It entails comprehending the order of all things in relation to that Principle and to that End—an order that we, as humans, should reflect and embody in our own deeds and in our communal life in society. The political ramifications of this reality have been hidden in the modern era by liberalism's faults, which, by granting human reason a false superiority, makes man's own reasoning the only measure of the good, and even its founder. As a result, every community is perceived and handled as a conventional, contractual, artificial, collective egoism.

The authors whose works appear in this volume—the majority of whom were first published at The Josias—share the conviction that there is an urgent need to combat liberalism's errors, both in the world and within the Catholic Church—for men cannot be truly happy unless their lives are integrated into the greater order that emanates from God. A "broadening of reason" is required to overcome current errors: we must draw on the deepest sources of philosophical and theological understanding, the deepest insights of human reason reflecting on the entire spectrum of human experience, and the supernatural light of Divine Revelation.

This first book of essays addresses the essential issues of practical philosophy: the rules of human behaviour and the common goods of natural human communities, ranging from the smallest and most basic (the household) to the largest and most comprehensive (the state) (the political community). The second volume will be devoted to the natural communities' relationships to Christ's supernatural Kingdom.

Hardcover, 356 pages.