JACQUES MARITAIN AND FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE
Keywords:
freedom of conscience, Human Rights, Jacques Maritain, PersonalismAbstract
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, promulgated by the United Nations on December 10, 1948, is one of the key documents in the history of freedom of religion and freedom of conscience. It was the product of intensive work by an international committee of diplomats and public figures (including René Cassin, John Humphrey, Eleanor Roosevelt, Chang Peng-chun, and Charles Habib Malik),1 but among those who not only defended it but inspired it was Jacques Maritain. Beginning in the mid-1930s, Maritain was the author of a number of books, lectures, and essays on the nature of political community, the dignity of the human person, and the centrality of human rights and freedoms.
References
Mary Ann Glendon, A World Made New: Eleanor Roosevelt and the Creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, New York: Knopf, 2000.
William Sweet ed., Natural Law: reflections on theory and practice, South Bend, IN: St Augustine’s Press, 2001.
Natural Law; this volume reprints material from Maritain, The Rights of Man and Natural Law, New York: Scribner’s, 1943, 79.
Pope John Paul II, Message for the XXIV World Day of Peace: “If You Want Peace, Respect the Conscience of Every Person” (1 January 1991).
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/ messages/peace/documents/hf_jp-ii_mes_08121990_xxiv-world-day-for-peace_en.html.
B. A. Robinson, “The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Religious Aspects,” 2002, at: http://www.religioustolerance.org/ amend_1.htm.
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms at http://lois.justice. gc.ca/en/charter/index.html.
Maritain, The Rights of Man and Natural Law, New York: Scribner’s, 1943, 72, note 1.
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/ messages/pont_messages/1980/documents/hf_jp-ii_mes_19800901_helsinki-act_en. html]), and for the celebration of the World Days of Peace, 1 January 1991.
http://www. vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/messages/peace/documents/hf_jp-ii_mes_19871 208_xxi-world-day-for-peace_en.html.
Maritain, Man and the State, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1951, 150.
Dictionary of Philosophy, 1942 edition, s.v. “Conscience,” by Archie J. Bahm.
Maritain, Introduction to the Basic Problems of Moral Philosophy, trans. Cornelia N. Borgerhoff, Albany, NY: Magi Books, 1990, 13-14.
Maritain, Moral Philosophy, ed. Joseph W. Evans, London: G. Bles, 1964, Ch. 14, sect. 12.
Catechism of the Catholic Church, Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana; Chicago, IL: Loyola University Press, 1994, §1778.
Maritain, Loi naturelle ou loi non-écrite, texte inédit, établi par Georges Brazzola, Fribourg, Suisse: Éditions universitaires, 1986, 68. See also Maritain, Introduction to the Basic Problems of Moral Philosophy, 173.
John Paul II, Message for the XXIV World Day of Peace (1991), section 1.
“Berlin Joint Declaration on Religious Freedom” prepared and signed at the International Coalition for Religious Freedom Conference on “Religious Freedom and the New Millennium” Berlin, Germany, 29-31 May 1998.
Maritain, The Person and the Common Good, trans. John J. Fitzgerald, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1947, 63.
Brad Miller, “Religious Intolerance at City Hall,” Lex View 47.0 at http:// www.culturalrenewal.ca/ lex/ lex-47.htm.
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, General Assembly resolution 2200A (XXI) of 16 December 1966, art. 4.
