Jean Daujat (Paris, 27 October 1906 – 31 May 1998) was a French philosopher of

neo-Thomism Neo-scholasticism (also known as neo-scholastic Thomism Accessed 27 March 2013 or neo-Thomism because of the great influence of the writings of Thomas Aquinas on the movement) is a revival and development of medieval scholasticism in Catholic the ...

, a disciple of Jacques Maritain, and the founder of the Centre d'études religieuses, the Center for Religious Studies, specializing in teaching Christian doctrine.

Biography

Early life and education

Jean Daujat was born on 27 October 1906, in Paris to parents who were non-practicing believers. Daujat was home schooled by his mother until he entered the Lycee Pasteur in 1918. He obtained a BA in philosophy, with honors in mathematics. In September 1923, Daujat entered

Lycée Janson-de-Sailly Lycée Janson de Sailly is a ''lycée'' located in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France. The ''lycéens'' of Janson are called ''les jansoniens'' and they usually refer to their high school as Janson, or JdS. It is the biggest academic inst ...

where he studied mathematics. Meanwhile, his former high school biology teacher Pastor Jules Lefevre directed him toward the philosophy of Saint Thomas Aquinas. Daujat also discovered the philosophy of Jacques Maritain, who greatly influenced his own work. Jules Lefevre then introduced him to Amédée d'Yvignac, who had founded the French Gazette, which was subtitled "organ of Christian politics." Jean Daujat collaborated in this review along with Maritain,

Henri Massis Henri Massis (21 March 1886 – 16 April 1970) was a conservative French essayist, literary critic and literary historian. Biography Massis was born on 21 March 1886 in Paris, France. He attended Lycée Condorcet and University of Paris. He began ...

and Henri Gheon.

Center for Religious Studies

In the fall of 1925 Jean Daujat and a group of seven men began the Centre d'études religieuses. The creation of the Centre d'études religieuses would be the focus his work for the rest of his life. In 1926, Jean Daujat entered the Ecole Normale Superieure to study science. Classmates included Étienne Borne and

Merleau-Ponty Maurice Jean Jacques Merleau-Ponty. (; 14 March 1908 – 3 May 1961) was a French phenomenological philosopher, strongly influenced by Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger. The constitution of meaning in human experience was his main interest an ...

in the literature department, the mathematician Chevalley, and the physicist and geneticist Rosenfeld Heir. Other influential men who attended alongside Daujat were

Raymond Aron Raymond Claude Ferdinand Aron (; 14 March 1905 – 17 October 1983) was a French philosopher, sociologist, political scientist, historian and journalist, one of France's most prominent thinkers of the 20th century. Aron is best known for his 19 ...

, Paul Nizan,

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and lit ...

, Henri Cartan and Jean Dieudonné, two of the founders of the

Bourbaki group Nicolas Bourbaki () is the collective pseudonym of a group of mathematicians, predominantly French alumni of the École normale supérieure - PSL (ENS). Founded in 1934–1935, the Bourbaki group originally intended to prepare a new textbook in ...

, Louis Neel,

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

laureate in physics, Olivier Lacombe, also a disciple of Jacques Maritain and specialist in Oriental languages, Henri-Irénée Marrou, Maurice Bardeche,

Robert Brasillach Robert Brasillach (; 31 March 1909 – 6 February 1945) was a French author and journalist. Brasillach was the editor of '' Je suis partout'', a nationalist newspaper which advocated fascist movements and supported Jacques Doriot. After the libera ...

Thierry Maulnier Thierry Maulnier (born Jacques Talagrand; 1 October 1909, Alès – 9 January 1988, Marnes-la-Coquette) was a French journalist, essayist, dramatist, and literary critic. He was married to theatre director Marcelle Tassencourt. Early years A ...

and

Simone Weil Simone Adolphine Weil ( , ; 3 February 1909 – 24 August 1943) was a French philosopher, mystic, and political activist. Over 2,500 scholarly works have been published about her, including close analyses and readings of her work, since 1995. ...

. During this period, Daujat continued his philosophical and spiritual training. With Maritain, he became acquainted with

Vladimir Ghika Vladimir Ghika or Ghica (25 December 1873 – 16 May 1954) was a Romanian diplomat and essayist who, after his conversion from Romanian Orthodoxy to Catholicism, became a priest. He was a member of the princely Ghica family, which ruled Moldavi ...

, a Romanian prince who became a Catholic priest. Daujat dedicated a book to Ghika some fifty years later, as well as Father Garrigou-Lagrange. For several years he has collaborated with writer Yvonne ERC Estienne.

Marriage

In 1930 Daujat married

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

painter Sonia Hansen, a talented portraitist and landscape painter.

Work

In 1931, Daujat began teaching himself at the Centre d'études religieuses, supported by Cardinal Verdier. He begins to write a treatise on

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

and spirituality, ''The Supernatural Life'', which appeared in 1938 with a preface by Archbishop Beaussart and Father Garrigou-Lagrange. In 1933 he founded the Monthly Magazine which was published until 1939. In addition to its own articles and those of Yvonne Estienne, there were many prestigious authors who wrote for the magazine, such as Father Garrigou-Lagrange, Mgt Ghika, Father Lallement, Jacques Maritain, Henri Gheon,

Charles Du Bos Charles Du Bos (27 October 1882 – 5 August 1939) was a French essayist and critic, known for works including ''Approximations'' (1922–37), a seven-volume collection of essays and letters, and for his ''Journal'', an autobiographical work publis ...

, Stanislas Broth, Robert of Harcourt, Gustave Thibon, Henriette Charasson, Olivier Lacombe,

, and Jacques Madaule. Daujat published several books on philosophy and

. In 1970 ''The Christian Social Order''. And In 1974 ''Y a-t-il une Verite?'' was published. After the war, his teaching affected thousands of students. He wrote for several magazines like ''The New Man'' or ''The Catholic France''. He published over thirty books, some of which were translated into several languages. In December 1946, he defended a thesis on the history of science on the theory of electric and magnetic phenomena before a jury that included

Gaston Bachelard Gaston Bachelard (; ; 27 June 1884 – 16 October 1962) was a French philosopher. He made contributions in the fields of poetics and the philosophy of science. To the latter, he introduced the concepts of ''epistemological obstacle'' and '' epis ...

and

Louis de Broglie Louis Victor Pierre Raymond, 7th Duc de Broglie (, also , or ; 15 August 1892 – 19 March 1987) was a French physicist and aristocrat who made groundbreaking contributions to Old quantum theory, quantum theory. In his 1924 PhD thesis, he pos ...

. He published two books on the philosophy of science: ''Modern Physics'' and ''Traditional Philosophy''. Because of a Communist threat he received after publishing a booklet showing the perversion of communism, which sold hundreds of thousands of copies, Daujat was asked to speak at numerous conferences on this subject. He published his last book in 1996.

Works

Theology

*''The Faith Applied'' *''The Theology of Grace'' *''Prayer'' *''La Face Interne de L'histoire'' *''Y a-t-il une Verite?''

References

*http://cer.cef.fr/ * ''The Twentieth Century Encyclopedia of Catholicism'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Daujat, Jean 1906 births 1998 deaths Writers from Paris Lycée Janson-de-Sailly alumni Lycée Pasteur (Neuilly-sur-Seine) alumni École Normale Supérieure alumni 20th-century French philosophers 20th-century French Catholic theologians Catholic philosophers Thomists 20th-century French historians French male writers