{"title":"Marcel de Corte","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"prudence-paperback-1","title":"Prudence - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eWe are made to be happy, to experience eternal beatitude, the face-to-face vision of God. And we attain to this happiness through our actions here below. The cardinal virtues are the key to ordering our acts to this end according to correct reasoning. Fortitude and temperance strengthen our will so that we will not succumb to fear or disordered passions. Justice regulates our relations with others. Yet, as all human acts are the fruit of the intellect and will, we need a virtue which directs the others and prevents their excess or defect. This is prudence. Since the goodness and efficacy of our conduct hinge on this virtue, St. Thomas Aquinas calls it the most necessary virtue in human life. Without prudence, fortitude can lead to foolhardiness, justice to severity, temperance to excessive austerity, and even charity can be misdirected: despite our intentions, the purpose of our actions can be vitiated, and we will do evil instead of good. Today as perhaps never before, even among Christians, including Catholics in positions of authority, actions divorced from any rational moral end give rise to a state of disorder in the human person and society. Consequences include individuals ruled by their passions, the lack of social connections, unbridled capitalism, the totalitarian state, and the unchallenged reign of technology. All this is due to the neglect of prudence, in political leaders and among those in the community, which then becomes a \"dis-society.\"\u003c\/p\u003eThe Belgian philosopher Marcel De Corte, one of the foremost Thomists of the twentieth century, tirelessly labored to address these issues, which he saw as born from the French Revolution and the industrial revolution, basing his analyses on Aristotle and the Angelic Doctor. With the vision of a prophet, he foresaw the coming collapse of a social order in which the natural condition of the human person is disrespected. His prognosis for the future, however, is not without hope.","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51377589256415,"sku":"9781998492190","price":17.23,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/MeVGq35pda9781998492190.webp?v=1789236130"},{"product_id":"intelligence-in-danger-of-death-english-edition-paperback","title":"Intelligence in Danger of Death (English edition) - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eWell-known in the French-speaking world for his devastating critiques of the decadence of thought in the West since Descartes's \u003cem\u003eCogito ergo sum\u003c\/em\u003e, Marcel De Corte published \u003cem\u003eIntelligence in Danger of Death\u003c\/em\u003e as the final stage of his reflections in 1969. To grasp the profound mutation which man and society have undergone, Marcel De Corte offers a merciless analysis that relies on classical philosophy and insight from Christian Revelation. He outlines the genealogy of contemporary evils and indicates the ways to correct these. What Orwell and Huxley turned into novels, Marcel De Corte predicted through reasoning and analysis in the light of Wisdom. His thesis: man's speculative and practical intelligence has been replaced with his \u003cem\u003eworking intelligence\u003c\/em\u003e, that is, the intelligence that produces new things and can only know the world that it has produced. This is how man has ultimately become \u003cem\u003edetached from reality\u003c\/em\u003e and how his mind has become apt only to grasp a manufactured world as presented to him by those in command of the production of information: scientists, media, governments. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51377591746783,"sku":"9781990685552","price":23.71,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/nYc4z5hwu89781990685552.webp?v=1789236137"},{"product_id":"on-the-death-of-a-civilization-paperback","title":"On the Death of a Civilization - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFirst-ever translation of \u003cem\u003eEssai sur la fin d'une civilisation\u003c\/em\u003e originally published in 1949. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eOur contemporary civilization is in distress. Society is unraveling, with rampant individualism, moral dissipation, identity crises, unchecked consumerism, and social isolation. De Corte, writing in the mid-twentieth century, studies these trends and discerns their causes: the prevalence of philosophies rooted in idealism or materialism, the reign of ideologies inspired by these philosophies, objectification of workers in both free-market capitalism and communism as economic progress trumps social well-being, the efforts of some in the Church to compromise the truth in order to adapt to the world, and, most importantly, the rejection of the transcendent. To heal society and build a new civilization emerging from the old, De Corte prescribes restoring a religious, moral, and philosophical compass to society, and the development of small-scale communities with an organic relationship to the environment and fostering close interpersonal connections.","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51377606983903,"sku":"9781990685873","price":23.71,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/byHBcQtz4m9781990685873.webp?v=1789236178"},{"product_id":"fortitude-paperback","title":"Fortitude - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eInsofar as the four cardinal virtues, prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance, fortitude, are remembered today, it is in a distorted and partial fashion. The term \"fortitude\" today no longer refers to a virtue aimed at the common good and the proper reaction to evil, but rather a manner of imposing one's will, and, at best, physical bravery in battle. In our times, the many richly-layered ideals once associated with the virtue of fortitude are no longer held in esteem: convictions based on enduring values, fidelity to commitments, and sacrifices demanded by this fidelity. How can one even bring up the notion of convictions in a society in which there is no absolute truth? How can one speak of fidelity when one of the main examples, conjugal fidelity, is mocked? How can one appeal to the duty of sacrifice in a world where comfort and well-being are supreme values? To bring up these points is to go against the grain of certain pernicious modern trends.\u003c\/p\u003eThe virtue of fortitude is vanishing before our very eyes, giving way to violence, coercion, and a web of pseudo-social obligations and demands. The resulting dis-society is one of permanent chaos and constant instability. Without the virtue of fortitude to stand against disordered thought and its fruit, the collapse of our civilization cannot be prevented.","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51377711218911,"sku":"9781998492565","price":16.15,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/kRTpmUvman9781998492565.webp?v=1789239989"},{"product_id":"the-four-cardinal-virtues-paperback","title":"The Four Cardinal Virtues - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eInsofar as the four cardinal virtues-prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance-are remembered today, it is in a distorted and partial fashion. Yet the resulting void is at the root of the evils of the \"dis-society\" in which we live: totalitarianism, unbridled capitalism, social alienation, consumerism, hedonism, and the unchallenged reign of technology. To return to sanity, we need prudence, the virtue directing all the others and indispensable for the determination of appropriate personal and societal actions; justice, particularly essential for the pursuit of the common good; fortitude, required for fidelity to commitments and the sacrifices these entail; and temperance, applying to all moderation in conduct, not just regarding food and drink. Without the recovery of these virtues, the collapse of what remains of our civilization cannot be prevented. The Belgian philosopher Marcel De Corte is a prophetic voice heralding the coming chaos, basing his analyses on Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas. His prognosis for the future, however, does not leave us without hope.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51377731764447,"sku":"9781998492770","price":36.38,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/cfRddvUK-M9781998492770.webp?v=1789240043"},{"product_id":"the-four-cardinal-virtues-hardcover","title":"The Four Cardinal Virtues - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003eInsofar as the four cardinal virtues-prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance-are remembered today, it is in a distorted and partial fashion. Yet the resulting void is at the root of the evils of the \"dis-society\" in which we live: totalitarianism, unbridled capitalism, social alienation, consumerism, hedonism, and the unchallenged reign of technology. To return to sanity, we need prudence, the virtue directing all the others and indispensable for the determination of appropriate personal and societal actions; justice, particularly essential for the pursuit of the common good; fortitude, required for fidelity to commitments and the sacrifices these entail; and temperance, applying to all moderation in conduct, not just regarding food and drink. Without the recovery of these virtues, the collapse of what remains of our civilization cannot be prevented. The Belgian philosopher Marcel De Corte is a prophetic voice heralding the coming chaos, basing his analyses on Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas. His prognosis for the future, however, does not leave us without hope.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51377732288735,"sku":"9781998492787","price":53.21,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/Hs-H5yzV0S9781998492787.webp?v=1789240045"},{"product_id":"temperance-paperback","title":"Temperance - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTemperance has faded from modern consciousness as a virtue, relegated, when it is mentioned at all, to moderation in food and drink or abstention from alcohol. The Belgian philosopher Marcel De Corte here reveals its whole content, basing his analysis on Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas. Temperance intervenes in all the ends of human life, and nearly every virtue has need of it in order to be practiced. Without it, we become unbalanced, lose our self-possession, and are deprived of our truly human character, descending to the level of beasts. Bereft of temperance, individuals become not only debauched in body, but given over to inordinate desires of the mind, such as anger, envy, or even a disordered curiosity. Pride takes over, obliterating humility. De Corte issues a prophetic call for the reform of persons, and thus of society, through embracing the virtue of temperance, including its inclusion in catechetics and homilies. Otherwise, our \"dis-society\" will continue on its downward trajectory.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51377747656927,"sku":"9781998492749","price":16.15,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/F5OAUlDKge9781998492749.webp?v=1789240084"}],"url":"https:\/\/blackandbarhe.com\/collections\/marcel-de-corte.oembed","provider":"Black \u0026 Barhe Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}