THE EVOLUTION OF LAMENNAIS' CATHOLIC-LIBERAL SYNTHESIS.

This paper examinee the sustained attempt by Félicité Lamennais to solve the perennial ethical problem of the rapport between liberty and authority. An early apostle of the Romantic reaction of the early 19th century, Lamennais, in his deep-seated yearning for the harmony and religious unity of the medieval world, sought to reconstruct the principle of authority in religion, and, therefore, in society on a broad philosophical base. Using this same philosophical groundwork, he later emerged as a champion of the modern liberties evolving out of the rise of liberalism and the French Revolution. How did such a remarkable transition from theocratic authoritarianism to Catholic liberalism take place? Such themes as tolerance, religion, society, authority, liberty, and history-inter-related elements of political reality--are pieces of the mosaic which Félicité Lamennais labored to bring into being as a major synthesis of theology and philosophy. The originality and the magnitude of the Mennaisian effort had a powerful impact on the subsequent history of Roman Catholicism. The fundamental question of social coexistence, heading in turn to a basically metaphysical reflection upon the nature and sources of society and social being, was the basic issue for Lamennais. The crucial and very contemporary character of the question of unity and plurality within the modern world makes it quite evident that a constant study of the problem, its historical development, and ultimate implications, is readily justifiable and worthwhile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]