If God Does Not Know Us, We Are Doomed to Despair
While reading Existence and the Existent by 20th Century Catholic philosopher Jacques Maritain, which is an amazing book covering the depth of esse in the thought of Thomas Aquinas, the author put forth quite a beautiful line of reasoning for the nihilistic entailments of atheism. That form of reasoning is not novel nor particular to Maritain, but it is Maritain's particular formulation that struck me as profound. I say "line of reasoning" over "argument" because it is written more as a stream of consciousness as opposed to providing justification and defenses for premises, so this presentation may not even be what Maritain himself would agree with or what he was trying to say; it is only an interpretation with some of my own insights. If the reader wishes to see the original prose, I would implore them to purchase the book. Maritain first begins with the fact that the human subject knows in an objective manner, i.e., by objectizing the subjects presen