Entre la foi et la raison, ou des voies qui amènent au sens : Augustin ou le Maître est là de Joseph Malègue

The thirst for truth and constitution of meaning can be considered the spiritus movens of Augustin Méridier’s life, the main character of Joseph Malègue’s novel Augustin ou le Maître est là (1933), whose author has been proclaimed “the Catholic Proust” ( José Fontaine, Wanda Rupolo, Jeanne Ancelet-Hustache, Jacques Madaule). Several models of the quest for truth can be found in the formation of meaning as presented in the novel, among others, Socrates’ pattern, which consider the truth an absolute value, and models originating from ancient philosophical schools. Nevertheless, it is the model of Saint Augustine which deserves an in-depth analysis. Augustin Méridier (whose first name is not coincidental), driven towards positivism by the works of positive exegetes and the Catholic modernism authors, is torn between faith and science, and finally turns against religion. His internal battles can be read as the re-interpretation of the medieval “fides quærens intellectum” problem. The hero’s quest for meaning, reflecting the sacred dimension of understanding, finally culminates in the union of faith and reason, as he comes to the conclusion that transcendence cannot be, as Auguste Comte wanted, immanent to humanity. Thus, the present article attempts to analyse Augustin Meridier’s path towards faith and meaning according to Confessions of Augustine of Hippo, who also, having abandoned the Christian faith in the interest of the search for rational meaning, found the Truth in the union of faith and reason. Philosophy as a means to reach the truth and the Augustinian motto “Crede ut intelligas, intellige ut credas” as a way of understanding can be then regarded as two main axes of this analysis.