BONNETTY, AUGUSTIN. - French philosopher and historian, b. at Entrevaux on 9 April 1798, d. at Paris on 29 March 1879. In 1830 he founded the Annales de philosophie chrétienne, which, together with the Université catholique (whose direction he assumed in 1840 and later merged with the Annales in 1855), were the arena in which, until his death, he made the most conspicuous contributions of his scholarly activity. B.'s doctrinal position is intimately connected with the French fideist and traditionalist movement, the only one with which he believed it possible to triumph over rationalism, especially that of Cousin, then dominant. His system, however, is not as extreme as those of De Bonald and Bautain. B. does not intend to discuss what are theoretically the natural limits of human reason and its possibilities. Indeed, it seems to him idle for a Christian to pose the question in these terms, since, he says, man was not left to himself, and from creation itself, through language, he was instructed by God in the necessary truths, particularly those of the moral and religious order. Nevertheless B., going beyond the historical aspect that he himself had set for himself, seems to assert something more, namely that even if man after Revelation is capable of demonstrating the rationality of many of the revealed religious and moral doctrines, he is nonetheless absolutely incapable of discovering them without the aid of Revelation. In support of his thesis B. appeals to the unity of the human race and to the common origin of the various languages.
From this depreciation of philosophical speculation it was easy to slide toward an attitude not only negative but also condemnatory with regard to Scholasticism, which in its greatest exponents exalts the demonstrative power of the human intellect. The Sacred Congregation of the Index, by its decree of 11 June 1855, therefore asked B. to subscribe to four propositions that summarize and fix the doctrine of the Church on the matter (cf. Denz-U, n. 1649-1652).
In the first, against the uniqueness of the principle of knowledge (divine Revelation handed down to us by oral tradition) admitted by B. for the truths of the natural religion, the power of reason is affirmed, which can lead us equally to the truth, proceeding as faith does from a single author, God. The second proposition is essentially a specification of the preceding one, asserting that reason can demonstrate with certainty the existence of God, the spirituality of the soul and human freedom. The third proclaims, against B.'s doctrine, the anteriority of rational knowledge to faith: « rationis usus fidem praecedit et ad eam hominem ope revelationis et gratiae conductit ». The fourth defends, against B.'s accusations, the scholastic method, especially that of St. Thomas and St. Bonaventure, declaring that it does not favor rationalism and that it cannot be imputed to it if modern philosophy has deviated into naturalism and pantheism.
B. submitted and subscribed to the propositions put to him.
Besides the philosophical aspect, it is important to emphasize in B.'s scholarly activity his historical contributions. In addition to the numerous articles published in the Annales, let us recall: Morceaux choisis de l'histoire de l'Eglise (2 vols., Paris 1828; 2nd ed. under the title Beautes de l'hist. de l'Eglise, ibid. 1841); Table alphabétique de tous les auteurs sacrés et profanes qui ont été découverts et édités par le Card. Mai (ibid. 1850); Documents historiques sur la religion des Romains (4 vols., ibid. 1867-87); La reine Blanche, et Louis et le comte de Chambord (ibid. 1878), etc.
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Felicissimo Tinivella