 Maritain’s early writings, then, sought to address some of the concerns arising out of these events. Having been attracted initially to Spinoza’s idealism and, later, to Bergson’s vitalist intuitionism, he was able to come to the defense of Catholic thought with a knowledge of its critics that surpassed many of his contemporaries. Maritain rejected ‘modernity’—Cartesian and post-Cartesian thought—for what he saw as its emphasis on epistemology over metaphysics, and found an alternative in the ‘pre-modern’ views of Aquinas. Nevertheless, he saw that philosophy had to do more than merely repeat Thomas’ views, and he took it upon himself to develop some aspects of Thomistic philosophy to address the problems of the contemporary world. Thus, though the most profound inspiration for many of Maritain’s ideas was the work of Thomas Aquinas, his epistemology and aesthetics show also the influence of Christian mysticism, particularly that of St John of the Cross, and his social and political philosophy clearly reflects many of the ideals of European liberalism.