Étienne Gilson

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Étienne Gilson
Photo of Étienne Gilson.jpg
Born Étienne Henry Gilson
(1884-06-13)13 June 1884
Paris, France
Died Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist.
Auxerre, France
Alma mater University of Paris
Collège de France
Era 20th-century philosophy
Region Western philosophy
School Thomism, neo-Scholasticism
Main interests
Theology, metaphysics, politics, literature, history of philosophy
Notable ideas
The Thomistic distinction between being and essence
Coining the term "mathematicism"[1]

Étienne Henry Gilson (French: [ʒilsɔ̃]; 13 June 1884 – 19 September 1978) was a French philosopher and historian of philosophy. A scholar of medieval philosophy, he originally specialised in the thought of Descartes, yet also philosophized in the tradition of Thomas Aquinas, although he did not consider himself either a neo-Scholastic or neo-Thomist philosopher. In 1946 he attained the distinction of being elected an "Immortal" (member) of the Académie française. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature.[2]

Biography

Born in Paris into a Roman Catholic family originally from Burgundy, Gilson attended the minor seminary at Notre-Dame-des-Champs, then finished his secondary education at the Lycée Henri IV. After finishing his military service, during which he began to read René Descartes, he studied for his licence (bachelor's degree), focusing on the influence of scholasticism on Cartesian thought. After studying at the Sorbonne under Victor Delbos (1862–1916), and Lucien Lévy-Bruhl and at the Collège de France under Henri Bergson, he finished his degree in Philosophy in 1906. In 1908 he married Thérèse Ravisé of Melun, and he taught in the high schools of Bourg-en-Bresse, Rochefort, Tours, Saint-Quentin and Angers.

In 1913, while employed in teaching at the University of Lille, he defended his doctoral dissertation at the University of Paris on "Liberty in Descartes and Theology". His career was interrupted by the outbreak of World War I, as he was drafted into the French Army as a sergeant. He served on the front and took part in the battle of Verdun as second lieutenant. He was captured in February 1916 and spent two years in captivity. During this time he devoted himself to new areas of study, including the Russian language and St. Bonaventure. He was later awarded the Croix de Guerre for bravery in action.

In 1919, he became professor of the history of Philosophy at the University of Strasbourg. From 1921 to 1932, he taught the history of medieval philosophy at the University of Paris. As an internationally renowned thinker, Gilson was first, along with Jacques Maritain, to receive an honorary doctorate in philosophy from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in 1930.[3]

He also taught for three years at Harvard. At the invitation of the Congregation of St. Basil, he set up the Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies in Toronto in conjunction with St. Michael's College at the University of Toronto, which hosts an annual Étienne Gilson Lecture. He was elected to the Académie française in 1946.

With the death of his wife, Thérèse Ravisé, on 12 November 1949 Gilson endured a considerable emotional shock.[4]

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In 1951, he relinquished his chair to Martial Gueroult at the Collège de France to devote himself completely to the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies until 1968. He knew the Jesuit theologian and cardinal Henri de Lubac. Their correspondence has been published. Although Gilson was primarily a historian of philosophy, he was also at the forefront of the 20th century revival of Thomism, along with Jacques Maritain. His work has received critical praise from Richard McKeon.

Work

Gilson undertook to analyze Thomism from a historical perspective. To Gilson, Thomism is certainly not identical with Scholasticism in the pejorative sense, but indeed rather a revolt against it.[5] Gilson considered the philosophy of his own era to be deteriorating into a science which would signal humanity's abdication of the right to judge and rule nature, humanity made a mere part of nature, which in turn would give the green light for the most reckless of social adventures to play havoc with human lives and institutions. Against "systems" of philosophy, Gilson was convinced that it was the revival of the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas that opens the way out of that danger zone.[citation needed]

In his time Gilson was the leading scholar of the history of medieval philosophy as well as a highly regarded philosopher in his own right.[citation needed] His works continue to be reprinted and studied today — perhaps alone among "Thomist" philosophers, his work and reputation have not suffered from the general decline of interest in and regard for medieval philosophy since the 1960s.[citation needed]

Works

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  • La Liberté chez Descartes et la Théologie, Alcan, 1913 (reprint: Vrin, 1982).
  • Index scolastico-cartésien, Alcan, 1913 (second revised edition: Vrin, 1979).
  • Le thomisme, introduction au système de saint Thomas, Vrin, 1919. Chapter from English translation on Faith & Reason.
  • Études de philosophie médiévale, Université de Strasbourg, 1921.
  • La philosophie au moyen-âge, vol.I : De Scot Erigène à saint Bonaventure, Payot, 1922.
  • La philosophie au moyen-âge, vol.II : De saint Thomas d’Aquin à Guillaume d’Occam, Payot, 1922.
  • La philosophie de saint Bonaventure, Vrin, 1924.
  • René Descartes. Discours de la méthode, texte et commentaire, Vrin, 1925.
  • Saint Thomas d’Aquin, Gabalda, 1925.
  • Introduction à l’étude de Saint Augustin, Vrin, 1929.
  • Études sur le rôle de la pensée médiévale dans la formation du système cartésien, Vrin, 1930.
  • L’esprit de la philosophie médiévale, Vrin, 1932.
  • Les Idées et les Lettres, Vrin, 1932.
  • Pour un ordre catholique, Desclée de Brouwer, 1934.
  • La théologie mystique de saint Bernard, Vrin, 1934.
  • Le réalisme méthodique, Téqui, 1935.
  • Christianisme et philosophie, Vrin, 1936.
  • Héloïse et Abélard, Vrin, 1938.
  • Dante et la philosophie, Vrin, 1939.
  • Réalisme thomiste et critique de la connaissance, Vrin, 1939.
  • Théologie et histoire de la spiritualité, Vrin, 1943.
  • Egypte ou Grèce?, Mediaeval Studies, 1946.
  • Notre démocratie, S.E.R.P., 1947.
  • Regio Dissimilitudinis de Platon à Saint Bernard de Clairvaux, Mediaeval Studies, 1947.
  • L’être et l’essence, Vrin, 1948.
  • L'Object de la Métaphysique selon Duns Scot, Mediaeval Studies, 1948.
  • Saint Bernard, textes choisis et présentés, Plon, 1949.
  • L'Existence de Dieu selon Duns Scott, Mediaeval Studies, 1949.
  • L’École des Muses, Vrin, 1951.
  • Jean Duns Scot, introduction à ses positions fondamentales, Vrin, 1952.
  • Les métamorphoses de la cité de Dieu, Vrin, 1952.
  • Peinture et réalité, Vrin, 1958.
  • Le Philosophe et la Théologie, Fayard, 1960.
  • Introduction à la philosophie chrétienne, Vrin, 1960.
  • La paix de la sagesse, Aquinas, 1960.
  • Trois leçons sur le problème de l’existence de Dieu, Divinitas, 1961.
  • L’être et Dieu, Revue thomiste, 1962.
  • Introduction aux arts du Beau, Vrin, 1963.
  • Matières et formes, Vrin, 1965.
  • Les tribulations de Sophie, Vrin, 1967.
  • La société de masse et sa culture, Vrin, 1967.
  • Hommage à Bergson, Vrin, 1967.
  • Linguistique et philosophie, Vrin, 1969.
  • D’Aristote à Darwin et retour, Vrin, 1971.
  • Dante et Béatrice, études dantesques, Vrin, 1974.
  • Saint Thomas moraliste, Vrin, 1974.
  • L'athéisme difficile, Vrin, 1979

Translated into English

  • The Philosophy of St Thomas Aquinas, edited by G. A. Elrington, translated by Edward Bullough (Cambridge: W. Heffer, 1924)
  • The Spirit of Mediaeval Philosophy, translated by A.H.C. Downes (London: Sheed and Ward, 1936)
  • The Unity of Philosophical Experience (New York: Scribner's, 1937)
  • Reason and Revelation in the Middle Ages (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1939)
  • The Mystical Theology of Saint Bernard, translated by A.H.C. Downes (London: Sheed and Ward, 1940)
  • The Philosophy of St Bonaventure, translated by Illtyd Trethowan and F.J. Sheed (London: Sheed and Ward, 1940)
  • History of Philosophy and Philosophical Education, Marquette University Press, 1948.
  • Dante the Philosopher, translated by David Moore (London: Sheed and Ward, 1948)
  • Being and Some Philosophers (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 1952)
  • Choir of Muses, translated by Maisie Ward (London: Sheed and Ward, 1953)
  • History of Christian Philosophy in the Middle Ages (London: Sheed and Ward, 1955)
  • The Christian Philosophy of St Thomas Aquinas, translated by L.K. Shook (London: Gollancz, 1957)
  • Painting and Reality (New York: Meridian Books, 1957)
  • The Christian Philosophy of Saint Augustine translated by L. E. M. Lynch (New York: Random House, 1960)
  • Heloise and Abelard (Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Press, 1960)
  • The Arts of the Beautiful (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1965)
  • Forms and Substances in the Arts, translated by Salvator Attanasio (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1966).
  • The Terrors of the Year Two Thousand, University of St. Michael's College, 1984.
  • Christian Philosophy: An Introduction, translated by Armand A. Maurer (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 1993)

Selected publications

See also

References

  1. Gilson, Étienne. The Unity of Philosophical Experience. San Francisco, CA: Ignatius Press, 1999, p. 133.
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  3. Piero Viotto, Grandi amicizie: i Maritain e i loro contemporanei, 38, https://books.google.com/books?id=aonOg8KLOdIC&pg=PA38 Accessed 28 February 2016. Jean Leclercq, Di grazia in grazia: memorie, 60. https://books.google.com/books?id=jxKnMfTj81AC&pg=PA60 Accessed 28 February 2016
  4. Biography of Étienne Gilson’s Intellectual Life
  5. The Christian Philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas, University of Notre Dame Press, Indiana, 1956, pp. 366–367

Further reading

External links