Etienne Gilson
|
Part of the Politics series on |
| Parties |
|
Christian Democratic parties |
| Ideas |
|
Social conservatism |
| Important documents |
|
Rerum Novarum (1891) |
| Important figures |
|
Thomas Aquinas · John Calvin |
| Politics Portal · edit |
Étienne Gilson (June 13, 1884 – September 19, 1978) was a French Catholic theologian, philosopher and historian. He is seen as one of the most important proponents of twentieth-century Thomism. In contrast to other modern Thomists (such as Jacques Maritain), Gilson's attempt to use Aquinas' thought for the sake of constructing a viable Catholic philosophical system went to lengths to emphasize the historical aspect of Aquinas' work. Gilson put much of his effort into locating the doctrines relative both to the earlier works from which Aquinas drew (chiefly, those of Aristotle), and to later critics and commentators. By revitalizing Thomism and exhibiting the continuity of thought from Medieval to Modern philosophy, Gilson decisively contributed to a modern appreciation of Medieval philosophy.
Life
Gilson was born in Paris in 1884. Along with Maritain, he studied with the then tremendously popular Jewish philosopher Henri Bergson at the Collège de France. Gilson taught history of medieval philosophy from 1921 to 1932 at the Sorbonne, where he had previously studied, and then took the chair of medieval philosophy at the Collège de France. In 1929 he helped found the Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies at Toronto, Canada. He was elected to the Académie Française in 1946.
Work
One of the major trends in philosophy after Aquinas was a concern with how it was possible to have knowledge of the external world. In its most vivid presentation, René Descartes Meditations on First Philosophy, the concern is presented on the basis of the claim that all we are immediately familiar with are our own ideas, perceptions and thoughts. This image of a 'veil of ideas' between us and the world invites skeptical worries, for it seems that the veil could remain the same regardless of the nature of the world.
One of the motivations behind Descartes' philosophy was his belief that the reason that science had lacked any certainty up to that point was that earlier philosophers had based their views too much on the senses. Descartes believed that the senses give us a misleading picture of reality, and that only by using our higher, rational faculties could we come to know the true nature of the external world.
Now, the 'earlier philosophers' Descartes had in mind were primarily Aristotelians, and the greatest synthesizer of Aristotelian thought and Catholic doctrine was Aquinas. In light of this, it was natural for Christian theologians who wanted to resist the skeptical direction pointed to by Descartes to look at the earlier position he was rejected. Gilson is a prime example of this. He took inspiration from Aquinas' Aristotelian view that our senses do put us in direct contact with the true nature of reality. As Aquinas saw it (drawing inspiration from Aristotle's De Anima), in sensing objects, our sensory organs take on the 'form' of the sensed object. This isn't to say that what we are aware of are these forms, rather, the transmission of form from the object to the sense organ just amounts to being directly aware of the object.
Even while drawing on Aquinas to address such philosophical concerns, Gilson did not view Aquinas simply as a God-inspired source of pure philosophical insight. He emphasized that Aquinas' views developed as much out of theological as out of philosophical concerns, so that work was needed in order to show how much strictly philosophical insight his views contained. Gilson adopted this same general approach with respect to other historical figures. In doing so, he helped set the tone for much of contemporary history of philosophy.
Publications
- La Liberté chez Descartes et la Théologie, Alcan, 1913.
- Le thomisme, introduction au système de saint Thomas, Vrin, 1919.
- 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.
- The Unity of Philosophical Experience, Scribner's, 1937.
- Héloïse et Abélard, Vrin, 1938.
- Dante et philosophie, Vrin, 1939.
- Réalisme thomiste et critique de la connaissance, Vrin, 1939.
- Théologie et histoire de la spiritualité, Vrin, 1943.
- Notre démocratie, S.E.R.P., 1947.
- L’être et l’essence, Vrin, 1948.
- Saint Bernard, textes choisis et présentés, Plon, 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
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
A partial list of works:
- Brezik, V.B. 1981. One Hundred Years of Thomism. Houston, TX: Center for Thomistic Studies.
- Gilson, E. 1937. The unity of philosophical experience. New York: C. Scribner's sons.
- Gilson, E. 1938. Reason and revelation in the middle ages. New York: C. Scribner's Sons.
- Gilson, E. 1941. God and philosophy. Powell lectures on philosophy at Indiana University. New Haven: Yale University Press.
- Gilson, E. 1955. History of Christian philosophy in the Middle Ages. New York: Random House.
- Gilson, E. 1956. The Christian philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas. With A catalog of St. Thomas's works. New York: Random House.
- Gilson, E. 1957. Painting and reality. Bollingen series, 35. New York: Pantheon Books.
- Gilson, E., and A. H. C. Downes. 1936. The spirit of mediæval philosophy. Gifford lectures, 1931-1932. New York: C. Scribner's sons.
- Haldane, John J. 1998. Thomism. In E. Craig (ed.), Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. London: Routledge
- McCool, G. 1994. The Neo-Thomists, Milwaukee, WI: Marquette University Press. ISBN 0874626013
- McGrath, M. 1982. Etienne Gilson, a bibliography = Etienne Gilson, une bibliographie. Etienne Gilson series, 3. Toronto, Ont., Canada: Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies. ISBN 0888447035
- Shook, L. K. 1984. Etienne Gilson. The Etienne Gilson series, 6. Toronto, Ont., Canada: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies. ISBN 088844706X
External links
All links retrieved March 22, 2024.
- Thomism, Catholic Encyclopedia.
General Philosophy Sources
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Paideia Project Online
- Project Gutenberg
| Preceded by: Abel Hermant |
Seat 23 Académie française 1946-1978 |
Succeeded by: Henri Gouhier |
Credits
New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:
The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:
Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.
