Étienne Gilson
Encyclopedia
Étienne Gilson was a French
Thomistic
philosopher and historian of philosophy. In 1946 he attained the distinction of being elected an "Immortal" (member) of the French Academy
.
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 Lycee 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 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 of 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. Internationally renowned, 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. He was elected to the Académie Française
in 1946.
In 1951, he relinquished his chair at the Collège de France to devote himself completely to the Medieval Institute until 1968. He knew the Jesuit
theologian and cardinal Henri de Lubac
. Their correspondence has been published. Although 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
.
from a historical perspective. To Gilson, Thomism is certainly not identical with Scholasticism
in the pejorative sense, but indeed rather a revolt against it. Gilson considered the philosophy of his own era to be deteriorating into a science which would signal man's abdication of the right to judge and rule nature, man 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.
Gilson was a very popular writer, and his many writings on the history of philosophy
, especially medieval philosophy, are widely read and discussed today.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Thomistic
Thomism
Thomism is the philosophical school that arose as a legacy of the work and thought of St. Thomas Aquinas, philosopher, theologian, and Doctor of the Church. In philosophy, his commentaries on Aristotle are his most lasting contribution...
philosopher and historian of philosophy. In 1946 he attained the distinction of being elected an "Immortal" (member) of the French Academy
Académie française
L'Académie française , also called the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII. Suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution,...
.
Life
Born in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
into a Roman-Catholic family originally from Burgundy, Gilson attended the minor seminary
Minor seminary
A minor seminary is a secondary boarding school created for the specific purpose of enrolling teenage boys who have expressed interest in becoming priests. They are generally Roman Catholic institutions, and designed to prepare boys both academically and spiritually for vocations to the priesthood...
at Notre-Dame-des-Champs, then finished his secondary education at the Lycee Henri IV
Lycée Henri IV
The Lycée Henri-IV is a public secondary school located in Paris. Along with Louis-le-Grand it is widely regarded as one of the most demanding sixth-form colleges in France....
. After finishing his military service, during which he began to read René Descartes
René Descartes
René Descartes ; was a French philosopher and writer who spent most of his adult life in the Dutch Republic. He has been dubbed the 'Father of Modern Philosophy', and much subsequent Western philosophy is a response to his writings, which are studied closely to this day...
, he studied for his licence
Licentiate
Licentiate is the title of a person who holds an academic degree called a licence. The term may derive from the Latin licentia docendi, meaning permission to teach. The term may also derive from the Latin licentia ad practicandum, which signified someone who held a certificate of competence to...
(bachelor's degree), focusing on the influence of scholasticism
Scholasticism
Scholasticism is a method of critical thought which dominated teaching by the academics of medieval universities in Europe from about 1100–1500, and a program of employing that method in articulating and defending orthodoxy in an increasingly pluralistic context...
on Cartesian thought. After studying at the Sorbonne
Sorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
under Victor Delbos
Victor Delbos
Victor Delbos was a Catholic philosopher and historian of philosophy.Delbos was appointed a lecturer at the Sorbonne in 1902. In 1911 he became a member of the Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques. He died in July 1916 as a result of an infectious mycocarditis brought on by pleurisy...
(1862–1916) and Lucien Lévy-Bruhl
Lucien Lévy-Bruhl
Lucien Lévy-Brühl was a French scholar trained in philosophy, who made contributions to the budding fields of sociology and ethnology. His primary field of study involved primitive mentality....
and at the Collège de France
Collège de France
The Collège de France is a higher education and research establishment located in Paris, France, in the 5th arrondissement, or Latin Quarter, across the street from the historical campus of La Sorbonne at the intersection of Rue Saint-Jacques and Rue des Écoles...
under Henri Bergson
Henri Bergson
Henri-Louis Bergson was a major French philosopher, influential especially in the first half of the 20th century. Bergson convinced many thinkers that immediate experience and intuition are more significant than rationalism and science for understanding reality.He was awarded the 1927 Nobel Prize...
, 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
Bourg-en-Bresse
Bourg-en-Bresse is a commune in eastern France, capital of the Ain department, and was capital of the former province of Bresse . It is located north-northeast of Lyon.The inhabitants of Bourg-en-Bresse are known as Burgiens.-Geography:...
, Rochefort
Rochefort, Charente-Maritime
Rochefort is a commune in southwestern France, a port on the Charente estuary. It is a sub-prefecture of the Charente-Maritime department.-History:...
, Tours
Tours
Tours is a city in central France, the capital of the Indre-et-Loire department.It is located on the lower reaches of the river Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. Touraine, the region around Tours, is known for its wines, the alleged perfection of its local spoken French, and for the...
, Saint-Quentin
Saint-Quentin, Aisne
Saint-Quentin is a commune in the Aisne department in Picardy in northern France. It has been identified as the Augusta Veromanduorum of antiquity. It is named after Saint Quentin, who is said to have been martyred here in the 3rd century....
and Angers
Angers
Angers is the main city in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France about south-west of Paris. Angers is located in the French region known by its pre-revolutionary, provincial name, Anjou, and its inhabitants are called Angevins....
.
In 1913, while employed in teaching at the University of Lille
Université Lille Nord de France
The University of Lille -Nord de France , located in Lille, France, is a center for higher education, academic research and doctoral studies located over multiple campuses in the Academie de Lille....
, he defended his doctoral dissertation at the University of Paris
University of Paris
The University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...
on "Liberty in Descartes and Theology". His career was interrupted by the outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, as he was drafted into the army as a sergeant. He served on the front and took part in the battle of Verdun
Battle of Verdun
The Battle of Verdun was one of the major battles during the First World War on the Western Front. It was fought between the German and French armies, from 21 February – 18 December 1916, on hilly terrain north of the city of Verdun-sur-Meuse in north-eastern France...
as second lieutenant. He was captured in February of 1916 and spent two years in captivity. During this time he devoted himself to new areas of study, including the Russian language
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
and St. Bonaventure. He was later awarded the Croix de Guerre
Croix de guerre
The Croix de guerre is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was awarded during World War I, again in World War II, and in other conflicts...
for bravery in action.
In 1919, he became professor of the history of Philosophy
History of philosophy
The history of philosophy is the study of philosophical ideas and concepts through time. Issues specifically related to history of philosophy might include : How can changes in philosophy be accounted for historically? What drives the development of thought in its historical context? To what...
at the University of Strasbourg
University of Strasbourg
The University of Strasbourg in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, is the largest university in France, with about 43,000 students and over 4,000 researchers....
. From 1921 to 1932, he taught the history of medieval philosophy
Medieval philosophy
Medieval philosophy is the philosophy in the era now known as medieval or the Middle Ages, the period roughly extending from the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century AD to the Renaissance in the sixteenth century...
at the University of Paris. Internationally renowned, he also taught for three years at Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. At the invitation of the Congregation of St. Basil
Congregation of St. Basil
The Basilian Fathers, also known as The Congregation of Saint Basil, is an international order of Catholic priests and students studying for the priesthood, who focus on education and ministering through oratories....
, he set up the Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
in conjunction with St. Michael's College
University of St. Michael's College
The University of St. Michael's College is a college of the University of Toronto, founded in 1852 by the Congregation of St. Basil of Annonay, France. While mainly an undergraduate college for liberal arts and sciences, St. Michael's retains its Roman Catholic affiliation through its postgraduate...
at the University of Toronto. He was elected to the Académie Française
Académie française
L'Académie française , also called the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII. Suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution,...
in 1946.
In 1951, he relinquished his chair at the Collège de France to devote himself completely to the Medieval Institute until 1968. He knew the Jesuit
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
theologian and cardinal Henri de Lubac
Henri de Lubac
Henri-Marie de Lubac, SJ was a French Jesuit priest who became a Cardinal of the Catholic Church, and is considered to be one of the most influential theologians of the 20th century...
. Their correspondence has been published. Although primarily a historian of philosophy, he was also at the forefront of the 20th century revival of Thomism
Thomism
Thomism is the philosophical school that arose as a legacy of the work and thought of St. Thomas Aquinas, philosopher, theologian, and Doctor of the Church. In philosophy, his commentaries on Aristotle are his most lasting contribution...
, along with Jacques Maritain
Jacques Maritain
Jacques Maritain was a French Catholic philosopher. Raised as a Protestant, he converted to Catholicism in 1906. An author of more than 60 books, he helped to revive St. Thomas Aquinas for modern times and is a prominent drafter of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights...
. His work has received critical praise from Richard McKeon
Richard McKeon
Richard McKeon was an American philosopher.-Life, times, and influences:McKeon obtained his undergraduate degree from Columbia University in 1920, graduating at the early age of 20 despite serving briefly in the U.S. Navy during the First World War...
.
Work
Gilson undertook to analyze ThomismThomism
Thomism is the philosophical school that arose as a legacy of the work and thought of St. Thomas Aquinas, philosopher, theologian, and Doctor of the Church. In philosophy, his commentaries on Aristotle are his most lasting contribution...
from a historical perspective. To Gilson, Thomism is certainly not identical with Scholasticism
Scholasticism
Scholasticism is a method of critical thought which dominated teaching by the academics of medieval universities in Europe from about 1100–1500, and a program of employing that method in articulating and defending orthodoxy in an increasingly pluralistic context...
in the pejorative sense, but indeed rather a revolt against it. Gilson considered the philosophy of his own era to be deteriorating into a science which would signal man's abdication of the right to judge and rule nature, man 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
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas, O.P. , also Thomas of Aquin or Aquino, was an Italian Dominican priest of the Catholic Church, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, known as Doctor Angelicus, Doctor Communis, or Doctor Universalis...
that opens the way out of that danger zone.
Gilson was a very popular writer, and his many writings on the history of philosophy
History of philosophy
The history of philosophy is the study of philosophical ideas and concepts through time. Issues specifically related to history of philosophy might include : How can changes in philosophy be accounted for historically? What drives the development of thought in its historical context? To what...
, especially medieval philosophy, are widely read and discussed today.
Publications
- La Liberté chez Descartes et la Théologie, Alcan, 1913.
- 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.
- 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
In translation
- The philosophy of St Bonaventure, translated by Illtyd TrethowanIlltyd TrethowanDom Illtyd Trethowan , earlier known as Kenneth Trethowan, was an English priest, philosopher, and author, for more than thirty years sub-prior of Downside Abbey in Somerset and a visiting professor in theology at Brown University.-Early life:Born at Salisbury in 1907, he was the son of William...
and F. J. Sheed (London: Sheed and Ward, 1940)