Étienne Gilson

Étienne Gilson
Étienne Gilson
Born
Étienne Henri Gilson

(1884-06-13)13 June 1884
Died19 September 1978(1978-09-19) (aged 94)
Auxerre, France
Education
Alma materUniversity of Paris
Collège de France
Doctoral advisorVictor Delbos
Other advisorsLucien Lévy-Bruhl, Henri Bergson, Victor Delbos
Philosophical work
Era20th-century philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
SchoolThomism
Neo-Scholasticism
Doctoral studentsAnton Charles Pegis
Main interestsTheology, metaphysics, politics, literature, history of philosophy
Notable ideasThe Thomistic distinction between being and essence
Coining the term "mathematicism"

Étienne Henri 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; he also philosophized in the tradition of Thomas Aquinas, although he did not consider himself a 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.

In 2009, the International Étienne Gilson Society was created “to promote the thought of Étienne Gilson and classical philosophy in the academy and culture.” It publishes a journal, Studia Gilsoniana.