ETIENNE GILSON is one of the great Christian thinkers of our century. His mind ranges the entire field of philosophical and theological thought, mastering and illuminating the wisdom of the ages. He understands all schools of philosophy, for he has the rare gift of being able to enter into the minds of the most divergent thinkers. He grasps the essence of their thought, sees it in all its relative bearings, assesses it justly and accords it its proper place in the mainstream of philosophy.
Etienne Gilson is a historian of ideas whose fidelity to truth has led him to the greatest Christian thinker of all, St. Thomas Aquinas. And he is a Thomist eminently worthy of the name: he has much of that historical sympathy and vision which distinguished the Angelic Doctor. This remarkable collection of M. Gilson's writings-many here available for the first time-is a true labor of love, the fruit of intimate personal and intellectual communion. The selection is the work of Anton C. Pegis, M. Gilson's outstanding pupil and a celebrated Thomist in his own right. No mete collection of interesting but miscellaneous writings, this integrated, ordered selection is an extraordinary achievement: from the dozens of books and hundreds of articles M. Gilson has produced over the years, this book presents the heart of his thought and does it systematically. As such, it must rank as one of the important contemporary works of philosophical interpretation.