Being and Some Philosophers
Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 1949. Large octavo (9 1/4 inches tall), original black cloth, gilt spine, original dust jacket. Book about-fine, small Jesuit stamps to blank flyleaf and title page, small abrasion to the rear panel, short closed tears, minor chipping to spine panel of the jacket. A near-fine copy. Item #1440
"THIS IS NOT A BOOK IN THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY; IT IS A PHILOSOPHICAL BOOK, AND A DOGMATICALLY PHILOSOPHICAL ONE AT THAT"
First edition of Being and Some Philosophers, Etienne Gilson's important study—in answer to the question: "What is Being?"—of the philosophical families of Plato, Aristotle, Avicenna, and Aquinas. Complete in a bright example of the unclipped original dust jacket.
Etienne Gilson founded the Institute of Medieval Studies at Toronto's St. Michael's College in conjunction with the Basilian Fathers, in 1929. The Institute was awarded a pontifical charter in 1939 and empowered to award degrees in medieval studies and publish the research conducted in its massive library of over 100,000 volumes. Being and Some Philosophers was the first monograph published by the Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies. The book reveals "profound insights into many metaphysical notions" (McLean) and "completes the enquiry begun in the Unity of Philosophical Experience." Being and Some Philosophers is "a veritable history of metaphysics upto the time of St. Thomas, the later medieval and modern periods being covered in the author's Unity of Philosophical Experience" (George McLean).
In a short Preface ("Toronto, December 15, 1948"), Gilson quotes William James on the need for "pragmatism" in defining philosophy. Gilson carefully distinguishes between Philosophy and the History of Philosophy: "This is not a book in the history of philosophy; it is a philosophical book, and a dogmatically philosophical one at that." Composed of six chapters: I. On Being and the One, II. Being and Substance, III. Essence and Existence, IV. Existence versus Being, V. Being and Existence, VI. Knowledge and Existence. "The final sections constitute a classical statement of the author's position concerning being in terms of existence and of judgment" (McLean). With a short Index. A second edition, corrected and enlarged, appeared in 1952. McLean. An Annotated Bibliography of Philosophy in Catholic Thought 1900-1964, 119; Margaret McGrath. Etienne Gilson: A Bibliography, 3.
Price: $200.00