# Mass Society and Its Culture, and Three Essays concerning Etienne Gilson on Bergson, Christian Philosophy, and Art - Hardcover

by **Étienne Gilson** (Author), **Henri Gouhier** (Author), **James G. Colbert** (Translator)

A medievalist and defender of the notion of Christian philosophy, Etienne Gilson had a lifelong interest in the philosophy of art. He questioned whether what is reproduced as art in contemporary society is art at all. This is not a simple issue. A cheap version of a novel is still a novel. A picture of a statue is not a statue, nor indeed is a photograph of a painting a painting. Recorded music has particular complications. The organizer of an industrial assembly line is neither an artist nor an artisan. Yet, thanks to such mass production, a much broader population has knowledge of artworks than would otherwise be possible. Religions must minister to mass societies and provide appropriate liturgies. But in the process, there is a danger of misrepresenting complex religious teachings. At the end of his own life, Henri Gouhier, Gilson's first doctoral student, prepared three essays on Gilson. The first, on Bergson, gives a sense of Gilson's formation in early twentieth-century French philosophy. The second reconstructs the development of the notion of Christian philosophy and the heated controversy it provoked. Finally, Gouhier presents Gilson's general philosophy of art and gives a helpful framework to Gilson's comments on art in a mass society.

### Author Biography

Étienne Gilson (1884-1974) was a medievalist who taught at various French institutions, including the Collège de France. Among his numerous works are _The Spirit of Medieval Philosophy_, his 1931 and 1932 Gifford Lectures (Cascade, 2019), and _Medieval Essays_ (Cascade, 2011).

**Number of Pages:** 196

**Dimensions:** 0.56 x 9 x 6 IN

**Publication Date:** January 24, 2023

## Details

- **Price:** 45.36 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
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- Mass Society and Its Culture, and Three Essays concerning Etienne Gilson on Bergson, Christian Philosophy, and Art - Hardcover
- Mass Society and Its Culture, and Three Essays concerning Etienne Gilson on Bergson, Christian Philosophy, and Art - Hardcover

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