Abstract

The recent resurrection and rediscovery of Gilson’s early political writings broaden the traditional view of Gilson by allowing us to see him as a serious, engaged, political thinker. This essay traces the background of Gilson’s early political thought, the beginnings of a dramatic change both in Gilson’s activity and writings in the late 1920s, possible reasons for that change, and focuses on Gilson’s Pour un ordre catholique [For the Establishment of a Catholic Order]. This emblematic work of Gilson’s early political thought, which is a practical application of his Christian philosophy, remains relevant to addressing serious religious and political issues confronting Catholics today.