Jean-Louis Chrétien

The study of Chrétien increased widely after his death, a posthumous recognition that contrasts with his modest and solitary attitude.

Jean-Louis Chrétien studied at École Normale Supérieure, Paris-Sorbonne University - Paris IV and Lycée Charlemagne. The recorded working language is French. The field of work recorded is phenomenology, theology and history of philosophy. Employment is recorded with Paris 12 University and Paris-Sorbonne University - Paris IV. Distinctions recorded are prix du cardinal Lustiger.

• Region — Western philosophy • Name — Jean-Louis Chrétien • Born — 24 July 1952 • Birthplace — Paris, France • Died — 28 June 2019 • Place of death — Paris, France • School Tradition — Continental philosophy Phenomenology • Main Interests — * Philosophy of language • History of philosophy • Philosophy of religion • Platonism • Neoplatonism • Augustinianism • Patristics • Medieval Christianity

Born in Paris to Henri and Anna Chrétien, Chrétien was raised in an agnostic household. His father was a communist activist and doctor in the International Brigades in Spain, and had spent time in the Natzweiler-Struthof and Dachau concentration camps. As a young man in his mid-twenties, Chrétien went against his father’s wishes, converted to Catholicism, and was baptized on Pentecost Sunday. Henceforth, his faith would play a fundamental role in the development not only of his life, but his unique brand of philosophy. Chrétien studied at the Lycée Charlemagne in the late 1960s, and graduated with a first from the École Normale Supérieure (1971), as well as a first in the Agrégation de philosophie (1974). After teaching in secondary schools for a few years, he earned a doctorate from the Sorbonne in 1983. Early encounters with the philosopher Henri Maldiney played a significant role in guiding the pursuit of his philosophical vocation. His friendship with the philosopher Vladimir Jankélévitch was another factor, as well as a foundational encounter with the writings of Martin Heidegger. He wrote a dissertation under Pierre Aubenque on “The Hermeneutic of Obliquity in Neo-Platonism and Ancient Christianity.” After teaching for some years at the University of Créteil, Chrétien was invited to teach at the Sorbonne, where he obtained a chair in the history of philosophy of Late Antiquity and High Middle Ages. He taught courses there until 2017, when he retired to focus on writing. In 2012, he was awarded the Cardinal Lustiger Prize of the Académie Française, in recognition of the philosophical work of his lifetime.

Chrétien remain unmarried throughout his life. He avoided modern technology, writing all of his books and articles by hand rather than using computers, and preferring personal communication wherever possible. This did not preclude his many deep friendships, and decades of mentoring relationships with students. He was known for his sense of humor, as well as his profound personal diffidence and avoidance of the limelight.

Books in French (and other languages): • Lueur du secret, Paris, L'Herne, 1985. • L'Effroi du beau, Paris, Cerf, 1987. • L'Antiphonaire de la nuit, Paris, L'Herne, 1989. • Traversées de l'imminence, Paris, L’Herne, 1989. • La Voix nue: phénoménologie de la promesse, Paris, Minuit, 1990. • Loin des premiers fleuves, Paris, La Différence, 1990. • L'inoubliable et l'inespéré, Paris, Desclée de Brouwer, 1991. • L'Appel et la Réponse, Paris, Minuit, 1992. • Parmi les eaux violentes, Paris, Mercure de France, 1993. • Effractions brèves, Sens, Obsidiane, 1995. • De la fatigue, Paris, Minuit, 1996. • Corps à corps: à l'écoute de l’œuvre d'art, Paris, Minuit, 1997. • Entre flèche et cri, Sens, Obsidiane, 1998. • L'Arche de la parole, Paris, PUF, « coll. Epiméthée » 1998. • Le regard de l'Amour, Paris, Desclée de Brouwer, 2000. • Joies escarpées, Sens, Obsidiane, 2001. • Marthe et Marie, Paris, Desclée de Brouwer, 2002 (with Étienne Jollet and Guy Lafon). • Saint Augustin et les actes de parole, Paris, PUF, « coll. Epiméthée », 2002. • L'intelligence du feu: réponses humaines à une parole de Jésus, Paris, Bayard, 2003. • Promesses furtives, Paris, Minuit, 2004. • Symbolique du corps: la tradition chrétienne du Cantique des Cantiques, Paris, PUF, « coll. Epiméthée », 2005. • La Joie spacieuse: essai sur la dilatation, Paris, Minuit, 2007. • Répondre: figures de la réponse et de la responsabilité, Paris, PUF, « Chaire Étienne Gilson », 2007. • Sous le regard de la Bible, Paris, Bayard-Centurion, coll. « Bible et philosophie », 2008. • Conscience et roman. I, La conscience au grand jour, Paris, Minuit, « coll. Paradoxe », 2009. • Pour reprendre et perdre haleine: dix brèves méditations, Paris, Bayard, 2009. • Reconnaissances philosophiques, Paris, Le Cerf, 2010. • Conscience et roman. II, La conscience à mi-voix, Paris, Minuit, « coll. Paradoxe », 2011. • L’Espace intérieur, Paris, Minuit, « coll. Paradoxe », 2014. • Fragilité, Minuit, coll. « Paradoxe », 2017. Books in English Translation: • The Unforgettable and the Unhoped For. Translated by Jeffrey Bloechl. New York: Fordham University Press, 2002. • The Ark of Speech. Translated by Andrew Brown. New York: Routledge, 2003. • Hand to Hand: Listening to the Work of Art. Translated by Stephen E. Lewis. New York: Fordham University Press, 2003. • The Call and the Response. Translated by Anne Davenport. New York: Fordham University Press, 2004. • Under the Gaze of the Bible. Translated by John Marson Dunaway. New York: Fordham University Press, 2014. • Spacious Joy: An Essay in Phenomenology and Literature. Translated by Anne Davenport. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2019. • Ten Meditations for Catching and Losing One’s Breath. Translated by Steven DeLay. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2024. Essays and Book Chapters in English Translation: • "The Wounded Word: A Phenomenology of Prayer." In Phenomenology and the Theological Turn: The French Debate. Edited by Dominique Janicaud, 147-175. New York: Fordham University Press, 2000. • "From the Limbs of the Heart to the Soul's Organs." In Carnal Hermeneutics. Edited by Richard Kearney & Brian Treanor, 92-114. New York: Fordham University Press, 2015. • "Attempting to Think Beyond Subjectivity." (An Interview with Camille Riquier and Marc Cerisuelo.) In Quiet Powers of the Possible: Interviews in Contemporary French Phenomenology. Translated by Tarek Dika and W. Chris Hackett, 228-238. New York: Fordham University Press, 2016. • "Split Interpretations of a Split I: Romans 7:7-25." In Phenomenologies of Scripture. Edited by Adam Y. Wells. Translated by Reuben Glick-Shank. New York: Fordham University Press, 2017. • "Martha and Mary: The Double Hospitality." Translated by Abigail Leali. Communio 47, No. 3 (Fall 2020): 471-502. • "Prayer According to Kierkegaard." Translated by Filippo Pietrogrande. Journal for Continental Philosophy of Religion. 3, No. 2 (October 2021): 188–202.