About Xavier Tilliette
Lived 1921 – 2018 (aged 97). Xavier Tilliette was a French philosophy historian, philosopher, theologian, catholic priest, researcher and historian of philosophy.
Xavier Tilliette (23 July 1921 – 10 December 2018) was a French philosopher, historian of philosophy, theologian, and Jesuit Catholic priest. A former student of Jean Wahl and of Vladimir Jankélévitch, he was a member of the Society of Jesus and professor emeritus at the Catholic Institute of Paris (1969), having taught also at the Pontifical Gregorian University of Rome (1972), the Lateran University, and the Centre Sèvres in Paris.
Biography Xavier Tilliette also taught philosophy at various universities as a "visiting professor" in France and abroad: Lima, Santiago, Berlin, Bremen, Fribourg, Heidelberg, Hamburg, Munich, Bonn, Tübingen, Turin, Ferrara, Urbino, Rome, Macerata, Naples, Palermo. He spoke fluent English, Italian, German and Spanish, in addition to Latin, Greek and Hebrew, and he read Portuguese and Danish.
A specialist in Schelling and Jaspers, he has been developing since the 1970s a "philosophical Christology" which he initiated. In the tradition of Schelling and of Maurice Blondel, he defended and illustrated the idea of a Christian philosophy born from Revelation. He was also a specialist of Claudel, of phenomenology (Edmund Husserl and Maurice Merleau-Ponty), and of German idealism.
Xavier Tilliette was twice winner of a prize from the French Academy. were Hans Urs von Balthasar, Karl Rahner, Henri de Lubac, Gaston Fessard,
Selected bibliography Xavier Tilliette wrote more than 2,000 essays, books, or articles; his more comprehensive bibliography contains over 250 pages.
Books in French 1960 Karl Jaspers, Aubier, coll. « Théologie » 1962 Existence et Littérature, Desclée de Brouwer 1962 Philosophes contemporains, Gabriel Marcel, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Karl Jaspers, Desclée de Brouwer 1964 Jules Lequier ou le tourment de la liberté, Desclée de Brouwer 1970 Maurice Merleau-Ponty ou la mesure de l'homme, Seghers 1970 Schelling. Une philosophie en devenir, t. I, Le Système vivant, 1794–1821, t. II, La Dernière Philosophie, 1821–1854, Vrin, rééd. 1992 1974–1977 Le Christ des philosophes, 3 fascicules, ICP 1978 Schelling. Textes esthétiques. Présentation et notes, Klincksieck, coll. « L'esprit et les formes » 1984 La Mythologie comprise. L'interprétation schellingienne du paganisme, Bibliopolis, Naples 1986 La Christologie idéaliste, préface de Joseph Doré, Desclée de Brouwer, coll. « Jésus et Jésus-Christ », 240 p. 1987 L'Absolu et la Philosophie. Essais sur Schelling, coll. « Épiméthée », PUF 1990 Le Christ de la philosophie, Cerf, coll. « Cogitatio Fidei », 295 p., prix Montyon de l'Académie française 1991 1992 La Semaine sainte des philosophes, Desclée, coll. « Jésus et Jésus-Christ » 1993 Le Christ des philosophes : Du Maître de sagesse au divin Témoin, Culture et Vérité, Namur 1995 Recherches sur l'intuition intellectuelle, de Kant à Hegel, Vrin 1999 Schelling, Biographie, Calmann-Lévy, coll. « La vie des philosophes » 2001 Les philosophes lisent la Bible, Cerf, 200 p., prix du Cardinal Grente de l'Académie française ainsi que pour l'ensemble de son œuvre 2001 La Mémoire et l'Invisible, éd. Ad Solem, Genève 2002 Jésus romantique, Desclée-Mame 2003 Fichte. La science de la liberté, préface de , Vrin 2005 Le Jésuite et le Poète, Éloge jubilaire à Paul Claudel, éd. de Paris, Versailles 2006 L'Église des philosophes, de Nicolas de Cuse à Gabriel Marcel, Cerf Recension en ligne in Esprit & Vie 2006 Philosophies eucharistiques, de Descartes à Blondel, Cerf, 180 p., médaille Humboldt 2006 2007 Une introduction à Schelling, Honoré Champion
With other authors Jean Wahl et Gabriel Marcel, avec Emmanuel Lévinas et Paul Ricœur, Beauchesne, 1976, 96 p., Hommage au Père Marcel Régnier, Archives de philosophie, 1999, Présentation en ligne
Written in Italian or in German Il Cristo dei non-credenti e altri saggi di filosofia cristiana, Editoria Ave, Roma, 1994 Omaggi, Filosofi italiani del nostro tempo : Michele Federico Sciacca, Enrico Castelli Gattinara di Zubiena, Luigi Pareyson, Augusto Del Noce, Alberto Caracciolo, Italo Mancini, Enrico Garulli, Arturo Massolo, Pasquale Salvucci, Morcelliana, Brescia, 1997, 92 p. Del male e del bene, con Giuseppe Riconda (a cura di Francesco Tomatis), Città Nuova Editrice, Roma, 2001 Che cos'è cristologia filosofica, Morcelliana, 2004 Schellings Pyrmonter Elegie. Der Briefwechsel mit Eliza Tapp, 1849–1854 (en collaboration), V. Klostermann, Frankfurt-am-Main, 2000
Essays published in the following reviews Étvdes Recherches de science religieuse Revue de métaphysique et de morale Archives de philosophie Communio Christus
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Important facts
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Frequently asked questions
Who was Xavier Tilliette?
French philosopher (1921–2018)
When was Xavier Tilliette born?
Xavier Tilliette was born on 23 July 1921 in Fouilloy.
When did Xavier Tilliette die?
Xavier Tilliette died on 10 December 2018 in Paris, 7th arrondissement of Paris.
What was Xavier Tilliette's occupation?
Xavier Tilliette was a philosophy historian, philosopher, theologian, catholic priest, researcher and historian of philosophy.
What nationality was Xavier Tilliette?
Xavier Tilliette was French.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Xavier Tilliette. https://biography.guide/xavier-tilliette/
MLA: "Xavier Tilliette." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/xavier-tilliette/.
Chicago: "Xavier Tilliette." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/xavier-tilliette/.
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