Gabriel Honor Marcel (7 December 1889 8 October 1973

[1]
) was a French philosopher, playwright, music critic and leading Christian
existentialist. The author of over a dozen books and at least thirty plays, Marcel's work focused on the modern individual's struggle in a
technologically dehumanizing society. Though often regarded as the first French existentialist, he dissociated himself from figures such as Jean-
Paul Sartre, preferring the term 'Philosophy of Existence' to define his own thought. The Mystery of Being is a well-known two-volume work
authored by Marcel.

Early life and education
Marcel was born in and died in Paris. His mother died when he was young and he was brought up by his aunt and father. When he was eight he
moved to Stockholm for a year where his father was Minister Plenipotentiary.
[2]

Marcel obtained the agrgation in philosophy in 1910, at the unusually young age of 21. During the First World War he worked as head of the
Information Service, organised by the Red Cross to convey news of injured soldiers to their families.
[2]
He taught in secondary schools, was a
drama critic for various literary journals, and worked as an editor for Plon, the major French Catholic publisher.
[1]

Marcel was the son of an agnostic,
[2]
and was himself an atheist until his conversion to Catholicism in 1929. Marcel was opposed to anti-
Semitism and supported reaching out to non-Catholics.
Existential themes
He is often classified as one of the earliest existentialists, although he dreaded being placed in the same category as Jean-Paul Sartre; Marcel
came to prefer the label "neo-Socratic" (possibly because of Sren Kierkegaard, the father of Christian existentialism, who was a neo-Socratic
thinker himself). While Marcel recognized that human interaction often involved objective characterisation of "the other", he still asserted the
possibility of "communion" a state where both individuals can perceive each other's subjectivity.
In The Existential Background of Human Dignity, Marcel refers to a play he had written in 1913 entitled Le Palais de Sable, in order to provide
an example of a person who was unable to treat others as subjects.
Roger Moirans, the central character of the play, is a politician, a conservative who is dedicated to defending the rights of Catholicism against
free thought. He has set himself up as the champion of traditional monarchy and has just achieved a great success in the city council where he has
attacked the secularism of public schools. It is natural enough that he should be opposed to the divorce of his daughter Therese, who wants to
leave her unfaithful husband and start her life afresh. In this instance he proves himself virtually heartless; all his tenderness goes out to his
second daughter, Clarisse, whom he takes to be spiritually very much like himself. But now Clarisse tells him that she has decided to take the veil
and become a Carmelite. Moirans is horrified by the idea that this creature, so lovely, intelligent, and full of life, might go and bury herself in a
convent and he decides to do his utmost to make her give up her intention... Clarisse is deeply shocked; her father now appears to her as an
impostor, virtually as a deliberate fraud...
[3]

In this case, Moirans is unable to treat either of his daughters as a subject, instead rejecting both because each does not conform to her objectified
image in his mind. Marcel notes that such objectification "does no less than denude its object of the one thing which he has which is of value, and
so it degrades him effectively."
[4]

Another related major thread in Marcel was the struggle to protect one's subjectivity from annihilation by modern materialism and a
technologically-driven society. Marcel argued that scientific egoism replaces the "mystery" of being with a false scenario of human life composed
of technical "problems" and "solutions". For Marcel, the human subject cannot exist in the technological world, instead being replaced by a
human object. As he points out in Man Against Mass Society and other works, technology has a privileged authority with which it persuades the
subject to accept his place as "he" in the internal dialogue of science; and as a result, man is convinced by science to rejoice in his own
annihilation.
[5]

Influence
For many years, Marcel hosted a weekly philosophy discussion group through which he met and influenced important younger French
philosophers like Jean Wahl, Paul Ricoeur, Emmanuel Levinas, and Jean-Paul Sartre. Marcel was puzzled and disappointed that his reputation
was almost entirely based on his philosophical treatises and not on his plays, which he wrote in the hope of appealing to a wider lay audience.
Main works
His major books are Mystery of Being (1951), the Gifford Lectures for 194950, and Man Against Mass Society (1955). He gave the William
James Lectures at Harvard in 196162, which were subsequently published as The Existential Background of Human Dignity.
he "theistic existentialism" of the French Catholic philosopher Gabriel Marcel is too little known in the English-speaking parts of the world, and
too often assimilated uncritically to the philosophy of Sartre, to which it is in many respects diametrically opposed. Marcel preferred to call his
thought "Neo-Socratic" to avoid this confusion.
Marcel strove for continuity in his philosophy. He developed his theme of the priority of existence over abstraction, for instance, from the cogito
of Descartes. And although his critique of idealism and his defense of faith resemble Kierkegaard's criticism of Hegel, Marcel denies that faith is
an irrational leap or that the individual stands alone in his faith.
This volume is the first comprehensive study of Marcel's thought. The variety and quality of the critical essays, as well as the immediacy of
Marcel's own autobiography and replies (which take the form of personal letters) make this volume a major event in religious and cultural as well
as philosophical thought.

Gabriel Marcels The Mystery of Being
Gabriel marcel's The Mystery of Being is based on the Gifford Lectures which he delievered at the University of Aberdeen in 1949 and 1950. The
first series of lectures is entitled "Reflection and Mystery," and the second series of lectures is entitled "Faith and Reality.".
"Volume I: Reflection and Mystery" is divided into ten chapters, which are entitled: 1) Introduction, 2) A Broken World, 3) The Need for
Transcendence, 4) Truth as a Value: The Intelligible Background, 5) Primary and Secondary Reflection: The Existential Fulcrum, 6)
Feeling as a Mode of Participation, 7) Being in a Situation, 8) My Life, 9) Togetherness: Identity and Depth, and 10) Presence as a
Mystery.
"Volume II: Faith and Reality" is divided into ten chapters, which are entitled: 1) The Question of Being, 2) Existence and Being, 3)
Ontological Exigence, 4) The Legitimacy of Ontology, 5) Opinion and Faith, 6) Prayer and Humility, 7) Freedom and Grace, 8)
Testimony, 9) Death and Hope, and 10) Conclusion.
Each series of lectures is outlined in the table of contents at the beginning of each volume. The text consists of explanations of the statements
which are made in the table of contents. Marcel does not attempt to construct a complete philosophical system or to formulate a comprehensive
set of arguments in order to describe the mystery of being. Instead, he conducts a wide-ranging inquiry into the mystery of being, and he
examines all of the results of that inquiry.
According to Marcel, we live in a 'broken world.' The modern world is often in conflict with itself, and thus we have a need to transcend its
disunity The need for, or exigency of, transcendence is the source of our attempts to understand the nature of our own existence. Transcendence
implies going beyond the limits of ordinary experience.
Marcel explains that to transcend is not merely to go beyond the spatiotemporal limits of ordinary experience. Transcendance is also a kind of
vertical ascent over the limits of ordinary experience. Transcendence (i.e. rising above ordinary limits) is opposed to immanence (i.e. remaining
within ordinary limits).
Marcel also explains that the exigency of transcendence is intrinsic to human experience. Transcendence does not imply a state of being beyond
all experience. To the contrary, the transcendent is capable of being experienced. If the transcendent were beyond all experience, then it could be
thought or felt.
According to Marcel, truth is only a single aspect of reality, and is not the whole of reality. Truth may emerge from reality, but reality is more
than truth. The fulfillment of truth, or the totality of all truths, may produce an inclusive reality. The universe may realize itself in the fulfillment
of truth. However, the universe may also include things which are lacking in truth. Truth is both immanent and transcendent.
Marcel argues that truth is a value or ideal which we may strive for. Feelings may be different from logical propositions in that feelings may be
neither true nor false. Judgments of value may be either true or false, but we may not be able to describe a sensation or feeling as either true or
false.
1

Marcel also argues that philosophic thought is reflective in that it may not onle be concerned with the nature of human existence but may also be
concerned with evaluating its own mode of being concerned with the nature of human existence. Reflection may be a process of recalling or
reexamining our past experiences in order to understand them. Reflection may transform experiences into concepts.
According to Marcel, primary reflection tends to break down the unity of experience, but secondary reflection tends to restore the unity of our
experience. Primary reflection is an analytic process, but secondary reflection is a synthetic process. Primary and secondary reflection are on
opposite sides of an existential fulcrum, in the center of which is the question: "Who or what am I?" Primary reflection may discover that "I am
not who I am thought to be," but secondary reflection may discover that "I am not merely the negation of who I am thought to be." Further
reflection on the question of "Who am I?" may enable each of us to recognize the importance of personal feelings and emotions in defining who
we are as human beings. We may discover that who we are cannot be separated from what we feel.
Marcel argues that feeling is not merely a passive function which is made possible by sensory capability. Feeling is also a mode of active
participation in the world. Active participation may be either objective or non-objective. Non-objective participation may include subjective
participation. However, non-objective participation may also include intersubjective participation. Intersubjectivity (or shared subjectivity) may
bring unity to our being in the world.
Marcel emphasizes that feeling is not passive, and that feeling is participation. However, participation is more than feeling. Participation is active
engagement in the world.
According to Marcel, each person may have both an objective identity in the outer world and a subjective identity in the inner world of his or her
own thoughts or feelings. A person's subjective identity may be a felt quality of identity which may change in accordance with changes in that
person's feelings. A felt quality (or a quality of feeling) may be unanalyzable, because the quality of a person's feelings may be inseparable from
the things which that person feels. A felt quality may be a unity of feeling which cannot be dissolved by primary reflection.
Marcel describes contemplation as a mode of active perception which transcends the difference between subjectivity and objectivity.
Contemplation is a mode of observation which transcends the difference between the inner world and the outer world. Contemplation is also a
mode of participation in the being of whatever is contemplated. Contemplation is an inward regrouping or ingathering of mental resources. To
contemplate is to gather ones mental resources in the presence of whatever is being contemplated.
Marcel explains that the exact relation between existence and being may be indefinable. Existence and being may be inseparable insofar as
anything which is perceived as being may also be perceived as existing.
2
Being is always being in a situation, and thus is always changing. Our
own mode of Being is 'being in the world.'
Marcel also explains that we may not be able to provide an objective answer to the question: What is Being?," because we may not be able to
objectively consider our own experience of being. Being may transcend any of our attempts to define it objectively. Thus, intersubjectivity
becomes an important starting point for any mode of ontological inquiry.
According to Marcel, we are part of, and thus cannot be objective about, our own existence. Existence transcends objective enquiry, and is thus a
mystery. Scientific questions may be objectively answerable, and may be considered as problems for which there may be solutions. However,
philosophic questions may not be objectively answerable, and may involve mysteries which are part of our own existence. Science may be
concerned with problems which we can stand apart from and be objective about, but philosophy may be concerned with mysteries which we
cannot stand apart from or be objective about.
3

Marcel argues that the mysterious is not the same as the unknowable, and that the unknowable is only the limiting case of the problematic.
4
A
mystery is not an 'object' of perception, but is a 'presence' which is capable of being recognized.
Marcel also argues that mystery may reveal to us a depth of being which leads to eternity. Eternity is a mystery, and every mystery flows into
eternity.
5

Marcel distinguishes between faith and opinion by explaining that faith is a belief in something, while opinion is a belief which makes a claim
about something. To have faith is not to believe that, but is to believe in.
6
Faith may be a belief in a transcendent reality whose existence is a
mystery. If we believe in something, then we place our faith in it, and thus we may be changed by faith, and faith may change our sense of our
own being.
Marcel explains that faith is associated with humility and prayer. Humility is a mode of being in which an individual acknowledges his or her
own imperfections. Humility is also an affirmation of the sacred.
7
Prayer is a form of spiritual communication with God. Authentic prayer is not a
self-centered request for attention but is a way of uniting ourselves with God.
According to marcel, freedom is the ability to act significantly. Free acts are significant because they help to make us who we are as human
beings. Freedom is not merely the ability to make arbitrary choices, because we are not free if everything which we can choose to do is
insignificant. Freedom is the ability to make significant choices, and is given to us by God.
Marcel's The Mystery of Being is really less concerned with being than with mystery. Marcel explains that mysteries must be explored if we are to
understand our own existence, and he argues that mysteries are capable of being recognized and investigated. His lectures in The Mystery of
Being have existential themes, but make a persuasive argument for religious faith.


2
I saw Susie sitting in a shoe shine shop.
Where she sits she shines, and where she shines she sits.
3
How many boards
Could the Mongols hoard
If the Mongol hordes got bored?
from the comic Calvin & Hobbes, by Bill Waterson
4
How can a clam cram in a clean cream can?
6
Denise sees the fleece,
Denise sees the fleas.
At least Denise could sneeze
and feed and freeze the fleas.
9
The thirty-three thieves thought that they thrilled the throne throughout Thursday.
10
Something in a thirty-acre thermal thicket of thorns and thistles thumped and thundered
threatening the three-D thoughts of Matthew the thug - although, theatrically, it was only
the thirteen-thousand thistles and thorns through the underneath of his thigh that the thirty
year old thug thought of that morning.
by Meaghan Desbiens
11
Can you can a can as a canner can can a can?
12
Seth at Sainsbury's sells thick socks.
16
Six sick hicks nick six slick bricks with picks and sticks.
17
I wish to wish the wish you wish to wish, but if you wish the wish the witch wishes, I
won't wish the wish you wish to wish.
19
There was a fisherman named Fisher
who fished for some fish in a fissure.
Till a fish with a grin,
pulled the fisherman in.
Now they're fishing the fissure for Fisher.
21
To sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock,
In a pestilential prison, with a life-long lock,
Awaiting the sensation of a short, sharp shock,
From a cheap and chippy chopper on a big black block!
To sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock,
In a pestilential prison, with a life-long lock,
Awaiting the sensation of a short, sharp shock,
From a cheap and chippy chopper on a big black block!
A dull, dark dock, a life-long lock,
A short, sharp shock, a big black block!
To sit in solemn silence in a pestilential prison,
And awaiting the sensation
From a cheap and chippy chopper on a big black block!
by W.S. Gilbert of Gilbert and Sullivan from The Mikado
22
Picky people pick Peter Pan Peanut-Butter, 'tis the peanut-butter picky people pick.
from a commercial
24
Luke Luck likes lakes.
Luke's duck likes lakes.
Luke Luck licks lakes.
Luck's duck licks lakes.
Duck takes licks in lakes Luke Luck likes.
Luke Luck takes licks in lakes duck likes.
from Dr. Seuss' Fox in Socks