1 (A Treatise on the Philosophy of Gabriel Marcel) Dissertation submitted to the University of Kerala In partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Post Graduation in philosophy Presented by BAIJU N.T. Department of Philosophy University College, Thiruvananthapuram 2006
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Inter Subjectivity - A Treatise on the Philosophy of Gabriel Marcel
This dissertation is an exposition of Gabriel Marcel’s reflections on Intersubjectivity, deeply rooted in an aesthetic ‘I-Thou’ relationship.
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1
(A Treatise on the Philosophy of Gabriel Marcel)
Dissertation submitted to the University of Kerala
In partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Post Graduation in philosophy
Presented by
BAIJU N.T.
Department of Philosophy
University College, Thiruvananthapuram
2006
2
CONTENTS
PREFACE
ABBRIVIATION
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER ONE: THE BROKEN BRIDGE
1.1. The Broken World
1.2. De-humanization
1.3. Alienation
1.4. Despair, Anxiety and Uneasiness
CHAPTER TWO: THE BRIDGE
2.1. Mystery and Problem
2.2. Incarnation
2.3. Being and Having
2.4. I-Thou
2.5. Intersubjectivity
CHAPTER THREE: PILLARS OF THE BRIDGE
3.1 Disponability
3.2 Freedom and Fraternity
3.3 Absolute Thou and Fidelity
3.4 Faith, Hope and Love
GENERAL CONCLUSION
BIBLIOGRAPHY
3
PREFACE
“Love means presence, i.e., „to be available‟ to others”. This is how Gabriel
Marcel defines love. The definition is surprisingly extraordinary, right? Frankly
speaking, it was this definition of love, which stimulated my curiosity to inquire
more about leading French philosopher and Christian existentialist Gabriel Marcel.
When I started to look deeply into his thoughts, the mere curiosity turned out to be
a research, dedicating my complete attention to understand the significance of
Gabriel Marcel‟s philosophy in this contemporary world. I am glad to tell you now
that I did find an answer, which I was searching for, capable of healing the
wounds in our relationships in this irreplaceably broken world. To put in a single
work, the answer was „Intersubjectivity‟.
This dissertation is an exposition of Gabriel Marcel‟s reflections on
Intersubjectivity, deeply rooted in an aesthetic „I-Thou‟ relationship. I am
extremely happy that besides my personal readings, this dissertation on an
academic level could also give a good impact on my understandings on the
centuries-old human quest: “Who am I, in relation to others and God?” I thank the
Absolute Thou for giving such an astounding opportunity.
At this moment, I gratefully remember and thank all those who helped me
to make this dissertation a reality. First and foremost, my heartfelt gratitude goes
to Mr. Y. Saji, the guest lecture of our department of Philosophy, for his constant
guidance, loving encouragement and efforts set aside for me during the entire
course of the work. I express my sincere thanks to Mrs. Sulekha, Head of the
department of Philosophy, and my teachers for helping me to fulfill all my
academic requirements successfully. And finally, I am thankful to my dear friends
especially to Mr. Lijo John, for making them „available‟ in making this study an
unforgettable event in my life.
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ABBRIVIATION
BH Being and Having
-Gabriel Marcel
BPC Being, Person and Community
-V.J. Manimala
EWG Existentialism- With or Without God
-Francis J. Lescoe
MAH Man against Humanity
-Gabriel Marcel
MB Mystery of Being
-Gabriel Marcel
PE The Philosophy of Existentialism
-Gabriel Marcel
PGM The Philosophy of Gabriel Marcel
-Paul Arthur Schilpp and Lewis Edwin Hahn
SIG Self Realization and Intersubjectivity in Gabriel
Marcel
-Dominic Anton Joseph-
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INTRODUCTION
Today, we are living in a crucial period of human history! It is a glorious
age marked by the stupendous scientific and technological achievements of man.
The world is undergoing fast and tremendous changes in all areas of its existence
ever before. Man has been replaced by machines and his technology has taken him
to moon, mars and almost to the boundaries of the universe, overturning the entire
story of man on earth. But is it the whole story? Nope. It is only one side and there
remains another side, mostly unsaid and dark in all sense. It is also “the terrible
time”, we happen to live, tainted with unheard of cruelties of man against man and
devastating wars of nation against nation. Though man glories his achievements,
he is threatened by the products of his own ingenuity. It is an age of material
progress and moral regress. The value of culture, religion, tradition, family,
relationships and morality is at shake. So, the result is in the midst of progress and
affluence, human life is filled with anxiety and threatened by meaninglessness.
Just look at the daily newspapers and you would see how this world is
going around. Divorce cases increase day by day. The security of women, children
and poor has no guarantee. They are exploited and used. The value of life is at the
edge of disaster. Family has almost lost its stability. Crimes, terrorism, wars,
poverty and exploitation crush man. Today‟s man has every thing, but is nothing.
Man has built walls around him, limiting himself and creating a different world for
his own, where he lives like a king of his selfishness and pride. Is he concerned
about others? Does he have time to maintain relationship with others? Sadly, the
other is a „hell‟ or object to be thrown or used. This capitalistic mentality has
changed the man‟s vision on life and his dignity has value at all. These facts
indicate a sort of dangerous point of reference of human consciousness and
modern civilisation.
Gabriel Marcel, one of the well-known existentialist philosophers, has a
sensitive mind about all these issues. He presents the significance of love and
intersubjectivity that can change the existing world. He says that the last word
about life is not absurdity or nausea, but love and joy. Love can rebuild the broken
world of relations, he emphasises. Love means presence, i.e., to be available to the
other. There is no doubt that Gabriel Marcel‟s treatise on intersubjectivity can
make a qualitative difference in human relations.
A few words about Gabriel Marcel are contextual. A brief life sketch of
Gabriel Marcel will be a good introduction to start with his treatise on
Intersubjectivity. Gabriel Marcel was born in Paris on December 7, 1889. His
father was a French ambassador in Sweden. He faced hard realities of life from the
very beginning of his childhood. He lost his mother at his age of four and was
6
brought up by his step mother. Both his father and step mother were agnostics.
After his education, he volunteered for military service during the First World
War, but was unable to continue in the service due to his ill health. Then he joined
Red Cross and the experiences there helped him to have a good exposure to the
tragic realities of human life. His philosophy was an authentic outcome of his own
life experience. His major works are Being and Having, The Mystery of Being,
Broken World (Drama), Metaphysical Journal, Man against Humanity,
Problematic Man, Homo Viator and The Philosophy of Existence. Towards the
end of his life, Gabriel became very closer to Roman Catholic faith. His
philosophy was an addition to Christianity philosophically and theologically. He
died in 1973.
This work is divided into three chapters. The first chapter explains the
current situation of man in the world. According to Gabriel Marcel, the modern
world is conceived as a Broken World, where man struggles to find meaning for
his existence. The second chapter is the nucleus of this dissertation, presenting the
concept of Intersubjectivity along with his other fundamental concepts. The third
chapter deals with the pillars of relationship. The point discussed there is the
values which support the relationship to be more authentic and stable. Finally, we
meet a general conclusion at the end. It is an open house discussion to which
anyone can contribute more and more in accordance with one‟s conviction and
knowledge.
I am aware that it is practically impossible to explain Marcel‟s philosophy
in a very limited number of pages. For me, it is only an attempt. I have tried to use
all the main works of Gabriel Marcel to prepare this thesis. I hope, my humble
effort could reflect Marcel‟s mind in the same way it is supposed to be!
7
CHAPTER ONE
THE BROKEN BRIDGE
Man is basically a being in a situation. Every man is to be understood along
with his surroundings and circumstances. According to Marcel, today‟s world is a
Broken World and it causes lots stress and tensions in man, giving rise to the
feeling of alienation, despair, anxiety and uneasiness. This chapter is an attempt to
bring forth the specialties of the broken world in which we live.
1.1. The Broken World
Marcel defines modern world as Broken World, which is something like a
broken watch.1 Marcel‟s play „The Broken World‟ presents a heroine called
Christiane who makes a striking statement about this modern world.
Don‟t you feel sometimes that we are living…if you can call it
living…in a broken world? Yes, broken like a broken watch. The main string
has stopped working. Just look at it, nothing has changed. Every thing is in
place. But put the watch to your ear and you don‟t hear any ticking. You know
what I am talking about, the world what we call the world, the world of human
creatures…it seems to me it must have ad a heart at one time, but today you
would say that heart had „stopped beating‟.2
The modern world‟s heart stopped beating. It requires to be repaired. Why
does Marcel describe the modern world as a Broken World? It is because the
structure of society based on true and authentic relations collapses due to several
reasons. Marcel says that the world loses its real unity. The idea of community
becomes more and more impossible.3 “We are living in a world in which the
preposition „with‟ and White head‟s noun „togetherness‟ seems more and more to
be losing its meaning.” 4 Modern technology brings only a superficial unity.
Technology does not help men to be united, but often makes them enemies. Even
in the midst of material sufficiency, man is still against man. The twenty first
centaury man has become a stranger to himself.5
1. Francis J. Lescoe, Existentialism-With or Without God, Alba House, New York, 1974.
p. 116 2. Gabriel Marcel, Mystery of Being, (Vol-I, Reflections and Mystery), Harvill Press Ltd., London, 1950. p. 21, 22. 3. Ibid., p. 27. 4. Ibid., p. 28.
5. EWG, p.116.
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Marcel is not against technical progress. He says that the technical progress
in the strict sense is good.6 But the technical progress in the modern world has a
destructive function and to some extend is criminal. The technology makes man a
little „less human‟ and it brings man to alienation and leads to de-humanization.
De-humanization caused by the technology is a serious one, where the
human beings are considered as mere objects and as mere Its. Every thing is an It
to be used and utilized. Man started to understand him and others by referring to
technology.7 Each man becomes an island in this world of artificiality. This
isolation can be seen everywhere in the society. Man likes to build boundaries and
keep an extra mile in between him and others. He is a stranger to others. He limits
everything within himself. This isolation of modern man had become a theme of
reflection for many philosophers and writers. The Heidegerian DASSAIN is a best
example for a solitary and isolated individual of this world of throwness,
homelessness and angst.8
Today man has become titled with his functions. He spends hours with his
functions and everything comes under his function even his sleeping. “Time table-
a horrible expression- describes the life of the modern man.”9 Man has become
mere machine in this world of machines. The companionship with the machines
made him a machine. He works like computer and remains like a computer. He is
unable to express his feelings and emotions, and he suppresses them within
himself. Heidegger mourns by saying that the tragedy of modern man is that he is
not even reflecting. “The technical man has lost awareness of himself. Modern
man appears himself and to others as an agglomeration of function.”10 Marcel says
that suicide will be the price that one has to pay for the amazing progress of
technology.11
We live today in a world at war with itself…war is being pushed so far
that it runs the risk of ending something that could properly be described as a
world of suicide…suicide until our own times is an individual possibility. It
seemed to apply to the individual case. It seems now to apply to the case of the
whole human world.12
Technology will lead to self-destruction. An important fact of our present
world is that life is no longer being loved. The modern world provides an
6. Gabriel Marcel, Man Against Humanity, Harvill Press Ltd., London, 1952. p. 22. 7. Gabriel Marcel, Searchings, Newman Press, New York, 1967. p. 43. 8. EWG, p. 13. 9. Gabriel Marcel, The Philosophy Of Existence, Harvill Press Ltd., London, 1948. p. 2. 10. Ibid., p. 1. 11
. Ibid., p. 23. 12. MB-I, p. 23.
9
immediate taste of enjoyment. Fundamentally nothing can resemble the love of
life. Marcel says that the marriage tie between man and life had been broken.13
1.2. De-humanization
De-humanization is the result of modern technology where man becomes
less human. It is the effect of the Broken World. “Technological method can deal
with human in only one way; it must treat him as an object- a de-humanized and
de-personalized entity.”14 Man loses his „existential weight‟ and his life has been
functionalized. “There are sectors of human life in the present world, where the
process of automatization applies not only to certain techniques but also to what
one would have formally called the inner life, a life which today, on the contrary,
is becoming an outer as possible. As a result of this condition we are witnessing
„devolution of life‟.”15
Today man‟s worth is calculated in terms of functions and he is titled by
his functions. “The intrinsic dignity and sacredness of human being have now
been replaced by his functional values.”16 Technology enjoys the absolute
primacy. The value of human beings is determined by human ability and man
loses his real personality. His life has become a journey without any purpose and
goal. In his essay „On the Ontological Mystery‟, Marcel complains that “man
appears more and more, both to himself and to others as an „agglomeration of
functions‟.”17 Anyway, Marcel is not against technology, but he is against
technocracy, technolotry and techno mania, which are the attitude of worshipping
technical progress.18 In a technocratic world, man‟s life is according to the rhythm
of machines. He does not feel at home. He is crashed under the machines. The
profit and the loss of a company are compared with the human beings. Value of
products and men are equally considered, and procreation and fabrication are
considered to be equal things.19 This is the reason for the unlimited encouragement
of abortion, mercy killing and all other kinds of crimes in the contemporary world.
Marcel says,
Life is no longer considered as a divine gift, but rather as a „dirty joke‟.
The existence of a widely diffused pessimism seems to me a fundamental
given fact about contemporary humanity and it seems to that it is in the
perspective of this widely diffused pessimism as a sort of physical nausea at
13. MAH, p. 41. 14. EWG, p. 17. 15. Ibid., p. 117. 16. Ibid., p. 118. 17. Ibid., p. 119. 18
. Ibid., p. 120. 19. Gabriel Marcel, searching, Op.Cit., p. 45.
10
life that we ought to consider such a serious and significant contemporary fact
as the prevalence for instance of abortion.20
Man is considered only as an instrument among many other instruments.
“He is no longer is a person but a commodity to be used and exploited by some
mass movements whether social, industrial or political.”21 De-humanization
creates two inevitable consequences. The first one is that it makes an easy part for
the tyrant, the dictator and totalitarian state. And the second consequence is that it
makes man a brute for the history.22
1.3. Alienation
The Broken World leads man to alienation which is one of the tragic
experiences of modern man. There are mainly three levels of alienation. In the first
level, one is alienated from God and in the second level he is alienated from the
society, and finally he is alienated even from himself.
Alienation from God happens because of man‟s over-dependence on
technology. Man blindly depends on technology and his own abilities and he loses
faith in God. Man does not need God, but God needs man for His survival. The
material sufficiency of man makes him the king of the world where God has no
part to play.
Man is alienated from the society in which he lives. The fast moving world
does not give time to man to think about others. Parents have no time to be real
parents and children are so engaged that they have no time to look after their old
parents. The result is the disintegration of relations and social setup. Man is
terribly scheduled. The concept of good family, good parent, good children, good
wife, and good friends remains only in the mind but not in reality, because man is
alienated from the rest.
Finally man alienates from himself. He looses the meaning of life. He is
unsatisfied. Man is internally unhappy and lazy because he has lost the taste of
life. He does not have any memories to remember, goal to achieve. He is no more
living, but „simply there‟. Man becomes mere machine or a robot, perhaps because
of his companionship with machines and computer. This alienation is due to the
fact that “…in a world increasingly under the hegemony of technology… in such a
world we lose our „existential weight‟.”23
20. MAH, p. 42. 21. EWG, p. 17. 22
. Ibid., p. 18. 23. Ibid., p. 117.
11
1.4. Despair, Anxiety and Uneasiness
Marcel says that despair, anxiety and uneasiness are one and same
phenomenon which are the outcome of alienation. Despair means total betrayal.
He says that the root cause of despair is indisponability.24 Despair is the feeling of
the total insecurity. A person in despair thinks that there is nothing in this world on
which we can depend. This despair may lead one to suicide.
Anxiety is a psychological phenomenon. According to Briessaud, anxiety is
a psychological disorder which is translated by a feeling of indefinable
insecurity.25 There is an essential difference between anxiety and anguish. An
anxious person has much more violent reaction than an anguished person. Anxious
person does something to get rid off from anxiety, but anguish person does
nothing but freezes in his anguish.26 Uneasiness is a physical phenomenon. It is a
physical sensation dominant in an unhappy situation. Anxiety and uneasiness
cannot be separated. In a technologically progressed world man is happened to be
surrendering himself to uneasiness and justify it. Despair, anxiety and uneasiness
are always beyond human limit and highly destructive in nature.
The painful outcome of this Broken World is the utter despair and
alienation from every thing. It may cause one to lead an unethical life. In this state
of life, man treats man as object and means for his personal end. It is the dark
nature of technology and material progress. It always creates broken worlds. It
does not mean that Marcel is totally against technology. He encourages technology
but stands against worshipping technology the result of which is the broken bridge
of interpersonal relations. The aim of this chapter is not to underestimate
everything including technology and developments. Some may argue that a good
thing may have a bad side too; therefore we need not blame technology. We are
only trying to understand the problems of the world today in order to avoid them
and to make our situations better. We ought to build a bridge between human
relations. The next chapter discusses about the bridge.
24. Dominic Anton Joseph, Self Realization and Intersubjectivity in Gabriel Marcel,
Pontifical Urban University, Rome, 1988. p. 150. 25
. Gabriel Marcel, Problematic Man, Herder and Herder, New York, 1967. p. 68. 26. Ibid., p. 68.
12
CHAPTER TWO
THE BRIDGE
We have seen the characteristics of the Broken World in the previous
chapter. Marcel gives a remedy to heal this Broken World. He says that an
authentic inter personal relationship can change the world. Man needs to be open
to his fellow men. Intersubjectivity is the best way of interpersonal relationship,
the bridge between person to person. An authentic relationship can bring meaning
to human existence in this material world. In this chapter, Marcel‟s fundamental
notions like Mystery and Problem, Incarnation, Being and Having and
Intersubjectivity are discussed in detail. All these notions add to highlight the
dignity of man as subject and as a person.
2.1. Mystery and Problem
As many other philosophers in the history of philosophy, Gabriel Marcel
also takes a conscious effort to explicit the unique position of man in the order of
existence. His prime concern is the dignity of human being with all his
possibilities and potentialities. Being aware of the issues against human race in the
modern world, Marcel tries to give a spiritual status to man. He identifies man as a
mystery rather than a problem.
The notion of mystery and problem is one of the most fundamental
concepts of Gabriel Marcel. He brings out the essential difference between
mystery and problem in his famous work, Being and Having. According to him
mystery and problem are entirely opposite to each other.
In fact, it seems very likely that there is this essential difference
between a problem and a mystery. A problem is something which I meet,
which I find complete before me, but which I can therefore lay siege to and
reduce. But a mystery is something in which I am myself involved, and it can
therefore only be thought of as a „sphere where the distinction between what is
in me and what is before me loses its meaning and its initial validity‟. A
genuine problem is subject to an appropriate technique by the exercise of
which it is defined: whereas a mystery by definition, transcends every
conceivable technique.27
By mystery, Marcel neither means revelation nor something unknown, in
the sense that we do not have the means at our disposal of dealing with the
27. Gabriel Marcel, Being and Having, The Fontana Library, London, 1965. p. 127.
13
particular object of our study.28 Mystery is that in which I am engaged. It is a
„problem‟ which cannot be put before me objectively. It is not apart of myself, but
the „total me‟ is engaged in a mystery. Therefore, we cannot speak „about‟ a
mystery. “A mystery is a metaproblematical state of affairs which encroaches on
its own data.”29 We cannot find solution to a mystery. We can only know
something about it by analyzing it.
At the same time, a problem is something out side of me, for which I can
find solutions. Marcel says, “I said that there can only be a problem for me where I
have to deal with facts which are, or which I am at least cause to be, exterior to
myself; facts presenting themselves to me in a certain disorder for which I struggle
to substitute an orderliness capable of satisfying the requirements of my thought.
When this substitution has been effected the problem is solved.”30 A problem is
nothing outside me, objectively. Science always deals with problems.
According to Marcel, „What am I?‟ is a question related to mystery, and not
to problem. Man is a mystery. He is beyond all sciences and technologies. Man
cannot be considered as a mere object or a problem. But people are always
confused with mystery and problem in day today life. Marcel says that by knowing
the distinction between these two, we can avoid a lot of misunderstandings.
2.2. Incarnation
Treating his/her body as an object or an instrument to be used is one of the
major problems of the modern world. Marcel rejects the view that treats body as
secondary or a useless appendage, a constant embarrassment to the pure mind. He
wants to retain the position of body. Therefore, he proposes the theory of
„incarnation‟ in the place against the dualistic view of mind and body, which splits
man into two separate entities.
According to Marcel, “Incarnation is the situation of a being that appears to
him to be, as it were, bound to a body.”31 It is through the body that a person exists
in the world. Body is the undeniable fact of man‟s existence on earth. He
experiences the world through his body. Marcel often says that „I am my body‟,
because the body is an essential reality for a person.
28. EWG, p. 93. 29. V.J. Manimala, Being, Person and Community, Intercultural Publication, New Delhi, 1991.
p. 147. 30
. Gabriel Marcel, Homo Viator, Hasper and Brother, New York, 1962. p. 68. 31. BH, p. 16.
14
Man is not a self-enclosed ego. He is open to the world and to others. This
openness is possible only through body. Marcel says, “When I affirm that
something exists, I always mean that I consider this something as connected with
my body, as able to be put in contact with it, however, this contact may be.”32
„Presence‟ and „participation‟ are possible only through incarnation. (Presence
and participation are discussed later). Incarnation brings about a special feature,
the uniqueness of person. “Each of us is unique expression of the being, we
partially realize. No one can take our place.”33 Every man is unique in his very
nature. Every man has a special role to play in the order of existence. This is how
Marcel specifies the dignity of man.
2.3. Being and Having
The foundation of Marcel‟s doctrine of intersubjectivity is based on his
view of „Being and Having‟. Marcel understands, “…being as the „common
foundation‟ and „unity‟ of all beings.”34 Being is existential and „to be‟ is the very
nature of being. Being is interior to the person and „emanates‟ from the self.35
Having is that which is exterior to a person who possesses it. Having objectifies
things. It is a possession. Marcel says, “„I have the power to‟…means „the power
to numbered among my attributes and endowments‟. But that is not at all. „To
have‟ is „to have power to‟, since it is clearly in a sense „to have the disposal of‟.
Here we touch on one of the most obscure and fundamental aspect of having.”36
A being is a subject and the havings are the attributes of the subject. Marcel
says that we cannot express ourselves in terms of having, because the question,
„What am I?‟ cannot be considered in having. The question concerned with having
is „What do I have?‟. Being unites all beings. The authentic relation is possible
only by participating in being. The experience of being arises in communion but
egoistic desire transforms the state of being into the state of having. Today‟s man
is more concerned with his havings rather than his being. Modern man is assessed
by what he possesses, rather than what he is, therefore he is running to gather
more and more havings. The result is remarkably happened to guide man against
man.
Man can transform, meanwhile, his having into being. When one escapes
from his ego-centricity and enters into the realm of self-giving, then the person
becomes capable of transforming his having into being.
32. Ibid., p. 14. 33. Paul Arthur Schilpp and Lewis Edwin Hahh, The Philosophy of Gabriel Marcel, Vol- XVII, The Library of Living Philosophers, America, 1991. p. 127. 34. SIG, p. 84. 35
. BPC, p. 143. 36. BH, p. 163.
15
To transform the relationship of „having‟ into „being‟, it is necessary to
escape from the rigid attitude, which centers everything exclusively either on
the self or the object. Egoistic desire is destructive of personal being, because
desire merely wishes „to have‟ its object. In the realm of being desire gives
way to love, for love „gravitates‟ round a certain position which is neither that
of oneself nor of the other but of the „thou‟.37
2.4. I-Thou
I-Thou relation is the transformation of „having‟ into „being‟. Man can live
in this world as he likes either authentically or inauthentically. An inauthentic
person is self-enclosed, while an authentic person is open to all others and
considers other persons as thous, more than a he or she or it.38 When man
considers others as objects or things to be used, then he goes back to having from
being.
In I-Thou relationship, man becomes present to the other in a mutual
openness and self-giving. He becomes aware of his existence in the most
unqualified manner only when he meets the other as thou, as another subject. The
relationship is a loving encounter, a genuine meeting in love, a friendship and
spiritual availability. In an I-Thou relation, person respects and loves the other as
he loves and respects himself. Here one sacrifices himself for the best of others.
He is governed not by any egoistic desire, but by a self-giving desire.
An I-Thou relation is rooted in a communion. “…I can begin to exist as an
authentic „poursoi‟ only by being with others. The I-Thou is an inescapable
dimension of the „We‟, but the „We‟ is ontological ground of the I-Thou.”39
Absolute Thou brings validity for the I-Thou relationship, because the being finds
depth and dynamism of this relation in the Absolute Thou.40 Marcel points out that
to love a creature is to love him in God. The I-Thou relationship discovers my
freedom, because my freedom is actualized when I am available to my neighbor.
In this relation one is present to the other, in the same way as he participates in the
other‟s being. I-Thou relationship is a pure relation between two subjects, which is
an intersubjective relation.
37. BPC, p. 144. 38. EWG, p. 98. 39
. PGM, p. 140. 40. Ibid., p. 139.
16
2.5. Intersubjectivity
I-Thou relationship prepares room for the presence, participation and
intersubjectivity among human beings. Presence, participation and
intersubjectivity are mutually inclusive. Presence according to Marcel is not being
there but much more than that. Presence is a mystery. It is always dependent on
the experience of being in the world. “It should be noted at once that the
distinction between the presence and the absence is not at all the same as that
between attention and destruction. The most attentive and conscious listener may
give me the impression of not being present.”41 All men are not capable of being
present. A person who makes room for others in him is present for himself.
Presence reveals itself immediately and unmistakably in a look, a smile, an
attention or a hand shake.42
Presence brings participation. Participation is the involvement of one
person in the being of the other. One participates in the being of the other who is
present to him. According to Marcel, participation has three levels. First level is
the incarnation which is actualized through the experience of the body as „mine‟.
In this level, one participates with himself by being present to his own being. One
realizes himself as a subject. Second level is the level of communion, which is
actualized through love, hope and fidelity. In communion, a subject relates with
the being of other subjects with whom he confronts in his daily life. Here one
considers others as subjects and treats them as persons. The third level is the level
of transcendental, actualized through ontological exigency. In this level, a person
participates with the Other.43 Basically participation implies the participation of
one‟s being in the being of others.
Intersubjectivity means the relation between two subjects. It is the „subject
to subject‟ relation, which is opposed to ego-centricity, but founded on love and
harmony with the other. Presence belongs only to the being capable of giving
himself to others. Therefore presence is intersubjective.44 Friendship, marriage,
paternity and fraternity are the various modalities of intersubjectivity. It is through
creative fidelity, hope and love that one can attain the stage of intersubjectivity.
The growth of the society and its every member is based on the intersubjective
relation of the members. We should be open to others and must be able to meet
them without allowing oneself to be dominated or utilized.
41. BPC, p. 150. 42. Ibid. 43
. Ibid. 44. EWG, p. 102.
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Intersubjectivity is essential for the development of the persons because
“…intersubjectivity or the relation to the other, on which the community is based,
provides us with a means of discovering ourselves and of finding bearings in the
world.”45 Marcel calls intersubjectivity as „corner stone of ontology‟.46 A good
illustration of intersubjectivity can be found in the relationship between a musician
playing an opus of chamber music, where each musician plays a role and makes a
contribution in collaboration with others. Society, for its smooth running,
necessarily needs the presence and participation of all members in the society.
Nobody is an exception here. Moreover, man is a transcendental being.
Intersubjectivity helps man to the realization of „vertical‟ and „horizontal‟
transcendence of his own being.47
The whole philosophy of Gabriel Marcel is reflected in his notion of
intersubjectivity. The term „intersubjectivity‟ was first coined and used by Marcel
and it became well-known in ethics and philosophy. It is undoubtedly affirmed
that intersubjectivity is an ideal message which can construct a bridge of authentic
relations in between persons and nations. The bridge is made up of certain values
that can be considered as the pillars of this bridge. The next chapter will explain
the pillars of authentic relation in detail.
45. PGM, p. 343. 46
. Gabriel Marcel, The Mystery of Being, Vol-I, Op.Cit., p. 255. 47. PGM, p. 350-51
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CHAPTER THREE
PILLARS OF THE BRIDGE
The authentic relationship capable of constructing the world of love is
made up of some values. Availability, faith, hope, love, freedom, fidelity and
fraternity are those values which are called the pillars of the bridge. These values
are not what „we have‟ but what „we are‟. They help us to realise our own self and
strengthen our relationship. Let us analyse them one by one.
3.1. Disponability
Disponability is one of the original contributions of Gabriel Marcel, found
in his work Metaphysical Journal. Disponibilite is a French word extremely
difficult to convey in English. „Availability‟ would be a better word to mean