TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE
………………………………………………….….. i
CERTIFICATION …………………………………………… ii
DEDICATION
…………………………..…………………….…. iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
………………………………..……… iv
TABLE OF CONTENT
………………………………….……… vii
CHAPTER ONE
1.0
GENERAL
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction ………………………………………… 1
1.2 Clarification of terms…………………………….. 4
1.3 Purpose of the Study …………………………….. 5
1.4 Scope of Study ……………………………………
6
1.5 Methodology ……………………………………… 7
1.6 An over-view of Gabriel’s Life and
Philosophy……. 8
CHAPTER TWO
2.0
MARCEL’S
SIGNIFICANT I – THOU
2.1 Existentialist’s Approach To I –
Thou…………………… 13
2.2 I – Thou Relationship ……………………………………. 21
2.3 I – Absolute Thou Relationship ………………………….. 25
2.4 Notion of Mystery and Idea of Problem
…………………. 28
CHAPTER THREE
3.0
OTHER
ASPECTS OF I – THOU
3.1 Fidelity, Hope and Love …………………………… 33
3.2 The Functionalized and Technological Man………… 41
3.3 Presence ad Inter-subjective………………………… 46
CHAPTER FOUR
4.0
CRITICAL
APPRAISAL
4.1 Evaluation ………………………………………………… 51
4.2 Conclusion ………………………………………….……. 56
BIBLIOGRAPHY
……………………………………………… 59
CHAPTER ONE
1.0
INTRODUCTION
Life is a Mystery and not a problem; it is never an
existential puzzle to human mind. In
allowing man to partake in this mysterious nature of life whose effects or
manifestations are familiar to all, man ought to participate in a mutual relationship
with the other, thereby respecting and preserving life.
In other words, to live a meaningful and authentic
existence, one must establish a loving and mutual (reciprocal) relationship
with other human beings, which must respect a qualified treatment of the other
as (thou than it) genuine and as one who has a personal right, sacredness and
dignity that must be kept respectfully.
For the
success of the above viewpoint, care should be taken to avoid any form of life
of estrangement. Such life of
estrangement is scarcely worth living.
To transcend this life of estrangement, one has to detach oneself from
solitary life and enter into a committed life thereby looking upon oneself, the
others, and even at the world not as a strange or perplexing existence.
Existentialism
being one of the models of philosophy advocates for a life of commitment which
gives focus and sense of direction to one’s life. On the strength of this,
Gabriel Marcel, the leading religious existentialist in Europe,
considering our state of life in a relational level, propounded the theory of
I-thou relationship. Francis J.C. quotes
Marcel as saying:
“The meaningfulness and the
authenticity of one’s existence as an ‘I’ is totally conditioned by the
generosity with which I make myself available in mutual love, fidelity, faith
and disponibility to thou”.1
It is obvious and clear that the authenticity of one’s
existence to the other is absolutely anchored on one’s genuiness, openness to
the other who is the only unique way of oiling one’s existence. Thus, it does not give much confidence for
being exceptionally sensitive, thoughtful and honest without the other.
I-Thou
relationship therefore, is a total commitment to the other which involves
inter-subjectivity, Fidelity, Disponibility, Faith, Hope and Love. It concerns the hidden and the mysterious nature
of “being” itself. This type of
relationship is predominantly innate to man rather than theoretical. Mysterious in the sense that there is no room
for particular involvement, objectification and thingfication of the
individual. As opposed to a problematic
or problem-solving type of relationship that verifies and lacks involvement.
The nature or
content of I-Thou is non-verifiable, rather it is ontologically
mysterious. This notion of mystery
central to I-Thou, if not given a due consideration, can be devalued by the
technocracy of the functionalzed world.
Marcel committed himself to the breaking down of such barriers by
placing a priority to human values as against the functional values of
technology. For a brilliant success in
I-Thou relation, there should be a personal commitment to the absolute and
eternal Thou. This act of genuine
relationship and commitment is possible only when it is rooted in the absolute
and unconditioned Thou, God - the giver of I - thou in its fullness.
For Marcel,
a lasting relationship must take to heart the above tenets in order to have a
clear viewpoint about life as a mystery and not a problem. This work therefore, is an exposition and
analysis of his thoughts which suggest an alternative to genuine contemporary
relationship.
1.2 CLARIFICATION OF TERMS
In the course of this work, there are some technical terms
used by Marcel that are strange and known to the initiated alone. The ‘thou’ of Marcel depicts a partner or the
other in relationship. Mystery is not as
in theological terms, but as an act of being involved or part of one’s problem
than parting away or trying to solve such a situation by any easy method. This is the height of his second reflection. To solve this problem demands a sense of
reflection and not thinking alone.
Problem is the wrong attitude towards the difficulties confronting me
and my partner, which I never wanted to be a part of.
Ontology
refers to the idea of “being,” and the value attached to it just by virtue of
the fact that one exists. Creative
fidelity is that faith, trust, love and hope we have for our beloved ones which
does not manifest itself on the plane of physical presence alone, but is also
effective in the absence of the other.
With such fidelity, the memories of our beloved departed ones are kept
in us with passion. It is a nostalgia
which reproduces itself especially with our distant loved ones.
The Absolute ‘Thou’ suggests the transcendental God.
Availability is translation to the term “Disponibilite”. The ‘functionlized and
technological man’ is the man who is used as a means to an end and not as an
end itself, the man that is valued for his functional and technological worth
and values, for what he does and not for what he is.
The mastery
of the above terms will help the readers of this work to follow without much
stress and cost.
1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
Today, we
are living in the midst of irrationalism and inconsistency as witnessed in many
areas of life: such as the families, marriages and other aspects. As a result, it seems the center can no
longer hold. It is, therefore, the
purpose of this ground project to remould and re-evaluate most of our ideas in
contemporary and existential issues, as mentioned above, using Gabriel Marcel’s
“I-thou” authentic existence as a firm edifice. It equally suggests ways of
being meaningfully and creatively responsible in our affairs with the other
while not seeking utilitarian satisfaction from a relationship.
Minds are strengthened up following this work on what real friendship
should be while advocating for a committed and sacrificial union with the
other.
1.4 SCOPE OF STUDY.
Having
established the purpose of this study namely; the re-moulding of our
contemporary and existential issues, the scope of this study then falls within
the range of relationship between ‘I-Thou’ as an existence with other entities
and ‘beings’ in the world. This study
exposes what genuine relationship should be in the perspective of Gabriel
Marcel’s analysis and exposition of “I-Thou” as a prototype. It also incorporates God, the absolute and
eternal thou, our societal life and life in the family which it sets to
re-evaluate.
1.5
METHODOLOGY
Since the
anthropocentric period, many philosophers have devised methods in the study of
man: Edmund Husserl’s transcendental phenomenology, Boros dialogical
interpretation, Marcel’s analytical method and others.
It is my
intention to adopt Marcel’s analytical, expository and practical method in the
course of this study. Consequently, this
work is made up of four chapters.
Chapter one
deals with general introduction with an over-view of Gabriel’s life and
philosophy.
The second
chapter will examine properly, Marcel’s significant I-Thou, I-absolute Thou,
Notion of mystery and idea of problem and the existentialist’s approach to
I-Thou.
Chapter
three dwells on other aspects of I-Thou, such as Fidelity, Hope and Love; man
in the functionalized and technological world, and lastly presence as
inter-subjective relationship.
The last
chapter (four) centers on the evaluation and conclusion of the work. It
suggests an alternative to genuine contemporary relationship. Then comes the Bibliography.
1.6 AN OVER-VIEW OF GABRIEL’S LIFE AND
PHILOSOPHY.
A general remark about Gabriel’s life and philosophy makes
it easier to understand his ideologies clearer.
Copleston calls him:
A peculiar elusive thinker,
a philosopher whom it is extremely difficult to summarize.2
Born in Paris, in 1889, and was
brought up in a well-off family of civil servant. He lost his mother when he was only four
years old and was privileged to be raised by an aunt whose physical presence
juxtaposed with his dead mother’s spiritual presence, and this influenced his
concept of creative fidelity. He worked
for the Red Cross during the First World War. This experience shaped his view
of human relationship and confirmed a religious conviction by which he was converted
to Catholicism in 1929.3 Marcel regretted the agnosticism of his
father who was brought up as a Catholic, and had ceased practicing his religion
at an early age and had taken the position of the late nineteenth century
agnostics.4 Raised therefore in a home dominated by the
cultural agnosticism of his father and the liberal Moralistic Protestantism of
his aunt, Gabriel saw and confirmed that he was not living an authentic
life. Not minding his delicate health
situation, he endured unhappy and lonely
home life. It is therefore not
surprising the emphasis on “the other” and the desire and need of Love,
Friendship and Fidelity in him as a life-long quest.
Lescoe,
quoting Marcel, recounts how he (Marcel) had observed to him,
Nothing is lost for a man –
I am convinced of this and firmly believe it, if he experiences a great love or
a true friendship: But everything is lost for the one who is alone.5
The
nostalgic memories of the past preceded his relational philosophy of commitment,
the I-Thou. He insisted that to be genuine in our interpersonal relationship we
must be totally and unreservedly available to the other.6
He left behind a plethora of works among which are: Being and Having
1965, creative fidelity 1964, the mystery-of Being, reflection and mystery, the
philosophy of existentialism, 1968 and many dramatic works.
As a matter
of fact, he provides us with a full and undespairing zeal in participating in
the world with the interest of the other at heart. He therefore, summons people to be available
(disponibilite) a stance best manifested in absolute fidelity or commitment to
a “thou”.
In his
work, we understand the fact that he is a personal thinker in the sense that he
reflects on the personal experiences he had and which was very special to him.
Those experiences formed the nucleus of his philosophical discourse on this “I
– Thou” relationship. As a philosopher of his time, he reflects on experiences
such as love, hope, presence and fidelity.
According to Copleston:
This reflections of him do
not take the form of exposing “results,” they are rather a series of
explorations of various themes.7
He
distinguishes two modes of thoughts, primary and secondary reflection. On the primary reflection, objectification
and idea of problem “go together”: Here we have a problem – solving thinking
that aims at knowledge which is universal, abstract and verifiable, excluding
thereby the personal, the particular and the contingent aspect of thoughts as
being irrelevant to its purposes. As
such, it involves only a partial relation between the thinker and his
object. Marcel’s second reflection is
not concerned with a “problem” but with a mystery. The second reflection therefore, and the
notion of “mystery go together”.8 It is such that seeks a wider and richer
understanding of the meaning of human existence by a return to the unity of
experiences within which the mystery of being is apprehended. Primary reflection exemplifies itself in
objectification, the problematic I-it relationship, which reduces a person to
mere object. While secondary reflection
entails participation, the mysterious and I-Thou relationship-the level and
realm, which illuminate authentic human existence.
Above all,
the basis of Marcel’s thought and ‘being’ cannot be an “I am” rather “we are.”9
Obviously, there cannot be a systematized summary of Marcel’s thought
which can convey a wholesome spirit of him
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