Abstract

The philosophical approach known as existentialism is commonly recognized for its view that all of the experiences and interactions of life are meaningless. Many existentialist thinkers are led to conclude that life is therefore only something to be tolerated, and that close or intimate relationships with others should be avoided. The individual self consequentially becomes a type of island, which neither interpersonal nor intellectual pursuits can affect. Among the despair and dread offered by the hands of the existentialists came a distinctly original philosophy from Gabriel Marcel. Marcel, a World War I veteran and concert pianist, was a late bloomer in philosophy. Although he was never professionally trained in philosophy, his early works came as a result of his interest in the idealists. As Marcel developed philosophically, however, many of his writings developed as reactions against the atheistic existentialists, and primarily that of Jean-Paul Sartre. Sartre's characterizations of the isolated self, of the death of God, and of lived experience as having "no exit" especially disgusted Marcel. In order to offer a response to the reality painted by Sartre, Marcel proposed his concept of a being-by-degrees. Marcel agrees with the existentialists that fundamental being is, in itself, meaningless. He posits, however, that experiences and relationships need not be meaningless, but that through experiences in relationships, individuals can impute significant meaning into their lives. Marcel's being-by-degrees is certainly an ideal to be achieved, as well as a process. In order to determine whether his theory is an obtainable goal, however, Marcel must explain how his whole, "existential" person can sustain meaningful relationships when so often those relationships cause the person pain, suffering, and feelings of disconnectedness. Indeed, for Marcel to succeed against the type of existentialism he abhors, he must offer an alternative that speaks to the difficulty of interpersonal conflict while maintaining that the individual self cannot be whole without vulnerability in relationships