Gabriel Marcel and American Philosophy

Gabriel Marcel and American Philosophy: The Religious Dimension of Experience examines the philosophy of Gabriel Marcel and its relationship to key figures in classical American Philosophy, in particular Josiah Royce, William Ernest Hocking, and Henry Bugbee. Few scholars have taken sufficient note of the fact that Gabriel Marcel’s thought is vitally informed by classical American philosophy.Marcel’s essays on Royce offer a window into the soul of Marcel’s recent philosophical development. The idealism of early Marcel stemmed from an omnipresent sense of a “broken world”—an experience of rent or tear within the tissue of experience similar to what John Dewey referred to as an “inward laceration of the spirit.” Furthermore, Marcel’s intuition concerning the primacy of intersubjective experience can help us understand W. E. Hocking’s thought. Finally, Marcel’s notion of ľ exigence ontologique clarifies his relationship to Henry Bugbee. Marcel and Bugbee explore the contour of experience—the indigenous circuit of associations pertaining to the self as coesse. Through a reflexive act Marcel refers to as “ingatherdness,” the self undergoes increasing degrees of unification by experiencing “an act of faith made explicit only in a dialectical act of participation.”David W. Rodick shows that Marcel’s relationship to these American philosophers is not coincidental, but rather the philosophical expression of his Christian faith. Marcel’s most important legacy is his commitment to unity of Christian philosophizing, a unity derived from both reason and revelation. Its diversity stems from the objective plurality of what is pursued as well as the subjective plurality of those who pursue it. Christian philosophizing seeks a truth that every Christian believes can never be untrue to itself.

David Rodick’s fascinating study tracks the French philosopher Gabriel Marcel's conversations with the Americans Henry Bugbee, W. E. Hocking, Josiah Royce, and William James.  It's a pleasure to get in step as Marcel pursues the religious and spiritual veins of everyday experiences of others, art, and nature, accompanied by these Americans. We trace their subtle explorations of what Marcel calls the mystery of being., An important thinker in twentieth century thought, Gabriel Marcel’s affinity for, and debt to, American philosophy is well known, especially the work of Josiah Royce, William James, William Ernest Hocking and Henry Bugby. Yet David Rodick’s book is the first extensive study of Marcel’s interaction with these distinguished American thinkers. It provides a fascinating introduction to the central themes of radical empiricism, intersubjectivity and transcendence, and also illuminates the continuing relevance of Marcel’s ideas for our times. The book is a first rate addition to the literature on Marcel., The influence of idealism on Marcel’s early philosophy is often noted, but Rodick tells a more complex story.  His essays explore historical and philosophical intersections between the thought of Gabriel Marcel and the work of American philosophers Josiah Royce, William Ernest Hocking and Henry Bugbee.  Rodick demonstrates their interactions with Marcel, illuminates central insights of all these philosophers, and achieves particular depth in his analyses of intersubjectivity, praxis, and religious experience.  I recommend this book to anyone interested in American philosophy, idealism, Marcel, and/or existential, exploratory thinking.

David W. Rodick is associate professor at Xavier University.