Gabriel Marcel: Philosophy as a Vocation

Gabriel Marcel’s reflections on the special status of philosophy and on the mission of the philosopher in contemporary society were examined. Marcel’s central thesis, namely that philosophy constitutes a vocation and possesses distinctive characteristics in comparison with the exact sciences was explored. As a science of a special type, philosophy cannot be reduced to the level of an ordinary academic discipline. Drawing on the conceptual framework of “concrete philosophy”, the thesis concerning the distinction between the modern philosopher and philosophers of earlier epochs, as well as the necessity of taking these changes into account was researched. The criteria distinguishing the contemporary philosopher from the contemporary scientist were proposed. The principal criterion was noted to position philosophy not between science and religion, as is commonly assumed, but rather between science and art. Accordingly, a distinction is drawn between the philosopher and the scientist, on the one hand, and between the philosopher and the artist, on the other. The contemporary philosopher is shown to be combining traits of both the scientist and the artist, a synthesis manifested in the dialectic of subjectivity and objectivity. This dialectical synthesis of original philosophical texts and the criterion of objective scientific rigor is specified through the metaphysical concept of intersubjectivity, conveyed by the metaphor of the musician. The French thinker was noted to point to a transformation in the place of philosophy in the modern era and in conceptions of its role within the social organism by means of this concept. The issues related to the training philosophical personnel and the specific character of teaching philosophy, as distinct from other academic disciplines, were studied.

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References
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