Gabriel Marcel

ethics within a Christian existentialism

Thomas Busch

pp. 269-288

in: John Drummond, Lester Embree, Phenomenological approaches to moral philosophy, Berlin, Springer, 2002

Abstract

Gabriel Marcel, an only child, was born in Paris in 1889, and his mother died when he was only four. His father, a diplomat, later married Marcel's aunt. By this time his father (a lapsed Catholic) was an agnostic, and his aunt was nominally a liberal Protestant. As a result, Marcel did not receive any religious upbringing. His lycée years in Paris were not enjoyable, except for his studies in philosophy and music, two subjects that were to become very important for him. He later enrolled in the Sorbonne, where he attended lectures by Henri Bergson. He earned a licence en philosophie in 1907. He married Jacqueline Boegner in 1918, and they later adopted a son. During this time Marcel fell into a period of agnosticism.

Cited authors

Marcel Gabriel