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Time in the Philosophy of Gabriel Marcel TIME IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF GABRIEL MARCEL Helen Tattam, MA. Thesis submitted to the University of Nottingham for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (in French Studies) August 2010 Abstract This thesis aims to determine what is distinctive to the philosophy of Gabriel Marcel (1889-1973). While his work has largely been received as a form of ‘Christian existentialism’ (notably by Jean-Paul Sartre), and thus interpreted in relation to other philosophies of existence, it is my contention that this prevents an appreciation of his specificity. I therefore recommend a new reading of his thought, which, through analysis of his various philosophical presentations of time, re-situates him within the twentieth-century French intellectual tradition. Part I of the thesis provides an introduction to his philosophy of time, analysing his position in specific relation to Henri Bergson (1859-1941). Chapter One raises the question as to whether his position is then compromised by his engagement with eternity, for this seems to undermine time’s significance. However, what begins to emerge from Chapter Two onward, is that such a question may be inappropriate with respect to Marcel’s understanding of philosophy. Part II (Chapters Three and Four) then explores the implications that his work’s various modes have on the content of his arguments: first, the diary-form of his formative works and his (continuing) use of a first-person narrative style in his essays and lectures; and second, the (non-narrative) form of his theatre, to which Marcel also accorded philosophical significance. Here, Marcel is read alongside Paul Ricœur (1913-2005) and Emmanuel Lévinas (1906-1995), who also tried to approach philosophy differently – as is especially manifest in their conceptions of time. Finally, Part III (Chapter Five) reconsiders the relation between Marcel’s philosophy and religion, asking how his references to God affect the basis of his philosophy, and what this entails for interpreting time in his work. In light of these discussions, the conclusion then reflects on what philosophy is for Marcel, and how he should therefore be received. Acknowledgements This doctoral research would not have been possible without the financial support of the Arts and Humanities Research Council, which included funding to spend three weeks working in the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris (July-August 2008), and to attend and speak at the 2009 Romance Studies colloquium on storytelling (1-3 October). Both of these opportunities were crucial for the furtherance of my research. I would also like to thank the Graduate School at the University of Nottingham, for awarding funding that enabled me to attend and speak at the 2009 meeting of the Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy (29-31 October). This experience was equally pivotal to the development of my ideas. I must express particular gratitude to Camille de Villeneuve and Eric Severson, for inspiring and encouraging me. In addition, thanks must go to everyone in the French Department at Nottingham, who have supported me continually and offered valuable advice. I am especially appreciative of discussions I have had with my second supervisor, John Marks, who has helped me to think creatively and see the broader implications of my ideas. Above all else, though, I am indebted to William Grainger and to my first supervisor, Rosemary Chapman – to William for his constancy and understanding, and to Rosemary for thinking both with and against me, and for her exemplary rigour, expert guidance, and unparalleled support. Table of Contents Abbreviations of Frequently Cited Works ........................................................................ v Introduction: an Unplaced French Philosopher ................................................................ 1 Part One: Time and Subjectivity....................................................................................... 12 Chapter One: Being and Time ...................................................................................... 12 1.1 Marcel’s Encounter with Bergson ....................................................................... 13 1.2 Ruptures ................................................................................................................ 34 1.3 Memory, Time, and Eternity ............................................................................... 40 Chapter Two: Phenomenological Time ....................................................................... 54 2.1 The Irrelevance of Time? ..................................................................................... 55 2.2 Approches concrètes................................................................................................ 63 2.3 Phenomenology, Ontology, and Ethics: The Indeterminacy of Marcel’s Philosophy ................................................................................................................. 81 Conclusion to Part One: Metaphysics and Presence ................................................... 96 Part Two: Time and the Problem of Hermeneutics ...................................................... 105 Chapter Three: Narrative Time .................................................................................. 105 3.1 Time, Eternity, and Narrative: Augustine and Ricœur ................................... 108 3.2 Narrative Time and Identity: Marcel and Ricœur ........................................... 115 3.3 Being-with-Others: Narrative Time, Ontology, and Ethics ............................. 133 Chapter Four: Marcel’s Theatre: an-Other Time ....................................................... 148 4.1 Philosophy and Theatre, Narrative and Ethics ................................................ 151 4.2 The Lévinassian Time of Marcel’s Theatre ....................................................... 159 4.3 Thinking Marcel’s Philosophy and Theatre Together ..................................... 183 Conclusion to Part Two: Between Ricœur and Lévinas ............................................ 194 Part Three: Time and Eternity ........................................................................................ 200 Chapter Five: Time and God ...................................................................................... 200 5.1 Time and Eternity: Marcel and Augustine ....................................................... 203 5.2 Challenging Augustinian Time ......................................................................... 212 5.3 Philosophy, Ethics, and Theology: The Meanings of Eternity in Marcel ....... 220 Conclusion: Toward what Metaphysics? ...................................................................... 242 Bibliography .................................................................................................................... 245 Abbreviations of Frequently Cited Works Works by Marcel Other Works CPM Cinq pièces majeures AE Lévinas, Autrement qu’être DH La Dignité humaine et ses assises DMT Lévinas, Dieu, la mort et le temps existentielles DVI Lévinas, De Dieu qui vient à l’idée DS Le Déclin de la sagesse EAGM Belay and others (eds), Entretiens EA Être et avoir autour de Gabriel Marcel EC En chemin, vers quel éveil? EN Lévinas, Entre nous EM L'Esthétique musicale de Gabriel HS Lévinas, Hors sujet Marcel Œ Bergson, Œuvres EPR Entretiens Paul Ricœur Gabriel Marcel SA Ricœur, Soi-même comme un autre FP Fragments philosophiques TA Lévinas, Le Temps et l’Autre GM Gabriel Marcel interrogé par Pierre TI Lévinas, Totalité et infini Boutang TR I Ricœur, Temps et récit I HH Les Hommes contre l’Humain TR III Ricœur, Temps et récit III HP L’Homme problématique HV Homo viator JM Journal métaphysique ME I Le Mystère de l’être I ME II Le Mystère de l’être II MR La Métaphysique de Royce MT ‘Mon temps et moi (Temps et valeur)’ PI Présence et immortalité PST Pour une sagesse tragique et son au- delà RA ‘Regard en arrière’ RI Du refus à l’invocation Full details can be found in the bibliography. v Introduction: an Unplaced French Philosopher Le temps philosophique est [...] un temps grandiose de coexistence, qui n’exclut pas l’avant et l’après, mais les superpose dans un ordre stratigraphique. C’est un devenir infini de la philosophie, qui recoupe mais ne se confond pas avec son histoire. La vie des philosophes [...] obéit à des lois de succession ordinaire; mais leurs noms propres coexistent et brillent [...]. La philosophie est devenir, non pas histoire; elle est coexistence de plans, non pas succession de systèmes. (Deleuze and Guattari 1991: 58-59) The philosophy of Gabriel Marcel (1889-1973) is notoriously difficult to situate, and his elusiveness to categorization is noted by virtually every study of his work. To cite but a few examples: Kenneth Gallagher refers to Marcel as a ‘relentlessly unsystematic thinker’ (1962: ix); Brendan Sweetman speaks of his ‘inchoate and often scattered thoughts’ (2002: 269); Seymour Cain observes how Marcel ‘does not fit the usual picture of the philosopher – we associate no university chair, no philosophical system, nor ponderous treatise with his name’ (1963: 12); and Philip Stratton-Lake comments that Marcel’s ‘often fragmented and evocative style of writing makes it difficult to get a clear picture of his particular brand of existentialism’ (1998: 345). With his position so difficult to pin down, it is unsurprising that many critics restrict their analyses to a more general discussion of his thought, and choose to interpret his writings in relation to the
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