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The first French existentialist philosopher

 
The Philosophy of Existence
Gabriel Marcel
London, 1948
 
Marcel(1889-1973) started writing on the nature of existence years before his more famous French counterpart, Sartre.  This edition compiles four essays in which he defines his philosophy and analyzes some of Sartre’s theories. 
 
Original publisher’s flexible paper boards – slight wear along the edges, some creasing particularly at the upper rear cover.  Old seller pencil notes on first leaf otherwise internally clean.  Top page margins a bit creased, else a bright, Near Fine copy.  With the rare, unclipped dust jacket – general rubbing and faint stains, two creases running the length of the rear panel, slight chipping along the edges, small split at lower front flap, spine faded.  Good.
 
A rather beautiful book in its simplicity of design. 
 
'After converting to Catholicism in 1929, he became a noted opponent of atheistic existentialism…Sartre’s characterizations of the isolated self, the death of God, and lived experience as having “no exit” especially disgusted Marcel. Regardless of his point of departure, Marcel throughout his life balked at the designation of his philosophy as, “Theistic existentialism.” He argued that, though theism was consistent with his existentialism, it was not an essential characteristic of it.’(IEP)
 
‘Gabriel Marcel offers a bridge between the atheistic existentialism of Jean-Paul Sartre and the theism of Søren Kierkegaard.  As a proponent of existentialism and phenomenology, Marcel argued for a rejection of philosophical systems that claimed abstract truths were of primary importance.  In Marcel’s view, philosophy needed to emphasize lived experience: a phenomenological approach. Marcel considered his approach a “concrete” philosophy.
 
Because existentialism was popularized by the charismatic Sartre, many associate the term with atheism and Marxism.  However, Marcel was not an atheist, nor was his philosophy as dark as most associated with existentialism.  Marcel considered himself a “Socratic Christian” in the tradition of St. Augustine and other Christian philosophers.’(Wyatt)
 
“Marcel remains one of the most influential thinkers of the twentieth century, and his major themes continue to be relevant for the plight of humanity…Many find Marcel's thought attractive because he emphasizes a number of significant ideas that have been influential in both philosophy and theology: the attempt to preserve the dignity and integrity of the human person by emphasizing the inadequacy of the materialistic life and the unavoidable human need for transcendence; the inability of philosophy to capture the profundity and depth of key human experiences, and so the need to find a deeper kind of reflection; the emphasis on the human experience of inter-subjectivity, which Marcel believes is at the root of human fulfillment; and a seeking after the transcendent dimension of human experience, a dimension that he believes cannot be denied without loss, and that often gives meaning to many of our most profound experiences.  Marcel is also regarded as important by a range of thinkers in different disciplines because he presents an alternative vision to challenge the moral relativism and spiritual nihilism of his French rival, Jean Paul Sartre, and other representative existentialist philosophers.”(Marcel, 1995, pp. 47-90)