God, the Absolute Thou as the Ground of Intersubjectivity in the Philosophy of Gabriel Marcel

Abstract

The present time increasingly shows an intense polarity between science and religion. Human persons’ dependency on science and technology and their assertion of autonomy upon themselves get deeper in the heart of society. Ironically, the more human persons become self-governing and self-sufficient, the more they experience a sense of loss of meaning of what it means to be human. Human persons perceived chiefly as a scientific and technological problem can only lead to alienation and isolation from others. The abolishment of the absolutes grants human persons their insistence as the definer of reality. And with science and technology as their tools, they have created a world that has lost its ontological awareness. This article argues that God, the Absolute Thou, is the ground of intersubjectivity using Marcelian philosophy. It uses both expository and correlational methods to establish the nature and significance of the reciprocal relationship between intersubjectivity and the Absolute Thou. Gabriel Marcel’s existential ontology reveals human persons with the exigence of being. Central to Marcel’s intersubjectivity are three inseparable pillars of love, fidelity, and hope that characterize openness, community, unconditionality, and eternity. Intrinsic to these pillars is theocentric directedness. Through Marcel’s non-objective approach to God, the Absolute Thou breaks free from the presentation as an abstract entity. Thus, God can be experienced through personal involvement by way of faith, love, and hope. The study shows the centrality of God, who can fulfill the human persons’ exigence of being, and only in God, the Absolute Thou can love fidelity, and hope have their full assurance and eternal significance.