Gabriel Marcel (1889 – 1973) was a French philosopher, drama critic, playwright and musician whose work offers a careful and subtle analysis of contemporary life. For Marcel, the contemporary individual is in danger of losing sight of the most important type of awareness, the awareness of the strangeness and mystery of being. We are in danger of reducing ourselves to the various functions we perform - mother, father, worker, consumer, citizen etc - and losing a profound sense of wonder. The result is a person who is threatened by being overcome with a deep existential despair.

Marcel often preferred to write in an unsystematic way, exploring ideas through journal entries, interviews and plays. However, he did write some more systematic works, and there is one essay in particular that sums up the main themes of his work.

In this reading group we’ll tackle this essay, called ‘On the Ontological Mystery’ over two sessions.

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