The Influence of Royce on the philosophy of Gabriel Marcel

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the nature of the influence of the philosophy of Josiah Royce (1855-1916) upon me thought of Gabriel Marcel (1889- ). In following the development of Marcel's philosophy it is possible to see how his acquaintance with Royce's philosophy was the intellectual counterpart to the influence on him of his experience as a Red Cross worker during the Great War. Royce's peculiar style of idealism was both the point of contact with Marcel's Idealist background and the source of inspiration for his new philosophical condition. Marcel's main concern was to establish a philosophy of personal relationships which would distinguish personal knowledge from empirical knowledge. He achieved this in his notion of inter subjectivity, with its distinction between I-it relationships and the I-thou encounters. The latter are the realm of all personal values such as fidelity, love and hope. From an analysis of Marcel's study of Royce, made during the Great War, one can see how Marcel was impressed by Royce, particularly by his theory of interpretation. From a survey of both Marcel's notion of inter subjectivity and Royce's theory of interpretation common alms and Interests are clearly seen. But the main Influence of Royce's Work stems from Royce's theory of triadic relations, which made it possible for Marcel to reinstate the central Importance of personal values.