Abstract

This work has been written with the purpose of demonstrating the effects of a personalist approach to education. The philosophical and dramatic works of Gabriel Marcel are explored in an attempt to demonstrate the key philosophical concepts of this French Existentialist philosopher which might provide a foundation for a philosophy of education. The principal concepts treated are: mystery, presence, being, having, fidelity, promise, hospitality, transcendence and disponibility. ;In the introduction the author, a teacher and administrator, briefly discusses his personal motivations for embarking on this study. His foundational insights involve the beliefs that: the study of philosophy complemented with the study of literature remains the most effective means of asking the fundamental questions of identity and community, and that attention to the implied promise of fidelity to persons enables the teacher and student to recapture the ontological dimension of experience. ;The first chapter locates Marcel biographically, and intellectually. The influence of Kierkegaard and Nietzsche, as well as certain American idealists, Hocking and Royce, are treated. The chapter concludes with an initial consideration of "mystery" and "being," key concepts for an understanding of Marcel's philosophy. ;The second chapter continues this study with the treatment of one of Marcel's early dramatic works, the one act play, The Lantern. In this chapter attention is drawn to the concepts of "fidelity" and "presence." ;The third chapter analyzes the full length play, Le Dard. The concepts of "promise" and "disposibility" are discussed in terms of the action of the play, and of certain of Marcel's philosophical texts. ;The final chapter is a treatment of current philosophers of education and their insights into both a rationalist and personalist approach to the relationship between the teacher and the student. The attention to the training of the cognitive powers as evidenced in Maritain, Gilson, Peters and Scheffler are treated in the rationalist tradition. The attention to the training of the imaginative powers in Greene, Vandenberg, Phenix, and Sloan, are treated in the personalist tradition. ;The conclusion is a personal reflection on the findings of the study of the partnership of literature and philosophy, and of fidelity to persons