Humility as the Origin of Philosophy and a Metaphysical Virtue in the Thought of Gabriel Marcel

Abstract

Since its beginnings, philosophers have reflected on the dispositions that enable philosophical thinking to emerge. While many have identified wonder as the origin of philosophy, Gabriel Marcel proposes an even more radical foundation: humility. This research inquires whether, in Marcel's work, humility can be considered a true origin of philosophy. The hypothesis is that this affective, intellectual, and moral disposition not only allows for philosophizing but actually founds it, as it is intimately related to the mystery of being and intersubjectivity. The study is structured in three chapters: the first analyzes the notion of ontological mystery as presence and call; the second examines intersubjectivity as the space where being manifests; and the third explores how humility predisposes one to encounter and enables access to mystery. Methodologically, the research is based on bibliographic and documentary analysis of Marcel’s works and his main interpreters. This approach allows for a critical review of his proposal and an assessment of how humility, far from being merely an ethical virtue, redefines the mode of philosophizing in terms of openness to the Other and to being, with possible implications for our time.