Gabriel Marcel and F. H. Bradley - by Joseph Gamache (Hardcover)

About the Book

This is the first sustained scholarly treatment of the influence of famed British idealist F. H. Bradley on the work of French existentialist and playwright Gabriel Marcel. The book illuminates the work of both thinkers by reading them in relation to each other.

Book Synopsis

The first sustained scholarly treatment of the influence of F. H. Bradley on the work of Gabriel Marcel.

This book argues that studying the philosophical work of Gabriel Marcel together with that of F. H. Bradley is mutually illuminating for our understanding of each philosopher. Marcel's more dramatic, existential, and phenomenological work illustrates the significance and relevance of what seems, at first glance, to be the dry metaphysics of Bradley. Bradley's philosophy helps explain the metaphysical relevance of Marcel's thought, as well as supply the needed theoretical elaboration of key concepts that Marcel left underdeveloped. The author takes the reader through a series of fundamental metaphysical issues, including truth, the nature of immediate experience, abstraction, identity, personhood, and God. The book concludes by suggesting that a synthesis of the insights of Marcel and Bradley yields a novel version of philosophical personalism-the view that humans are the most metaphysically fundamental and morally valuable beings that exist.

Review Quotes

"Jospeh J. Gamache has produced a first rate work of scholarship with this comparative study of F.H. Bradley and Gabriel Marcel. Drawing on the fact that both thinkers corresponded with each other, sharing similar themes and somewhat similar sensibilities, the author illustrates how studying both thinkers in relation to each other greatly illuminates their respective ideas. With its close reading of key texts, probing analysis of such themes as idealism, personalism, and relation, along with the fascinating connection between thought and reality, Bradley and Marcel scholars, along with those interested in their rich intellectual milieu, cannot afford to ignore Gamache's penetratingly fresh perspective on these two important thinkers and their profound insights into foundational questions." --Brendan Sweetman, Professor of Philosophy, Rockhurst University

About the Author

Joseph Gamache is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Marian University Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.