Abstract

In this article, I hold that Gabriel Marcel proposes a kind of metaphysics of human existence that arises from a phenomenology. In order to show this hypothesis, I start from the description that the author does of the situation of contemporary man. Marcel affirms that human being has been reduced to a mere assembly of functions, without leaving any room to mystery. Starting from this account, I developthe concept of ontological need, concept that allows us to go from phenomenology to metaphysis, because the concept of ontological need, according to Marcel, is not only the expression of a subjective need of finding sense, but the expression of the ontological mystery in which we find ourselves. The philosophy of mystery of Marcel, backbone of his metaphysics of the human existence, is explained in the second part of this article, by giving an account of the basic fact of being an incarnated being and by discussing the problem of participation.