RONALYN R. TAGUDIN
August 2017
INTRODUCTION
Reflection in layman’s term can be
equivalent to the word “rethink”. That is a simple word to utter but the
meaning of it needs inner involvement of oneself. The soul of you awakens your
personal shelf – your personal appearances, belief and thinking. It is not just
saying to yourself that “I am who am I” because perhaps you know yourself in
terms of what you like and dislike, what stuff you prefer, what are your
preferences among others and what makes you unique compare to your friends or
colleagues for instance. You can say all of those because you are already
familiar of your personal and outer needs of life.
Take a look of this simplest
example. One day, I realized that I do not have with me my eyeglass. Nowhere to
be found! I cannot work without my eyeglass because I cannot withstand the
radiation of my computer for eight hours. So what if I forget to wear my
eyeglass? What is the connection of this to reflection? There is already a
missing link of my daily routine that causes a break of the good process flow
of what I used to do. Because I forget my eyeglass, I need my memory
capabilities to bring me back on where I put my eyeglass, so I need to recall
then recall then recall - non-stop recalling. Going back of what had happened
within that day just to depict where did I put my eyeglass is a good way of
reflection. It gives you the time to take a pause for minutes to analyze and
helps you solve your problem. Reflection cannot just a source of relief but
also a solution to a problem.
MARCEL’S VIEW OF REFLECTION
One of the ideas of Gabriel Marcel
that I want to emphasize is regarding the modes of reflection. We often reflect
whether our decisions and actions done within the day are right or not? Or did
we do something that sacrifices the welfare of others? Or do we consider the
feelings of others on what we did or just our own sentiments? Or do we really sit
for a while and take a pause to rethink and reconsider our actions? Do we
really do that? Probably most of us will say somehow I ponder upon, but some
will just tell, what was done is done, you could not undo it! Do we really need
to reflect? And what will be the best complement for reflection? And my
readings on Gabriel’s philosophy answered those questions.
Marcel
Gabriel said that there are two modes of reflection – primary and secondary. “Primary
reflection is decompositional and analytic; when reflecting on the self
in this mode, Marcel believes that one is led to treat the body as an object
linked with or parallel to some other entity that might be termed ‘soul’. Secondary
reflection, on the other hand, allows us to recover on a higher level a
unity that had been lost on the lower. Through secondary reflection, according
to Marcel, the self-evades the kind of definition sought on primary reflection,
and finds ‘subject’ and ‘object’ to be inseparable and recognized through a
fundamental ‘act of feeling’ (The Gifford Lectures).
Marcel
believed that “non-conceptual knowledge plays a significant role in human
experience – thus illuminating philosophical truths.” As he claimed,
philosophy, brought reasoned analysis to the issues affecting the meaning of
life. The foundation of his work is based on life experiences that expressed
beyond words and dialogue. Marcel’s existential ideas are better grasped when
“lived human experience is not a one-dimensional succession of discrete events.
For Marcel, secondary reflection is the same dynamic, creative act that must be
performed in order "for it to be possible to grasp the significance of my
life over and above chronology, over and above my life as understood through
primary reflection" (Tattam, 2013).
Based
from the above statement, one may learn from personal experiences. Our
experiences are considered first hand teachings that are not bounded in
definition by theories and concepts. It is our free will to learn great things
including our own mistakes. Indeed human experience really help an individual
grow and explore beyond his comfort zones. In addition, experiences are
dynamic, one cannot have the same view of one situation. There are a lot of explanations
and discussions behind one’s experiences. It could be a source of positive
outlook in life or it could be a source of distress. As they said, “you can
never learn unless you experienced it!” Once you already knew what others are
talking about regarding that experiences through active participation and
interactions, you may have different connotations and understanding in mind. By
starting to make dialogues and communicate to others, you can express and relay
your ideas as well as you accept and listen their ideas too. At the end of the
conversation, all will be thinking and considering ones’ ideas that could lead
to reflection within your own self whether it is a primary or secondary
reflection already.
The
Gifford Lectures also cited Marcel’s additional idea on reflection. He stated
that the primary reflection tends to break down the unity of experience, but
secondary reflection tends to restore the unity of our experience. Primary
reflection is an analytic process, but secondary reflection is a synthetic
process. Primary and secondary reflection are on opposite sides of an
existential fulcrum, in the center of which is the question: "Who or what
am I?" Primary reflection may discover that "I am not who I am
thought to be," but secondary reflection may discover that "I am not
merely the negation of who I am thought to be." Further reflection on the
question of "Who am I?" may enable each of us to recognize the
importance of personal feelings and emotions in defining who we are as human
beings. We may discover that who we are cannot be separated from what we feel.
Moreover,
Gabriel Marcel introduces the notion of creative development, which occurs
through free activity as soon as there is life, or rather, as soon as there is
‘being in a situation’. In life, one may recognize circumstance and situation
as a call to creative development. On the basis of these thoughts, what answer
can be given to the question ‘Who am I?’
The
answer, Marcel thinks, is to be found by enquiring into one’s own life; he
concludes that a life cannot be simply identified with a narrative or a
consciousness of it. In responding to a certain call, in articulating one’s
life based on a reality that gives it meaning and purpose, is to both give and
fully realize life. He added that “he finds it impossible that anyone could
give an objective answer to the question ‘Who am I?’ He attempts to move
towards an existential understanding of meaning and purpose in life. Marcel
looks to a realm beyond consciousness, pointing out that one must transcend the
conscious self to understand the depth of identity. There are two directions in
which one can move: in relation to others, and in relation to one’s self.
Marcel suggests that the ego can become closer to itself the more it is with the
other and not consciously directed at itself. In relation to one’s self, one
engages in secondary reflection, and strives for the subjective understanding
of the ego that cannot be given any objective account” (The Gifford Lectures).
It
is to be noted that reflection may be a way to recall or examine our past
experiences in order to understand them better. And by understanding those
experiences, we may be able to transform them into concepts and learnings that could
suits our emotional, personal and social needs. Marcel Gabriel also said that once
a problem is solved it is dismissed from consciousness, whereas a mystery
always remains alive and interesting. Problems, Marcel believed, are resolved
using "primary reflection"—which is abstract, analytical and
objective. Mysteries, on the other hand, are approached with "secondary
reflection," which concerns itself with deeper personal insights. Philosophic
thought is reflective, not only because it concerned with investigating the
nature of human existence, but also because it is concerned with evaluating its
own method of investigating the nature of human existence.
Every
time I heard the question “Who Am I?” the typical answers will be just
describing oneself aside from telling his/her personal information. Moreover,
one of the things a person can say or write when answering the question is
about his/her good and bad characteristics, what makes him/her happy or sad and
whether he/she is considerate to the feelings of others. It reflects what kind
of person he/she is as well as the attitudes and philosophies he/she embraces.
Those are only cover up of oneself. The deepest distinction of ourselves rest
within our hearts, beyond what we really thinks and see personally, and more
than what we show to others – it is our soul that dictates the inner picture
within us. It is more than we are living
for! It is the real us - the depth of one’s thoughts and feelings. No one can describe
exactly what the meaning of it in a concrete manner because life is as wide and
colorful as horizons. It is the free will within us, the unconscious part of us
that triggers voluntary actions and emotions. It’s not a script that you need
to follow and it brings significance to one self as inner fulfillment.
It
was also identified that “each person may have both an objective identity in
the outer world and a subjective identity in the inner world of his or her own
thoughts or feelings. A person's subjective identity may be a felt quality of
identity which may change in accordance with changes in that person's feelings.
A felt quality (or a quality of feeling) may be unanalyzable, because the
quality of a person's feelings may be inseparable from the things which that
person feels. A felt quality may be a unity of feeling which cannot be dissolved
by primary reflection” (The Gifford Lectures).
The philosophical attitude is
perhaps not altogether different from "ear" understood in this way.
But there is really no contradiction in this, for the attitude in question can
reveal itself only as a certain way that consciousness reacts to what must be
called its fundamental situation. But what can be meant by reality here?
Certainly not this or that particular phenomenon whose explanation might be in
question. No, what is meant here is reality as a whole, and it is this ensemble
or this totality which is put in question in the philosophical attitude. We
ought perhaps also to take special note here of the mysterious relation between
the I who questions and the world I am questioning. What am I, I who question?
Am I within this world or outside it? In the presence of any given, the
philosophical spirit lives this question with anxious impatience.
The leading question in Marcel’s
philosophy of the concrete is the question, “Who am I?” Only through a pursuit
of this question can humans be liberated from the objectivizing tendencies in
modern thought, and return to the immediacy of their lived experience.
Reflection will illuminate this lived experience only as long as it remains a
part of life. He defines two levels of reflection—primary and secondary. As
stated a while ago, primary reflection is analytical and
tends to dissolve the unity of experience as it is existentially disclosed to
the involved self. Secondary reflection is recuperative and
seeks to reconquer the unity that is lost through primary reflection. It is
only with the aid of secondary reflection that humans can penetrate to the
depths of the self.
In a personal note, reflection is an
avenue to strengthen your personality, thus boosting your morale! I can say
that as an individual, we are “taken, broken, given and blessed.”
We are taken in the sense that life leads us to where we are now. We are
continues riding on our own journey. We are taken to life to live it to the
fullest! To experience the good as well as bad things the world can offer us
because through those we are learning. We are also taken to fulfil our
responsibility to other people. How? By doing our work effectively and
efficiently. We are taken either to deliver services or goods to our fellowmen.
Either way, we are fulfilling our duty either to save the lives of our
patients, to ensure the safety of our constituents, to teach our students the
lessons for the day, to sell goods to customers to fulfil their basic needs or
to just talk and deliver inspiring messages to
other people. Thus, we are taken to the different roles of life. Our
multiple roles brought vibrant to our existence.
In addition, we are considered
broken sometimes because we felt the difficulty of balancing our duties in
life. With that we experiences mixed emotions. The trade-off of happiness and
sadness comes in. We are being challenged by our emotions to surpass the battle
in life. At first, we always thought of being positive that every problem has its
own solution - that is a great attitude to be positive towards life! But at
some point, we felt sad and burdened because we thought that we cannot
withstand to do the duties and responsibilities we pledged to do. In facing
those scenarios, we need to take a break, pause for a while, relax and breathe.
By that time, we asked ourselves, can we still do it? Can we make another try?
Chances are there, so we try to figure out what makes us to quit in that kind
of situation. Then we reflect the result our actions and decisions. Many
what-if questions were being raised like what if I will stop now, what will
happen? What if I will continue? What if before, I decided to go for my first
option? What if? A lot of what-if but reflection helps clarify uncertainty. Thus
if your broken don’t hesitate to talk deeply to yourself and think over again
before you continue.
Stated further, we are given and
blessed at the end of knowing ourselves better because ones we already knew who
we really are, we are ready to give ourselves again to the society and help the
people we are serving. And that we are all blessed and commit ourselves to deliver
the effective and equitable services to the best of our ability. We are given
and blessed at the end of the day because we already learn to love ourselves
better than we knew and we are living more than the life we expected to live.
Finally,
we should both anticipate the future and recall the past in relation to the
present moment, so that the future and the past are only ever understood now.
Somehow, it is not as easy to challenge the way we are living today because we
are already bounded with the culture and values that if we try to go against it
will be leading to problems and difficulties. And, as we commit ourselves to
know deeply who we are, we need to open our entire life to be ready to the pain
and rejection that might happen. For almost of us that are re-opening the
possibility of knowing more than we already knew ourselves, we should not stop
to call for forgiveness, and to adopt changes that could make us a better
person. Change is the only thing that does not change! To change how we think and
act needs a louder voice!
MARCEL’S IDEA ON HUMAN IDENTITY
After going through the primary and
secondary reflection to better grasp the meaning of one’s life, you are also
incorporating the result of your understanding on your situations, feelings and
virtues in life with your new found identity. I believe that every reflection
we had connotes addition and revision of our present identity because it
affects the way we act, participate and live in the society.
I was thinking this time – the time
of the millennial, what can those of us living in these years learn more from
the writings of Gabriel Marcel? Well, he is considered a good philosopher so I
am opening the possibility that he does in fact have something to say and share
to us even though it was already decades passed when he raised his
philosophical views and writings. Some may think that his type of thinking may
be considered old-aged and irrelevant this time in the academe but that was not
the case because there are still philosophy subjects that are being thought to
universities and graduate schools. Marcel studies is interesting and must need
to be appreciated, read and contemplated.
Thus, I was also encouraged to
expand, react and insert my opinions and views on Gabriel Marcel’s idea regarding
human identity. I know that I myself can relate in this Marcel’s ideas because
I have lot of experiences and observations regarding how other person tag one’s
identity or make human branding – that is the reality we are facing now due to
your status in life, education, profession or societal role.
“Marcel sees reality as existing on
two levels which he calls the world of the problematical and the world of the
ontological mystery. For Marcel, the world of the problematical is the domain
of science, of rational inquiry, of technical control. The real is defined by
what the mind can formulate into a problem, solve, and contain in a formula.
Reality is merely the sum-total of its parts. In the world of the
problematical, human beings are viewed as objects, as statistics, as cases.
They are defined in terms of their vital functions, (i.e., biological) and
their social functions; the individual is considered merely a biological
machine performing various social functions. There is nothing unique about me. There
is nothing more to my identity than the biological processes which keep me
alive, the type of job I hold, and the number of possessions I acquire. I am my
functions. Marcel further notes that the ontological need, the need for imbue
one's life in transcendental meaning, is stifled and suppressed, ignored and
denied” (Barich, 2007).
As stated above, there are two
levels of reality. The contrasted against the world of the problematical is the
world of the ontological mystery. What makes this aspect of Marcel's point of
view difficult to understand is that he never defines what he means by
ontology. The word ontology usually refers to discussions about the nature of
existence or being. A philosopher of ontology might ask: "What is
the nature of being?" "What is the essence of reality?" Why is
there something and not nothing" What is reality? For Marcel, being is an
element of reality which exists in and of itself, which defies reductionist
analysis, which cannot be circumscribed by the formulas of the natural
sciences. Being goes beyond the framework of the rational mind, mysterious
sustaining reality.
Furthermore, he said: “to access the
ontological mystery and gain a sense of its reality requires that one detach
oneself from the world of the problematical. Detachment occurs in recollection,
a process in which one gathers oneself together, turns inwards, and unifies the
fragmented and shattered pieces of problematical living. Within recollection
one encounters what Marcel calls presence, which he describes as an influx, as
an encounter with that which is permanent and enduring, as an encounter with
being. "Presence is mystery," Marcel writes, "in the exact
measure in which it is presence." Marcel stresses that presence is a gift,
a gift we can neither possess nor acquire. We can, however, prepare ourselves
to encounter it through the process of recollection and by establishing authentic
relationships with other people” (Barich, 2007).
It could be said that in
encountering the ontological mystery brings a gradual transformation within the
perceptions, relationships, and life experiences of the individual. Moreover, the
individual broadens his visions of the world and begins to see aspects of
reality not admitted in purely rational mindset. Indeed, his perceptions
deepened, and he becomes more attentive to the needs of others and relates to
people as people and not as cases or as statistics on a balance sheet or
financial statements. Stated further, as an individual, I come to realize that
my being -- the core of my reality! Can one say “I am not my life; I am more
than my life.” In the domain of the ontological mystery one can encounter more
than himself.
Marcel has also a notion of the
problematical world. It has noted that in this type of world, people are
reduces to their vital and social functions.
“The value of a person is determined by his function.” An individual may be
happy knowing that even in public places he was being recognized due to his
profession, good deeds, position or affiliation to well-known organizations. For
example, if you are a teacher, you are bringing your profession anywhere you
go. Even if you are in uniform or not, once the people knew that it is your
profession that identifies you, all the time you will be known and looked up by
others because of your profession. If you are an Accountant, you will be known
as an Accountant, the same treatment if you are a Lawyer, a Doctor, and others.
You are bringing your professional image every time you are mingling in the
society. You are indeed being branded by your social functions. People are
nothing more than statistics dominated the technology they have created to
control their world.
In addition, people received their
identity according to the economic function they perform. As an individual, I
am required to perform a function in the economic life of society. I am my
career. When my function becomes obsolete, I am terminated, and then I am
forced to find a new function or role to play. I can spend twenty years of my
life serving a corporation or institution but when I no longer help the company
make profits or achieve its objectives, I am rendered unworthy of employment.
If I am at certain age, then it is unlikely I will ever find steady work again.
Another good example that everyone
may relate on what Marcel describe our world now is that our lives are
dominated by a relentless technology supposedly designed to make our lives
easier, but which seems to make our lives more complicated and stressful
sometimes. Can we say that we are enslaved to our gadgets, to our machines, to
our technology? Our society might collapse if we were to experience a breakdown
of, for instance, our telecommunications network or the power grid. How could
we live without the telephone or electricity? We have, in Marcel's vision, lost
control of our control: we have lost control of our technology. This is a
general picture of our world now – the reality that everyone is facing!
At the heart of his writing is
concrete experience, and such experience provides the way for man to find his
place in the universe. Marcel's emphasis of being over knowledge stands in
stark contrast to our increasingly scientific age. For this reason, his
criticisms are particularly relevant and must be carefully weighed.
Marcel was concerned that scientific
thinking had bankrupted human experience. Scientific thinking, with its
reductionism and technicality, avoids the mystery of life in favor of
‘problems’ and ‘solutions’. In modernity, man has, “…become unsure of his own
essence and a stranger to himself.” He has divorced himself from fundamental
experience by turning to objective analysis. As a result, “the dignity and
sacredness of being” is replaced by “the idea of function.” Man views himself
as a functional being, incorporated into biological, mental, and social
systems. As a result, “the capacity to love, to admire and to hope” are lost as
man loses his desire “…to transcend his situation of alienation and captivity”
(Barich, 2007).
DIFFERENTIATION
Marcel does provide a vague way out
in the world of the problematical. He emphasizes the need for humility, for
love, for a letting go of the hubris which compels men to dominate nature and
one another. His thought calls for a rebellion against established norms and
patterns of thought which perpetuate ad nauseam the world of the problematical.
By consciously sensitizing ourselves to the ontological mystery, we open
ourselves to the mystery of presence and emerge from the darkness of our
selfish egotisim. We begin to see the whole of life differently. We experience
meaning where there was once emptiness; hope where there was once despair;
presence where there was once the void. Relationships take on a new found
significance. We gain the courage to smash the idols we worship, the idols of
self, of money, of power; idols which compel us to use people and nature to
satisfy our insatiable appetites. Marcel is calling for a radical revaluation
of values, for a fundamental change in how we understand reality and relate to
other persons (Barich, 2007).
CONCLUSION
Gabriel Marcel said that reflection
is never exercised on things that are not worth the trouble of reflecting
about. And, from another point of view, let us notice that reflection was a
personal act, an act which nobody else would have been able to undertake in my
place, or on my behalf. The act of reflection is linked, as bone is linked with
bone in the human body, to living personal experience and it is important to
understand the nature of this link. To all appearances, it is necessary that
the living personal experience should bump into some obstacle.
Gabriel also added that “it is
essential that we should grasp the fact that reflection is still part of life,
that it is one of the ways in which life manifests itself, or, more profoundly,
that it is in a sense one of life’s way of rising from one level to another. We
should notice also that reflection can take many different shapes and we can
say therefore that reflection appears alien to life, or opposed to life, only
if we are reducing the concept of human life to, as it were, a manifestation of
animality. But it must be added that if we do perform this act of reduction,
then reflection itself becomes an unintelligible concept; we cannot even conceive
by what sort of a miracle reflection could be granted on mere animality. “
On the other hand, the more we grasp
the notion of experience in its proper complexity, in its active, the better we
shall understand how experience cannot fail to transform itself into
reflection, and we shall even have the right to say that the more richly it is
experience, the more, also, it is reflection. But we must, at this point, take
one step more and grasp the fact that reflection itself can manifest itself at
various levels.
Through
realization, we can be able to communicate at a broader level with ourselves
and on the other hand, we now able to enter into far more intimate
communication with our friends since between everyone there no longer stands
that barrier which separates one from another regardless of the position, power
or status and we could find ourselves more than the identity that we already
had.
REFERENCES:
Barich,
John. (2007). "Reflection on Marcel's
'On the Ontological Mystery”. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
Encyclopedia of
World Biography. (2004). The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th
Ed. The Gale Group Inc.http://www.encyclopedia.com/people/philosophy-and-religion/philosophy-biographies/gabriel-marcel. Retrieved July 5,
2017.
Hanley,
Katharine Rose. (ND). Marcel: The Playwright Philosopher. https://www.questia.com/article/1G1-104080554/marcel-the-playwright-philosopher. Retrieved July 5,
2017.
Helen Tattam. (2013). Time
in the Philosophy of Gabriel Marcel, Modern Humanities
Research Association. ISBN 9781907322846. http://ndpr.nd.edu/news/time-in-the-philosophy-of-gabriel-marcel/. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
Sweetman,
Brendan. (ND). Marcel and Phenomenology: Can Literature Help Philosophy?.
Academic Journal Article Renascence: Essays on Values in Literature. https://www.questia.com/article/1G1-104080550/marcel-and-phenomenology-can-literature-help-philosophy. Retrieved July 5,
2017.
The
Gifford Lectures. The Mystery of Being: Reflection and Mystery. http://www.giffordlectures.org/. Retrieved July 7,
2017.
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