Mystery, act and hope. Selected themes of Marcel’s Philosophy as inspiration for education towards spirituality
Abstract
In both philosophical antropology and existential philosophy, the emhasis is on acting as being closely related to the theme of person. Personalistic point of departure in relation to reflecting on key problems of human existence is noteworthy even today.
I am not a person unless I act, i.e. unless I actively participate in decision-making process and take responsibility for the decisions made. In this respect, a pedagogue is somewhere between Scylla and Charybdis: he is the one that should be trying to guide the young spontaneously towards responsible activism without slipping into indoctrination, manipulation and pressurizing.
By opening the problem of spirituality and education towards spiritual life, Marcel’s subject-matter that was quitened by positivism and ignored by influential post-modern philosophical trends has been revived. The subject-matter of non-objectifiable realities that Marcel refers to as mystery.
It is quite essential that the pedagogical discourse reflects the tension that exists between the concept of reality as a set of problems and understanding reality as a whole/totality in which some things cannot be objectified into a problem. Spirituality does not stand as an independent subject or theme but it is rather an non-objectifiable premise of our attitude to life and the world.
In order to prevent education towards spirituality from becoming ideological or even from becoming an empty concept, it is necessary to think its conception through properly. Pedagogy could find stimulative departure points that would help clarify this contemplation in (Marcelian) personalistic inspiration.
Its credo can be defined as follows: face to face to the perils of the modern world it is absolutely essential not only to search for ways to minimalize their impact on the coming generation but also to inspire hope that the world is a place which can be trusted despite the "temptation of despair".