Abstract
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>The French existentialist philosopher Gabriel Marcel (1889–1973) contrasts a conceptual approach to the world with a phenomenological approach, which is open to what he calls “the mystery of being.” In this selection from his “Sketch of a Phenomenology and a Metaphysic of Hope,” he argues that this second, phenomenological approach is the most fitting for the study of “hope,” as according to him hope points to a way of being in the world. He recognizes despair as being an alternative way of being in the world. He argues that human beings are not predetermined to either hope or despair but are free to either respond with hope or despair to situations. For Marcel, on a fundamental level, hope is a confident trusting, pointing to an absolute Thou, which becomes the ground of our human hopes.</jats:p>