In his Gifford Lectures, Gabriel stated that we live in a world which seems founded on the refusal to reflect. On several occasions, he insisted that the fate of philosophy and civilization are intimately related, implying that the philosopher does not have the privilege of abstaining from participation in the crises of his epoch. Surely there is no need to underscore the role of existentialism and of phenomenology in the persistent, unyielding struggle against the spirit of abstraction.