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While everyone agrees on the definition of gratitude - it is the response to a gift - two questions remain unanswered concerning its act and its foundation. The first part reviews the different opinions on the act of gratitude - awareness of the benefit, the emotion experienced on receiving it, the act of thanks that the benefit calls for - without being able to decide. The second part presents the two opposing theories - that gratitude is disinterested (and therefore free), and that it is the repayment of a debt (and therefore obligatory) - and concludes in favour of the first, which is borne out by numerous studies. The conclusion emphasises that, of the three constituent acts of gratitude, return is the primary one; this clarifies the essence of gratitude: it is the free response to a gift received gratuitously.