Abstract
The title ‘Phenomenology of Religion’ has been used by many authors in recent times with no complete unanimity however regarding its subject matter, methodology and purpose. Holsten, writing on Phenomenology of Religion in Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart,1 distinguishes it from both History of Religion and Theology. It is not concerned with the historical development of religion. Unlike theology, it is concerned only with such phenomena as show themselves. The phenomenological epoche forbids us to look behind phenomena. More precisely, phenomenology of religion, according to Holsten, knows only of human acts in relation to God, not of God’s acts. However, Holsten recognizes that since the religious phenomena is itself historical, phenomenology of religion cannot remain totally unconcerned with history.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
W. Holsten, article on ‘Phänomenologie der Religion’ in Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, Dritte Auflage, Band V, Tübingen: J.C. Mohr, 1961, pp. 322–324.
W.B. Kristensen, The Meaning of Religion, Lectures in the Phenomenology of Religion. E. Tr. By John B. Carman, The Hauge: Martinus Nijhoff, 1960.
W.B. Kristensen, The Meaning of Religion, Lectures in the Phenomenology of Religion. E. Tr. By John B. Carman, The Hauge: Martinus Nijhoff, 1960, pp. 1–3
J. D. Bettis (ed.), Phenomenology of Religion, New York & Evanston: Harper Books, 1969, pp. 2–3.
M. Eliade, The Quest, History and Meaning in Religion, University of Chicago Press, 1969, pp. 52–53.
M. Eliade, Images and Symbols, E. Tr. by Philip Mairet, New York: Sheed & Ward, 1952, pp. 32–33.
M. Scheler, Vom Ewigen im Menschen, Gesammelte Werke, Bd. 5, Bern & Munchen: Francke Verlag, 1954, p. 157.
Van der Leew, Religion in Essence and Manifestation, E. Tr. by J. E. Turner. New York & Evanston: Harper & Row, 1963.
F. Brentano, ‘The Distinction between Mental and Physical Phenomena’, in R. M. Chisholm (ed.), Realism and the Background of Phenomenology, New York: The Free Press, 1960.
Cp. R. M. Chisholm, article on ‘Intentionality’, in P. Edwards (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, New York, 1967.
M. Scheler, Vom Ewigen im Menschen, Gesammelte Werke, Bd. 5, Bern & Munchen: Francke Verlag, 1954, p. 240.
See also J. Hessen, Religionsphilosophie, Bd. I, Basel: Ernst Reinhardt Verlag, 1955, p. 268.
M. Scheler, Vom Ewigen im Menschen, Gesammelte Werke, Bd. 5, Bern & Munchen: Francke Verlag, 1954, pp. 242–243.
M. Scheler, Vom Ewigen im Menschen, Gesammelte Werke, Bd. 5, Bern & Munchen: Francke Verlag, 1954, p. 170.
M. Eliade, Patterns in Comparative Religion, E. Tr. by Rosemary Sheed, London & New York: Sheed & Ward, 1958.
M. Eliade, Patterns in Comparative Religion, E. Tr. by Rosemary Sheed, London & New York: Sheed & Ward, 1958, p. 244 f.
Thus Scheler writes: ‘Transzendenz im allgemeinen ist eine Eigentümlichkeit, die jeder Bewusstseinsintention zukommt ... Aber erst wo das also Transzendierte die Welt als Ganzes ist (mit Einschluss der eigenen Person), haben wir Recht, von einen religiosen Akt zu reden’, (loc. cit., p. 245).
M. Scheler, Vom Ewigen im Menschen, Gesammelte Werke, Bd. 5, Bern & Munchen: Francke Verlag, 1954, p. 249.
R. Otto, Kantische-Fries’sehe Religionsphilosophie, Tübingen, 1909.
R. Otto, The Idea of the Holy, E. Tr. by John W. Harvey, Fifth Impression, Oxford University Press, 1928, p. 116.
R. Otto, The Idea of the Holy, E. Tr. by John W. Harvey, Fifth Impression, Oxford University Press, 1928, p. 117.
Cp. J. E. Smith, ‘The Experience of the Holy and the Idea of God’, in (ed.) Edie, Phenomenology in America, Chicago: Quadrangle Books, 1967. Smith argues that there is no necessary logical connection between the experience of the Holy and the Judaic-Christian conception of God. The former belongs to the structure of life and the world and is not dependent on any definite religious belief.
Cp. J. Hessen, Religionsphilosophie, Bd. I, Basel: Ernst Reinhardt Verlag, 1955, pp. 288–289.
Van der Leew, Religion in Essence and Manifestation, E. Tr. by J. E. Turner. New York & Evanston: Harper & Row, 1963, II, p. 675.
Van der Leew, Religion in Essence and Manifestation, E. Tr. by J. E. Turner. New York & Evanston: Harper & Row, 1963, II, p. 565.
Van der Leew, Religion in Essence and Manifestation, E. Tr. by J. E. Turner. New York & Evanston: Harper & Row, 1963, II, pp. 666–667.
Van der Leew, Religion in Essence and Manifestation, E. Tr. by J. E. Turner. New York & Evanston: Harper & Row, 1963, II, p. 679.
Van der Leew, Religion in Essence and Manifestation, E. Tr. by J. E. Turner. New York & Evanston: Harper & Row, 1963, II, p. 688.
Van der Leew, Religion in Essence and Manifestation, E. Tr. by J. E. Turner. New York & Evanston: Harper & Row, 1963, II, p. 671.
Van der Leew, Religion in Essence and Manifestation, E. Tr. by J. E. Turner. New York & Evanston: Harper & Row, 1963, II, p. 47.
Van der Leew, Religion in Essence and Manifestation, E. Tr. by J. E. Turner. New York & Evanston: Harper & Row, 1963, II, p. 49.
Van der Leew, Religion in Essence and Manifestation, E. Tr. by J. E. Turner. New York & Evanston: Harper & Row, 1963, II, p. 191.
Van der Leew, Religion in Essence and Manifestation, E. Tr. by J. E. Turner. New York & Evanston: Harper & Row, 1963, II, pp. 468–469.
Van der Leew, Religion in Essence and Manifestation, E. Tr. by J. E. Turner. New York & Evanston: Harper & Row, 1963, II, p. 679.
Cp. C. H. Long, ‘Archaism and Hermeneutics’, in J. M. Kitagawa (ed.), The History of Religions; Essays on the Problem of Understanding, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1967, p. 70 f.
Van der Leew, I, p. 36.
M. Eliade, The Quest, p. 72 f.
M. Eliade, ‘It has been too lightly assumed that the authenticity of an existence depends solely upon the consciousness of its own historicity’. In fact, for Eliade, the more a consciousness is awakened, the more it transcends its own historicity (Images and Symbols, p. 33).
M. Eliade, The Quest, Preface.
M. Eliade, The Quest, Preface, p. 173.
P. Ricoeur, The Symbolism of Evil, E. Tr. by Emerson Buchanan, New York, Evanston & London: Harper & Row, 1967.
P. Ricoeur, The Symbolism of Evil, E. Tr. by Emerson Buchanan, New York, Evanston & London: Harper & Row, 1967, p. 13.
P. Ricoeur, The Symbolism of Evil, E. Tr. by Emerson Buchanan, New York, Evanston & London: Harper & Row, 1967, p. 19.
P. Ricoeur, The Symbolism of Evil, E. Tr. by Emerson Buchanan, New York, Evanston & London: Harper & Row, 1967, p. 353.
P. Ricoeur, The Symbolism of Evil, E. Tr. by Emerson Buchanan, New York, Evanston & London: Harper & Row, 1967, p. 356.
I have derived the following material on Ricoeur’s views on Freud from Stewart, J.D., ‘Paul Ricoeur’s Phenomenology of Evil’, International Philosophical Quarterly, Vol. IX, No. 4, December 1969, 572–589.
P. Tillich, Systematic Theology, Vol. I, University of Chicago Press, 1951, p. 12.
P. Tillich, Systematic Theology, Vol. I, University of Chicago Press, 1951, p. 189.
P. Tillich, Systematic Theology, Vol. I, University of Chicago Press, 1951, p. 191 ff.
P. Tillich, Systematic Theology, Vol. I, University of Chicago Press, 1951, p. 286.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1986 Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Mohanty, J.N. (1986). Phenomenology of Religion and Human Purpose. In: Horosz, W., Clements, T.S. (eds) Religion and Human Purpose. Studies in Philosophy and Religion, vol 6. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-3483-2_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-3483-2_2
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-8059-0
Online ISBN: 978-94-009-3483-2
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive