Reason, Rhythm, and Rituality. Reinterpreting Religious Cult from a Postmodern, Phenomenological Perspective

Autor(en)

Martina Roesner

Abstrakt

Contemporary philosophy of religion is often focused, at a theoretical level, on the epistemic value of religious doctrines, and at a practical level, on the possible impact of organized religion on secular society and politics. However, the cultic dimension of religion, such as prayer, religious service, ascetic practices, and other rituals, is considered as completely “irrational” and incomprehensible from a secular perspective and therefore often neglected by postmodern philosophy. The paper intends to call into question this rather simplistic interpretation by retracing the historical origins of the devaluation of religious symbolism in occidental thought, which culminates in Kant’s philosophy of religion. We then shall analyze to what extent certain paradoxical aspects of Habermas’ view on religion can be interpreted as consequences of the dilemma brought about by the Kantian dichotomy between man as moral subject and man as natural, sensible being. In a third step, we shall develop an alternative, phenomenological interpretation, which does not consider religious practice as a primitive, irrational phenomenon but as a proto-ethical schematism that aims at integrating the sphere of pure practical reason into the rhythmic structure of living, embodied consciousness.

Organisation(en)

Institut für Bibelwissenschaft

Journal

Religions

Band

6

Seiten

819-838

Anzahl der Seiten

20

DOI

https://doi.org/10.3390/rel6030819

Publikationsdatum

07-2015

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

603118 Religionsphilosophie, 603112 Phänomenologie, 603115 Philosophische Anthropologie, 603203 Christliche Philosophie

Schlagwörter

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Religious studies

Link zum Portal

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/reason-rhythm-and-rituality-reinterpreting-religious-cult-from-a-postmodern-phenomenological-perspective(61a923f2-e5b8-4125-b92a-c916fcba5b6b).html