Phenomenology and Mysticism: The Verticality of Religious Experience (Indiana Series in the Philosophy of Religion) [Hardcover]

Anthony J. Steinbock (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 17, 2007 | ISBN-10: 0253349346 | ISBN-13: 978-0253349347

Exploring the first-person narratives of three figures from the Christian, Jewish, and Islamic mystical traditions—St. Teresa of Avila, Rabbi Dov Baer, and RÅ«zbihān BaqlÄ«—Anthony J. Steinbock provides a complete phenomenology of mysticism based in the Abrahamic religious traditions. He relates a broad range of religious experiences, or verticality, to philosophical problems of evidence, selfhood, and otherness. From this philosophical description of vertical experience, Steinbock develops a social and cultural critique in terms of idolatry—as pride, secularism, and fundamentalism—and suggests that contemporary understandings of human experience must come from a fuller, more open view of religious experience.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Broader contributions from Phenomenology and Mysticism rest in careful engagement with philosophical phenomenology, not simply as a descriptive method, but as a coherent disciplinary field with potential theoretical resources to address ranges of phenomena beyond those that are typically evoked." —Transcendent Philosophy

(Transcendent Philosophy 2008)

"Phenomenology and Mysticism stands out as an original work in a genre too often reduced to commentaries on classical figures. Steinbock is an acute phenomenologist in his own right, and this work sets a new standard for the interaction between phenomenology and theology/religious studies." —Religious Studies Review

(Religious Studies Review 2009)

"... an incredibly rich book about the phenomenology of mystical experience in the Abrahamic traditions, a book that will certainly be required reading for anyone working in the areas of religious experience and the intersection between theology and philosophy, especially in the continental tradition." —Andreas Nordlander, Pneuma Jrnl Society for Pentecostal Studies, Vol. 31 2009

(Andreas Nordlander Pneuma Jrnl Society for Pentecostal Studies 2009)

"Steinbock embarks on a full explication of three central dimensions of human experience; in doing so, he takes up and embodies the phenomenological project envisioned by Edmund Husserl." —Choice

(Choice )

From the Publisher

"[A] major contribution to the philosophy of religion in the phenomenological mode . . . brilliant, original, and illuminating." --Merold Westphal, Fordham University

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 328 pages
• Publisher: Indiana University Press (October 17, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0253349346
• ISBN-13: 978-0253349347
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,119,515 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent phenomenological study..., January 31, 2008

By 

M. PARADISO-MICHAU (Columbus, OH (USA)) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Phenomenology and Mysticism: The Verticality of Religious Experience (Indiana Series in the Philosophy of Religion) (Hardcover)

Steinbock is author of _Home and Beyond: Generative Phenomenology after Husserl_ (Northwestern University Press, 1995), translator of Edmund Husserl's _Analyses Concerning Passive and Active Synthesis_ (Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2001) and professor of philosophy at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Here he concerns himself with carefully describing one mode of "givenness" that is different from the ways in which objects are "presented" in human experience: epiphany. He successfully traces the "verticality" of experience that gives or yields an experience as "religious." Additionally, Steinbock critically analyzes the obverse of epiphany -- idolatry. Utilizing descriptions of three mystics from the Abrahamic religious traditions, Steinbock thoroughly investigates the problem of evidence. _Phenomenology and Mysticism_ represents the first of a planned trilogy of books, each devoted to a particular mode of vertical experience. The other two volumes are analyses of moral and ecological experience, respectively, investigating the modes of givenness of revelation/manifestation and disclosure/display. In this impressive project, Steinbock embarks on a full explication of three central dimensions of human experience, and in doing so, takes up and embodies the phenomenological project envisioned by Edmund Husserl. I highly recommend this text to professors, scholars, and advanced students in phenomenology, philosophy of religion, and religious studies.