Horizonality Under Pressure: A Limit Phenomenology of Religion
PhilPapers (PhilPapers Foundation) May 12, 2026 Lorand Bruhacs
The authors propose that religious and mystical appearances arise when finite experiences resist closure and are cast in maximal, unconditioned, or unsurpassable forms, which they call limit-forms. They argue these are Husserlian horizonality under existential pressure: ordinary experience always exceeds the given, but some horizons become absolute-seeming and claim the whole subject. The key phenomenological hinge is claim—limit-pressure becomes religiously salient when finite non-closure is lived as a summons to reorientation. The account is practice-first: religious practices stabilize limit-appearances as sacred and authoritative while training finite life.