Sudhir Kakar on mysticism, psychoanalysis, and culture
Culture & Psychology August 28, 2025 DOI: 10.1177/1354067x251366687 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Mysticism |
| Key points | Argues that Sudhir Kakar made specific contributions to psychoanalytic theorizing about mysticism and culture, advancing debates within the field. |
Abstract
This essay is designed to illumine Sudhir Kakar’s contributions with regard to psychoanalytic theorizing about mysticism and culture. It proceeds in five interrelated parts: (1) presents a broad definitional and comparative context with respect to the academically contested term “mysticism”; (2) explores the initial entry of the psychoanalytic engagement with mysticism (i.e., Freud’s famous analysis of the oceanic feeling); (3) describes the psychoanalytic models (classic, adaptive and transformational) of mysticism which developed out of and after Freud; (4) places Kakar within this development, unpacking his specific contributions, advances and debates with other reigning psychoanalysts; (5) discusses Kakar’s contributions and indeed psychoanalysis as a whole relative to the wider, contemporary academic study of mysticism.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on mysticism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The mystical mind: probing the biology of religious experience | 2000 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Religious and Mystical Experiences as Artifacts of Temporal Lobe Function: A General Hypothesis | 1983 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The Problem of Pure Consciousness: Mysticism and Philosophy | 1993 | Edited collection of essays | |
| Irreducible Mind: Toward a Psychology for the 21st Century | 2020 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mysticism and schizophrenia: A phenomenological exploration of the structure of consciousness in the schizophrenia spectrum disorders. | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |