Why Phenomenology?

A phenomenological approach to the devout life literature is justified by drawing on Heidegger's early lectures on Paul, which show that phenomenology is necessarily interpretive and existential, not merely intuitive. While phenomenology cannot judge whether God exists, it can examine how God appears in human activity and passivity. Since Hegel, phenomenology has also understood the self as twofold and spiritual, not merely a subjective agent.

Study at a glance

Abstract

This chapter sets out the rationale for adopting a phenomenological approach to the devout life literature. Distinguishing the present approach from versions of the phenomenology of religion dominant in mid-twentieth-century approaches to religion, an alternative model is found in Heidegger’s early lectures on Paul. These illustrate that alongside its striving to achieve a maximally pure intuition of its subject matter, phenomenology will also be necessarily interpretative and existential. Although phenomenology is limited to what shows itself and therefore cannot pass judgement on the existence of God, it can deal with God insofar as God appears within the activity and passivity of human existence. From Hegel onward, it has also shown itself open to seeing the self as twofold and thus more than a simple subjective agent, opening the way to an understanding of the self as essentially spiritual.