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From ecstasy to divine somnambulism: Henri Delacroix's studies in the history and psychology of mysticism.

Matei Iagher

History of psychology November 1, 2020 DOI: 10.1037/hop0000149 (opens in new tab)

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AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Historical analysis Peer reviewed
Topics MDMA Mysticism
Key points Argues that Delacroix's work countered the American school's emphasis on affect in religious experience by introducing developmental logic and a focus on a specific mental state underlying mysticism.

Abstract

This article aims at placing Henri Delacroix's (1908) book on the psychology of mysticism in the context of debates in the psychology of religion in the earlier part of the 20th century. I argue that Delacroix's work was authored as part of a wider debate that Delacroix maintained with the American school of the psychology of religion regarding the role of emotions in religious experience. As I show, Delacroix sought to counter the primacy of the affective in religious experience, which the Americans maintained, and to introduce the notion of a developmental logic into the mystical life. In addition, Delacroix also tried to disengage mysticism from an exclusive focus on ecstasy, as well as to offer an account of the value of mysticism based on the existence of a specific mental state that underscored it. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

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