Introduction Morality and Mysticism: Parallel or Intersecting Lines?
Elliot R. Wolfson
Venturing Beyond May 25, 2006 DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780199277797.003.0001 (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 the correlation between mysticism and morality cannot be properly assessed until the meaning of each term is independently addressed, and that taxonomic aspirations should be set aside due to the impossibility of a transcendental standpoint. |
Abstract
Abstract Before the correlation of mysticism and morality can be assessed properly, the meaning of each term must be addressed independently. I begin with a methodological disclaimer: as thinkers from various disciplines in social, cultural, and natural sciences have concurred, it is not humanly possible to inspect a universe of discourse circumspectly, for there is no Archimedean fulcrum point outside that universe, no transcendental position whence one would be capable of surveying the Weld in its totality; indeed, the hermeneutic quest—conspicuously circular—presupposes that the investigator be embedded in the Weld yet to be investigated. Needless to say, it is not genuinely possible to speak of ‘a Weld in its totality’, as the nature of the Weld (both natural and semiotic) is such that its boundaries are forever subject to reinscription and realignment. Thus, lacking both a transcendental standpoint and a conviction regarding the possibility of demarcating borders, it seems prudent to lay aside taxonomic aspirations.
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 |