The peculiarity of Aldous Huxley's methodological approach to understanding religious experience

Abstract

The subject of this study is the methodological approach used by Aldous Huxley to study religious experience and mystical experiences. The article pays special attention to the theoretical origins of this methodology, as well as the social and cultural context of its formation. The article examines how science, philosophy, and religion of that time contributed to the formulation of Aldous Huxley's methodological approach. The author of the article examines which principles and methods formed the basis of Huxley's methodology, how the principle of objectivity of scientific knowledge with the subjectivity of personal experience is consistent in the applied approach. The article also examines his experimental use of mescaline to explore the depths of human consciousness and search for a "divine foundation", analyzes the results and limitations of Huxley's methodological approach and his contribution to understanding the nature of religious experience. This article is based on methodological approaches such as biographical and comparative historical methods, as well as an analytical study of sources and their systematization. The work used a comprehensive analysis of Huxley's texts to identify key aspects of his worldview. The scientific novelty lies in the fact that a holistic reconstruction of Huxley's methodology used by him for the study of religious experience has been carried out. Based on sources, the author shows how it developed from the late 1920s to 1960. The article analyzes not only key works, but also little-known essays and lectures, some of which have not been published in Russian. Huxley's interest in religious experience stems from personal experiences and cultural context. His methodology includes philosophical, psychological, and anthropological aspects, focusing on the phenomenology of religious experience. Huxley conducts a comparative analysis of various religious traditions, identifying common features and a universal spiritual reality. He strives to integrate scientific methods with mystical ones based on critical analysis, facts and experimentation. In theoretical analysis, he juxtaposes binary categories such as body-mind and religion-magic, emphasizing the importance of bodily experience in spiritual enlightenment. Also, as an important conclusion, the strengthening of the body-oriented principle in understanding religious and mystical experience in the last decade of the thinker's life should be noted.