Immanence and Alterity
The Mysticism of Ordinary Life January 26, 2023 DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780192866967.003.0004 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that two postmodern accounts of the mysticism of ordinary life—Henry's phenomenology of the flesh and Certeau's theory of the self's relation to the other—both depend on creative readings of Christian mystics such as Eckhart and Surin, and proposes that a contemporary Christian mystical theology can bring these two styles together. |
Abstract
Abstract This chapter contrasts two postmodern philosophical approaches to the mysticism of ordinary life: one based on a phenomenological account of the inner experience of the flesh (Henry), the other informed by psychoanalytic, historiographic, and cultural-studies theories about the self’s relation to the other (Certeau). It argues that these interpretations of the immanence and alterity of everyday life depend on creative readings of the Christian mystical tradition, especially Meister Eckhart and Jean-Joseph Surin. It proposes ways in which these postmodern mystical styles might be held together and appropriated by a contemporary, philosophically attuned Christian mystical theology.