Max Scheler’s Movement of Love and the Object of Religious Experience

Abstract

In this paper, I explore the implications of Max Scheler’s concept of the movement of love, and I show that this movement, for him, constitutes not only the core of human nature but also the metaphysical presupposition upon which the nature of the object of religious experience could be understood. I argue that Scheler’s unique way of blending intellectual knowledge of essences and spiritual intuition, i.e., metaphysics and religion, respectively, makes his position extremely interesting for present-day interpretations of religious experiences. The question then is, could religious experiences, such as awe, bliss, reverence, and revelation, be said to be given only in spiritually participating in the movement of love—and could this participation be the defining factor of these experiences?