Концептуалізація релігійного досвіду в сучасній аналітичній філософії

Дослідження побудоване на тематичних блоках, що поступово розкривають характер проблеми і демонструють стан дослідження означеного феномену.

Ключові слова: релігійний досвід, аналітична філософія, раціональність, прагматизм, нормативність, релігійна сфера, онтологія, епістемологія, свобода віросповідання, право, свобода, релігія, віра, державно-релігійні відносини.

The dissertation research was conducted on the basis of the problems of the philosophy of religion and ontology within the framework of the analytical tradition and phenomenological projects, through which a holistic vision of the phenomenon of religious experience was revealed. Scientific research required going beyond a single method and applying a polymethodological and multidisciplinary approach, which is why certain aspects related to hermeneutics, philosophy of law, jurisprudence, psychoanalysis were included in the subject field. The central task was to review the existing boundaries of the concept of <religious experience= and argue for the interpretation of such an experience as a key and defining characteristic of this phenomenon based on the developments of modern analytical philosophy. That is why the dissertation research is aimed at the conceptualization of religious experience in modern analytical philosophy by searching for relevant aspects of the study from the beginning of the introduction of this concept into philosophy to modern attempts to bring the problem to a more practically determined level, rationalize, and thus transform the approach to the study of religious experience with considering the changes in belief conditions.
The choice of the topic is due to the need to overcome the crisis associated with the mostly inapplicable nature of research on religious experience, to remove the stereotypical perception of this phenomenon, against the background of the processes of secularization and digitalization, which only strengthen and complicate the stated problems and exacerbate the issue of creating a religiously safe environment. Obviously, the use of the existing definition of the concept of <religious experience= significantly narrows and conceptually impoverishes research in this area. Therefore, the work focuses on what characteristics and what approaches can be used to expand the boundaries of the concept to cover more problematic issues that require research solutions today.
The solution of such scientific tasks is actualized not only by the possibility of building new philosophical concepts on the basis of the proposed changes regarding the meaningful load of the concept of <religious experience=, but also by practical necessity. Such necessity in research is characterized by revealing the phenomenon of religious experience as a way to form and practice one's own religious beliefs, which, in turn, will serve as the principles and maxims of an individual’s social behavior. At the same time, attention is focused on the fact that it is religious experience that serves as a means of realizing the right to freedom of religion, the decision on the limitation of which rests with the state. In this way, religious experience ceases to be a <private matter= and finds itself at a crossroads in the conflict between private and public interest, between the norm and deviation, between freedom and interference with it.
The indicated intersections of issues become especially important in the conditions of armed conflicts, because it is no longer only about an abstract, but also about a concrete right – he right to alternative service, when the performance of military duty conflicts with religious beliefs. Under such conditions, religious experience turns into a way of protecting one's own interests and into evidence that is taken into account by the court. This gives reason to believe that the concept of <religious experience= needs a new conceptual understanding by philosophy, since it is no longer about the private establishment of the authenticity of a certain episode of mystical experience and not about the conformity of such an experience to the normative framework of the religious tradition, but about the implementation of natural law, which in the European tradition is associated with freedom of conscience.
The study is built on thematic blocks that gradually reveal the nature of the problem and demonstrate the state of research of the given phenomenon.
The first section of the work is devoted to the outline of the ontological perspectives of the study of religious experience using analytical methods that actualize the selected issues. The role of interpretation is emphasized, thanks to which the active position of the subject of religious experience becomes possible, and the experience acts as a transforming factor that shapes everyday practices. The limits of the admissibility of such an approach should be established taking into account the trends of secularization and digitalization and take into account the risks to religious safety.
The second chapter of the work reveals the initial stage of the research of the subject in the first half of the 20th century in two directions – pragmatism and phenomenology. The analysis demonstrated that the emergence of a new direction of research was due to the spirit of the anthropological turn, thanks to which for the first time the view of religiosity took place not from the position of the authority of religion itself, but through the prism of the human dimension. In particular, the research discussed normativeness, dogmatism, and the crisis of religious traditionalism, which stifled opportunities for individual, personal interpretation of religious experience. At the same time, the ideological perspectives arising from such criticism were noted, namely: the idea of intellectual spirituality as a nonnational and transcultural human virtue, which consists in searching for the foundations of religious universalism and pluralism and will enable the perception of religious experience beyond religious currents.
The third chapter is devoted to the concepts of modern researchers of religious experience within the analytical tradition. It has been established that religious experience has attracted the attention of analysts as a source of alternative truth, although opponents criticize the lack of alternative of religious truth. Thus, the debate balances between the thesis that there are sufficient reasonable grounds to consider religious experience veracity under certain conditions and those who have no doubts about the illusory nature of such experience. Attention is focused on the fact that conceptual antagonists together suffer from the general problem of indeterminacy of the boundaries of the concept and the phenomenon of religious experience. As a result, the discussion falls into <old= philosophical questions about the possibility/impossibility of the existence of God, and the religious experience itself as a phenomenon remains aside with unresolved problematic issues.
In the fourth chapter, a new definition of the concept of <religious experience= is explained, which does not depend on normativity and significantly expands the usual boundaries established by uncompromising dialectics. It is proposed to define religious experience as an experience in which religiosity is reflected. The relationship between the content load of the concept of <religious experience= and the practical aspect of its application is also revealed. Such experience serves as a practice of religious beliefs, the freedom of which is guaranteed by the enshrined natural right to freedom of religion. Since the state can determine both the need to limit such freedom and the presence of sufficient grounds for the exercise of the right, religious experience with its meaningful load is at the point of collision between arguments from the state's side and from the individual’s side.
The theoretical significance of the dissertation research consists in an attempt to rethink the meaning of the concept of <religious experience= through the prism of the characteristics and features of this phenomenon and taking into account those research complexities and subject issues that are expressed in the works within the analytical philosophical tradition and particular phenomenological projects. The practical significance of the obtained scientific results lies in the possibility of using the material for further development of both the individual illuminated aspects of the problematic of religious experience and for research within the framework of the analytical philosophical tradition. The proposed definition of the concept can be used in updated versions of philosophical terminological dictionaries. The materials of the dissertation and publications within the framework of this research can be useful in updating work programs for courses and special courses in philosophy of religion, philosophy of law, social philosophy, phenomenology, religious studies. Certain parts of the study can be taken into account when writing bills aimed at ensuring the right to freedom of religion and the right to alternative service.

Keywords: religious experience, analytical philosophy, rationality, pragmatism, normativity, religious sphere, ontology, epistemology, freedom of religion, law, freedom, religion, faith, state-religious relations.

Якуша В. І. Концептуалізація релігійного досвіду в сучасній аналітичній філософії : дис. ... д-ра філос. : 033 Філософія / Якуша Вікторія Ігорівна. - Київ, 2024. - 210 с.