Talk by Jan Seibert (Universität Innsbruck | JLU Gießen): Friedrich Schleiermacher’s Concept of Religiousness in Comparison to More Recent "Analytic" Approaches

In modern philosophy of religion, the term "religious experience" often carries substantial epistemological or metaphysical import. Especially within the so-called "analytic" tradition, debates about religious experiences as perceptions of supernatural beings or reliable sources for theistic beliefs are well established. The presentation explores an alternative to these conceptions by drawing on Friedrich Schleiermacher’s early work. It argues that religious experiences can be construed essentially not as processes of gaining knowledge of a supernatural reality, but as creative ways to imaginatively engage with the totality of the natural world that surrounds us. If such experiences furthermore constitute the essence or core of religion, as Schleiermacher claims, this construal can also reframe how we understand the formation and status of religious beliefs.