Law and the Leap in Being in Voegelin’s Philosophy

Abstract

The article attempts to present Eric Voegelin's legal-philosophical thought in the context of his lifelong efforts to reconstruct the character of human knowledge through a return to the transcendent dimension of being. In Voegelin's interpretation, this goal is not limited to personal contemplation but can also serve as a stimulus for social transformation. According to Voegelin, the law may be a path to such advancement, as it provides a prospect for a symbolic expression of one's attunement to the transcendent. Moreover, the experience with transcendence supposedly leads to the ability to discern the normative Ought and to create the representative model of experienced order in the form of actual legal-political order. At the heart of this concept is the premise of the transformative conversion of man, enabling insight into the true order of being. Finally, the paper also reflects Voegelin's unique interpretation of the relationship between law and Gnosticism, defined by the rejection of transcendent reality.

Keywords

• Eric Voegelin
• Being
• Gnosticism
• Law
• Order
• Periagoge