Aisthetics of Religion and embodied spiritual perception: hermeneutic approaches in Hesychasm, Christian Platonism, and Aesthetics of Idealism, to ‘divine light’ and ‘mystical flight’

Abstract

In this essay I show developments in Aisthetics of Religion, a new discipline of Science of Religion, towards the inclusion of the body, and the senses, departing from an approach of naturalistic reductionism towards the integration of the category or dimension of the transcendent”. Here, recourse is taken to the philosophical aesthetics of German Idealism, that integrates ‘body’ and ‘soul, by its concept of the faculty of ‘imagination’ as instrument of aisthesis and divination. Hesychasm is presented as sharing the same principles of spiritual aesthetics of the phenomenology of the divine, including supernatural paradigmatic iconic event, as of Jesus’ Transfiguration and St. Paul’s mystical flight. The epistemic basis regarding the role of body, soul, and mind, with their specific aisthesis, and their formation towards it, recognised. Affinity between these Aisthetics of Religion, and Hesychastic epistemics are recognised as inspiration for theology and hermeneutics beyond the limits of ‘logo-centrism’. The Hesychastic approach towards sensoriform perception of paradigmatic ‘iconic’ manifestations of the divine, in embodied perception, and preparation to such aisthesis is recognised as inspiration and theological challenge in response to Aisthetics of Religion.

Keywords

• aisthetics of religion
• hesychasm
• embodiment and philosophical aesthetics in science of religion
• hermeneutics
• transcendent
• theology of bodily and intuitive perception
• theology of icons