The Psychology of the Mystics (Dover Books on Western Philosophy)

By Joseph Marechal

An early and influential volume among the 20th-century studies of mystic psychology, this landmark survey begins with an examination of empirical science and religious psychology. It discusses the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0486436942
• ISBN13: 9780486436944
• Release Date: September 2004
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Length: 344 Pages
• Weight: 0.86 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.4" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

The Psychology of Mysticism.

_The Psychology of the Mystics_ (1927, reprinted by Dover) by Jesuit scholar Joseph Marechal is an interesting study of the psychological aspects of mysticism and the great mystics particularly as it attains to the world's religious traditions and Christianity. The book offers a philosophical perspective on mysticism from the study of metaphysics and a psychological examination of the mystical state from the perspectives of both empirical science and religious psychology. In particular, the book focuses on several different theories of the psychology of mysticism including those of Professor James H. Leuba and the role of mysticism in both the Christian and Islamic traditions. The book also provides a comparative study of mysticism, noting the role of mysticism in pantheistic, profane, Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, and Christian traditions. This book includes the following chapters - Empirical Science and Religious Psychology - explains the method of empirical and positive science, the role of observation relating this to the science of psychology, the role of the law of induction and determinism, religious psychology and scientific theory, the role of "extra-scientific" solutions to religious psychology (noting the various alternatives in Catholic thought), and other issues. On the Feeling of Presence in Mystics and Non-mystics - explains the feeling of presence as considered by mystics by examining the important thought of such thinkers as William James, M. Delacroix, and Brentano. Considers the role of such issues as true hallucinations, pseudo-hallucinations, illusions of perception, feelings of un-reality, and other mystical states relating them to psychological experience and nervous conditions. Examines mystical intuition, transcendental ecstasy, and other issues as they apply to such mystical traditions (outside Catholicism) as Neoplatonism, Yogism, Buddhism, Muslim mysticism and Sufism, contemporary profane and pantheistic mysticism, and the mysticism of Protestant Christians. In terms of Catholicism, the book examines mysticism in the traditions of the great orthodox Catholic contemplatives. Some Distinctive Features of Christian Mysticism - examines the phenomenology of the mystical life as it applies to ritual and vocal prayer, interior prayer, contemplation, and other issues. Considers mysticism in the role of sensible contemplation, imaginative contemplation, and intellectual contemplation as well as the role of ecstatics. Notes the importance of mysticism in Neoplatonism, Hindu mysticism, Moslem mysticism, profane mysticism, medieval Christian mysticism (noting the role of such figures as Dionysius the Areopagite for later thought, Tauler, Ruysbroeck, and others), Christian mysticism of the Renaissance (St. John of the Cross, and others), and the role of ecstasy and the nature of Christian mysticism. Professor Leuba as a Psychologist of Mysticism - considers the role of the theories of Professor James H. Leuba, founder of B