Metodo

International Studies in Phenomenology and Philosophy

Series | Book | Chapter

147886

Receptions of Husserlian phenomenology in French religious thought, 1926–1939

Christian Dupont

pp. 217-317

Abstract

Building on  Chap. 4, which examined how Édouard Le Roy and Pierre Rousselot assimilated Bergsonian and Blondelian insights in their attempts to renew theological teachings concerning dogma and the act of faith,  Chap. 5 shows how their employment of these insights anticipated and prepared for the various applications and appraisals of Husserlian phenomenology by the subsequent generation of French-speaking religious thinkers. In 1926, Protestant theologian Jean Hering published his thesis on phenomenology and religious philosophy, marking the first attempt by a French religious thinker to employ the phenomenological approaches of Husserl and Scheler to establishing epistemological foundations for an ontology of divinity. Meanwhile, Catholic apologist Gaston Rabeau likewise began using phenomenology along with other contemporary philosophical methods to bolster traditional arguments for the existence of God. The reception of Husserl among French neo-Thomists is also considered, beginning with the influential theories of the Belgian Jesuit Joseph Maréchal for a post-Kantian critical approach to Thomist epistemology, including his suggestion that it might profit from a fusion of Husserlian phenomenology with Blondelian dynamism. The first annual Journée d'études (day of studies) organized by the Société thomiste in 1932, which took for its theme Thomism and contemporary German phenomenology, is discussed in detail, as well as the appraisals of phenomenology by other French neo-Thomists , notably Jacques Maritain . The final section of the chapter attempts to explain why interest in phenomenology among religious thinkers gradually increased during the late 1920s and early 1930s but declined sharply in the mid-1930s, particularly among neo-Thomists .

Publication details

Published in:

Dupont Christian (2014) Phenomenology in French philosophy: early encounters. Dordrecht, Springer.

Pages: 217-317

DOI: 10.1007/978-94-007-4641-1_5

Full citation:

Dupont Christian (2014) Receptions of Husserlian phenomenology in French religious thought, 1926–1939, In: Phenomenology in French philosophy, Dordrecht, Springer, 217–317.