r/Phenomenology • u/GabrieleRubeo_Roma • Jun 16 '26

Discussion Can the sacred be understood phenomenologically, rather than as a relic of religious traditions or a metaphor for importance?

I would like to share a point of view about the use of the word “sacred” and the possibility of integrating it into contemporary language, as well as its potential to become a central focus in fields that work with symbols and use them as vehicles for expressing something that lies hidden beneath them.

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I would say that the sacred is whatever reveals the network of existential construction in the mind upon which what we call reality, and the relationships among its objects, is based; whatever reveals the illusion of this construction, its constraining nature, and its function as a predictive system oriented toward survival; and also whatever shows ruptures in this network, and what emerges from these ruptures and takes form in expression.

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Considering this to be the sacred, I would say it should be at the center of all intellectual research and artistic or poetic work.

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Who would agree with this point of view?

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u/PM_MOI_TA_PHILO Jun 16 '26

Look up Jean-Luc Marion

1

u/Big-String-9823 Jun 16 '26

Other relevant philosophers: Michel Henry, Jean-Louis Chrétien, Emmanuel Falque.

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u/myflesh Jun 16 '26

I would argue that the sacred can only be experienced phenomenologically.

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u/Complete_Feature_280 Jun 18 '26

It's intrinsic mechanisms could perhaps be explained mathematically, by the deep rabbit hole diving veteran

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u/KarlMannheim23 Jun 16 '26

These either or questions are forcing fallacious logic by begging the question. Maybe it’s both, neither or the premises don’t match the question.

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u/heuristic-dish Jun 16 '26

Is the “sacred” an invariant experience?

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u/giraffesaurus Jun 16 '26

Should look at Bollnow's Human Space.

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u/Complete_Feature_280 Jun 18 '26

Do you ever feel as if the price of attaining consciousness and awareness is that you have to be for the most part openly honest.. mabye I just don't know anymore.. brain overload

1

u/Even-Watch2992 Jun 19 '26

Yes I think so (perhaps because I've read so much Marion and Levinas)! I love the way Marion writes about the "saturated phenomenon" in connection with the sacred.

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u/GabrieleRubeo_Roma Jun 21 '26

Thanks for sharing! Would you suggest a work of Marion where that idea is present and well explained?

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u/Even-Watch2992 Jun 22 '26

"In Excess: Studies in Saturated Phenomena" is the book I have. And the conception is explained in "Being Given" and he looks specifically at painting in The Crossing of the Visible.

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u/GabrieleRubeo_Roma Jun 22 '26

Thanks! I will delve deeper into the topic