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JEFFREY KRIPAL’S POSTCLASSICAL PHENOMENOLOGY OF RELIGION

Abstract
The subject of this article is the methodology used by the religious studies scholar Jeffrey Kripal. The topic was addressed both due to the popularity of Kripal’s work as a researcher of Western esotericism and the need to highlight the influence of Paul Ricoeur’s philosophy on it. Also, this article contributes to the discussion of the postclassical phenomenology of religion. The the article argues that, firstly, the root of Kripal’s work is in the hermeneutic philosophy of P. Ricoeur, which his reviewers sometimes tend to miss. Based on this, the author classifies Kripal’s religious studies project as a postclassical phenomenology of religion. Accordingly, secondly, the author points out that, despite numerous criticisms, the de facto state of affairs is such that the issue of the phenomenology and postclassical phenomenology of religion is far from being resolved, and it is too early to write it off. The article briefly reviews the milestones of the personal and intellectual biography of J. Kripal—only to outline the contours of his scientific activity and to reveal significant factors that have or may have an influence. After that, the author provides a description of J. Kripal’s methodology, considering the results of P. G. Nosachev’s research. Comparison of Ricoeur and Kripal’s biographies and methodology reveals a direct connection between them. The article shows that the “conflict of interpretations,” the hermeneutics of suspicion and the hermeneutics of faith underlie the whole of Kripal’s work. The following analysis of an unidentified flying object (UFO) phenomenon proves this position. To the extent necessary for the development of this topic, criticism of Kripal’s work will be mentioned, primarily that presented by W. Hanegraaff, which, in the author’s opinion, appears to be well-reasoned, especially given the origin of Kripal’s method.

Keywords
Kripal, Ricoeur, phenomenology of religion, postclassical phenomenology of religion, hermeneutics, Eliade, Nosachev, Freud, conflict of interpretations.

References

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