Phenomenology of Verticality and the Hermeneutical Challenge: A Critical Examination of the Method and Foundations of Phenomenology and Mysticism: The Verticality of Religious Experience

Taliehbakhsh, Monireh

doi:10.30465/crtls.2026.54064.3000

Phenomenology of Verticality and the Hermeneutical Challenge: A Critical Examination of the Method and Foundations of Phenomenology and Mysticism: The Verticality of Religious Experience

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research

Author

Monireh Taliehbakhsh

Assistant Professor of Persian Language and Literature, University of Guilan

10.30465/crtls.2026.54064.3000

Abstract

Anthony J. Steinbock’s book, Phenomenology and Mysticism, represents a novel step in the phenomenology of religious experience by introducing the concept of “verticality” as a fundamental mode of givenness beyond subject-centric and objectifying patterns. Through a phenomenological analysis of mystical reports from three Abrahamic traditions—Teresa of Avila, Dov Baer, and Ruzbehan Baqli—the work seeks to describe the structure of the “manifestation” of the sacred and to offer a cultural-social critique of “idolatry” as the inversion of this verticality. The present article, while acknowledging the significant contributions of this work in opening a new horizon for the philosophy of religion, employs an analytical-critical method to explore two of its fundamental challenges. First, the methodological tension between the claim to describe lived experience and the practical reliance on the interpretation of historical texts, which raises the question of the possibility of a “phenomenology without direct experience.” Second, conceptual ambiguities in explaining the relationship of “verticality” to the general structure of consciousness, coupled with the deliberate limitation of its claims to Abrahamic traditions, which appears incompatible with comparative studies of mysticism. These critiques demonstrate that despite its originality and analytical richness, Steinbock’s project requires greater transparency in its methodological foundations and an openness to dialogue with adjacent fields of knowledge.

Keywords

mysticism

verticality

religious experience

Phenomenology

hermeneutics of mystical texts

Subjects

Philosophy

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