The Role of Human Subjectivity in the Forming of Religious Experience: a Dialogue of Philosophical Positions

The article is aimed to identify the role of human subjectivity in the forming of religious experience. Philosophers’ discussion of the human subjectivity role in the forming of religious experience initially gave rise to two opposing viewpoints, but subsequently led to the removal of the contradiction “religious experience is formed with passivity of the person – the person is active in the forming of religious experience”. Initially, the concept of passive subjectivity was associated with the intensity of mystical experiences, that paralyzed person’s will, and religious experience and mystical one were identifi ed. Subsequent exploration of this topic revealed that religious experience cannot be reduced to mystical insights alone, but rather represents an intuitive apprehension of a reality beyond the physical realm, thereby ensuring human autonomy within deterministic natural processes. Modern researchers recognize sudden and intense mystical experiences, that temporarily disable person’s volition, as an integral part of the overall mystical experience – the main part, but not the only one. Despite their unexpected nature, religious individuals are ready for them.
This "readiness" is most often “theoretical” in nature – the individuals know that they can occur, the individuals can identify them, distinguish them from non-religious experiences, and interpret them by means of religious tradition. However, some individuals also possess “practical” readiness, developed through ascetic practices. Therefore, the role of human subjectivity in religious experience
is that it is not directed towards passive contemplation but towards transcendence.