Mysticism, Mediation, and Consciousness : The Innate Capacity in John Ruusbroec
The Innate Capacity December 4, 1997 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780195116977.003.0005
Summary
Philosophers of mysticism have engaged in a significant debate over the meaning and epistemological status of quotes from figures like John Ruusbroec, a fourteenth-century mystic. This ongoing discussion has three distinct philosophical moments. The focus is on exploring the complex relationship between mysticism, mediation, and consciousness.
Abstract
Abstract DURING THE PAST fifty years, philosophers of mysticism have been actively intrigued by the meaning and epistemological status of quotations such as this one by John Ruusbroec, the fourteenth-century mystic from Flanders. An intense and fruitful debate has emerged, one marked by three discernible and on going philosophic moments. By briefly sketching this debate, I will clarify my own entry into the discussion, as well as my focus on one of its vexed issues: the relationship of mysticism, mediation, and consciousness.