The Anthropological Dimension of Contemporary Esoteriology: Toward Integration into Philosophical Anthropology

Summary

Contemporary esoteriology can be philosophically and anthropologically justified as an academic discipline that reveals the spiritual and ontological nature of humans within post-secular, Metamodern culture. Its anthropological potential lies in forming a "new spirituality"—an individually oriented, non-denominational spiritual experience enabling holistic self-knowledge amid social, moral, and military crises. Major areas of its anthropological dimension include existential, moral-value, communicative, socio-cultural, and psychoanthropological domains, with key functions of meaning-making, compensatory, integrative, and resilience. The approach shifts focus from studying doctrines to analyzing humans as subjects of spiritual self-transformation, proposing anthropological esoteriology as an integrative science combining academic reflection with spiritual practices. This expands classical philosophical anthropology by integrating direct spiritual experiences into scientific understandings of human nature.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to provide a philosophical and anthropological justification of contemporary esoteriology as an academic discipline that reveals the spiritual and ontological nature of humans within the context of post-secular, Metamodern culture. The research aims to identify the anthropological potential of esoteriology as a possibility of forming a new humanistic perspective in philosophical anthropology. The theoretical basis of the research is the works of scholars in the academic tradition of "Western esotericism" (A. Faivre, W. Hanegraaff, E. Asprem, J. Strube, K. von Stuckrad, J. Assmann) as well as Ukrainian researchers in the field of anthropology of spirituality (I. Karivets, R. Khalikov, Y. Semchuk, L. Solonko, M. Rodyhin and K. Rodyhin, Y. Shabanova). The anthropological potential of esotericism is analysed as a factor in forming a "new spirituality" – an individually oriented, non-denominational type of spiritual experience that provides individuals with the opportunity for holistic self-knowledge in conditions of social, moral, and military crises. The major areas of the anthropological dimension of esoteriology are identified: existential, moral-value, communicative, socio-cultural, and psychoanthropological. The key functions include meaning-making, compensatory, integrative, and resilient ones. Productive modes within the anthropological dimension of esoteriology have been identified, such as procedurality, multi-structurality, intersubjectivity, spiritual self-transformation, and the ethical responsibility of the esoteric subject as potential opportunities for expanding the philosophical-anthropological perspective. The originality lies in shifting the focus of esoteriology research from studying doctrines to the analysis of humans as subjects of spiritual self-transformation. For the first time, it is proposed to consider anthropological esoteriology as an integrative science that combines academic reflection with spiritual and practical experiences. The conclusions demonstrate that contemporary esoteriology forms a new model of spiritual anthropology, which expands the boundaries of classical philosophical anthropology by integrating direct spiritual experiences into scientific understandings of human nature. The concept of "new spirituality" as a reflection of anthropological trends in Metamodern, defines the contemporary humanitarian turn to the intrapersonal experience of meaning and the restoration of human integrity in conditions of global uncertainty and social crises.

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