P.D. Ouspensky as a Russian Follower of W. James and His Classification of the “Mystical”

P. D. Ouspensky, a little-studied Russian pre-revolutionary philosopher, attempted to develop a rational investigation of mystical experience, continuing the tradition established by William James. His approach demanded experimental verification of mystical phenomena and interpreted them as psychological in nature. The article examines Ouspensky's ideas on the "superman," "eternal return," "fourth dimension," and "third organon," alongside his study of consciousness in unusual, religious states. It presents his teachings within the history of rational understanding of mystical experience.

Study at a glance

Abstract

This article examines one of the least studied representatives of Russian pre-revolutionary philosophy, P.D. Ouspensky. To this day, the legacy of this unusual, original thinker remains little explored in Russian thought, whose interests included the ideas of “superman”, “eternal return”, “fourth dimension”, “third organon”, as well as the study of consciousness taken in unusual, religious states. This article explores one such little-known as-pect of P.D. Ouspensky’s philosophy – an attempt to develop research into mystical experience, claim-ing to continue the tradition established by W. James. The aim of the article is to present P.D. Ouspensky’s teachings in the context of the history of rational understanding of mystical experience. It is shown that P.D. Ouspensky’s approach to the sphere of the “mystical” is characterized by the requirement of experimental veri-fication of the phenomenon under study, as well as the interpretation of mystical experience as a phenomenon of a psychological nature.