Implications and Consequences of Post-Modern Philosophy for Contemporary Transpersonal Studies II. Georges Bataille’s Post-Nietzschean Secular Mysticism, Phenomenology of Ecstatic States, and Original Transpersonal Sociology

Authors

Harry Hunt, Brock University

DOI

10.24972/ijts.2013.32.2.79

Abstract

The writings of the French philosopher Georges Bataille (1897-1962) offer their own contribution to the descriptive phenomenology of mystical and numinous states, as well as a version of the modern secular or this-worldly mysticism variously anticipated by Jung and Nietzsche, and a highly original sociology and social psychology of transpersonal experience, influenced by Max Weber, that helps to open an area not widely developed in recent studies. At the same time, the trauma and personal difficulties in Bataille’s life serve as a stark example of the often distortive effects of spiritual metapathologies on inner development. Bataille’s views of ecstatic states as entirely an immanent human capacity, in which he was greatly influenced by Nietzsche, offer an opportunity to address larger issues of the “truth value” of mystical states in contemporary transpersonal studies.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Hunt, H. (2013). Hunt, H. (2013). Implications and consequences of post-modern philosophy for contemporary transpersonal studies, II. Georges Bataille’s post-Nietzschean secular mysticism, phenomenology of ecstatic states, and original transpersonal sociology. International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 32(2), 79–97.. International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 32 (2). https://doi.org/10.24972/ijts.2013.32.2.79