抄録
Within modern “philosophy,” which emerged in tandem with the autonomy of reason, “mysticism” often appears as a heteroclite other embodying madness or non-reason. Yet the contact between the two may constitute a creative encounter that unsettles the mode of modern knowledge and thereby opens another possibility. This paper seeks to recover the voice of the other resonating within philosophical and critical reason by focusing on the tension between philosophy and mysticism in early twentieth-century France, with special attention to Jean Baruzi and his Saint Jean de la Croix et le problème de l’expérience mystique (first published in 1924). First, it should be noted that his intellectual stance, oscillating between religious anguish and skepticism, was continuous with his reading of John of the Cross and fascinated atheistic thinkers of the new generation, such as Simone de Beauvoir. Second, Baruzi’s interpretation of John of the Cross was shaped by Kant’s critical philosophy. At the same time, a particular limitation of his interpretation is evident, especially in his critique of Teresa of Ávila. Finally, this paper demonstrates the breakthrough that transcends this limitation, found in his focus on mystical language deriving its power from the “popular sources,” that is, everyday language.
