Logic and Mysticism. Advancing in Spirituality and Philosophy

Abstract

 It seems odd to link mysticism and logic. Mystics themselves stress that after coming to a certain maturity they experience God as a “dark ray” above reason. Also, philosophers may come to see God as beyond beings or being, as in Bonhoeffer’s caution that an “existing” god does not exist, or in the current discussion of “God without being”. Can classical logic cast light on such philosophical or religious progress? To suggest an answer, “changes of mind” are examined against the background of the mystical dialectic of Dionysius the Areopagite and St. John of the Cross’ teaching that with the onset of contemplation the knowledge of God becomes confused and dark.