<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Countless scholars have wrestled with the ambiguities and complexities in determining the role of the noema in Husserl’s theory of intentionality since his transcendental turn, and consequently converted what was intended to be a structural solution to a problem into a contested problem itself.<xref ref-type="fn" rid="j_phainomenon-2022-0014_fn_001"><sup>1</sup></xref> Shifting emphasis from the ‘whatness’, or ontological concerns of the correlate noesis—noema to the ‘howness’, or methodological force of phenomenology, allows me to discuss two things. The first is theological. Before and since Janicaud’s pronouncement of the ‘theological turn’ in phenomenology, the intentionality thesis has been rejected as a means to account for certain experiences given differently to object-phenomena (Janicaud, 2000). In accounting for religious experience as a complex movement between faith and doubt, my work reaches not for the ‘essence of phenomenality’ (Marion), or a givenness beyond intuition made invisible, nor does it seek to describe a transcendence beyond immanence, or proof in the existence of a god/gods, rather it concerns itself with the processes and underlying structures of belief. Arguably by focusing upon the noetic and noematic structure of intentional acts, intentional analysis is revitalised for delineating the belief modalities of faith and doubt in religious experiences.</p>
</abstract>

Countless scholars have wrestled with the ambiguities and complexities in determining the role of the noema in Husserl’s theory of intentionality since his transcendental turn, and consequently converted what was intended to be a structural solution to a problem into a contested problem itself.1 Shifting emphasis from the ‘whatness’, or ontological concerns of the correlate noesis—noema to the ‘howness’, or methodological force of phenomenology, allows me to discuss two things. The first is theological. Before and since Janicaud’s pronouncement of the ‘theological turn’ in phenomenology, the intentionality thesis has been rejected as a means to account for certain experiences given differently to object-phenomena (Janicaud, 2000). In accounting for religious experience as a complex movement between faith and doubt, my work reaches not for the ‘essence of phenomenality’ (Marion), or a givenness beyond intuition made invisible, nor does it seek to describe a transcendence beyond immanence, or proof in the existence of a god/gods, rather it concerns itself with the processes and underlying structures of belief. Arguably by focusing upon the noetic and noematic structure of intentional acts, intentional analysis is revitalised for delineating the belief modalities of faith and doubt in religious experiences.

The Believed as Believed: The Noematic Dimensions of Faith and Doubt in Religious Experience

Phainomenon

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Countless scholars have wrestled with the ambiguities and complexities in determining the role of the noema in Husserl’s theory of intentionality since his...

The Believed as Believed: The Noematic Dimensions of Faith and Doubt in Religious Experience

Published Online: Mar 07, 2023

Page range: 129 - 142

Received: Mar 01, 2015

Accepted: Sep 01, 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/phainomenon-2022-0014

Keywords
Husserl, belief, presentation, noesis-noema, religious experience

© 2022 Jodie McNeilly, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

The Believed as Believed: The Noematic Dimensions of Faith and Doubt in Religious Experience

Published Online: Mar 07, 2023

Page range: 129 - 142

Received: Mar 01, 2015

Accepted: Sep 01, 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/phainomenon-2022-0014

KeywordsHusserl, belief, presentation, noesis-noema, religious experience

© 2022 Jodie McNeilly, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Keywords
Husserl, belief, presentation, noesis-noema, religious experience