The First Representation of the Concepts of Mystical Experience in Russian Historiography

Abstract

The author reviews book by Tatyana Malevich “Theories of mystical experience: Historiography and prospects” which was published in 2014. A short prehistory of studies in mystical experience in Russia is provided, the main Western approaches to the study of mystical experience studied by Malevich (essentialism, constructivism, psychological perennialism, neurotheology, cognitive science, attribution theory) are described. In conclusion some shortcomings of the reviewed monograph are highlighted and followed by the author’s suggestions how the approaches under discussion could be classified more parsiminously.