Dialectics and the Sublime in Underhill's Mysticism

This book represents a study of Evelyn Underhill’s premier work on mysticism, using Hegel’s dialectics and Kant’s theory of the sublime as interpretive tools. It especially focuses on two prominent features of Underhill’s text: the description of the mystical life as one permeated by an intense love between the mystic and infinite reality, and the detailed delineation of stages of mystical development. Given these two features, the text lends itself to a construction of a valuable discourse predicated on dialecticism, sublimity and mysticism. The book also articulates a number of insights into the content and nature of the writings of Christian mystics.

Peter Gan is an academic in the Philosophy and Civilization Section of the School of Humanities at Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang. In the midst of spending years juggling work and studies he managed to complete a Bachelor of Theology, a Bachelor of Arts (honours), a Master of Social Science and a Doctoral Degree. Peter’s research, publication, and teaching revolve around the discipline of philosophy. To the best of his recollection, his interest in mysticism was first piqued when he just completed high school. For more than a decade now, Peter has been devoting a considerable degree of his energies to the study and investigation of mysticism using the categories and methods contained in the field of philosophy of religion.