Intuition and Mysticism: The Mystical Experience as the Vital Force of Religion

Authors

Keywords:

Bergson. Intuition. Mystical experience. Élan vital. Dynamic religion. Duration.

Abstract

This article investigates the relationship between intuition and mystical experience in Henri Bergson's philosophy, proposing that mysticism constitutes the élan vital of dynamic religion. Drawing on the epistemological concepts developed in Time and Free Will and Matter and Memory, it argues that intuition, understood as the mode by which consciousness apprehends reality as duration, provides the gnoseological structure of mystical experience. Then, in light of the concept of élan vital developed in Creative Evolution, the article proposes a precise analogy between the vital impulse that traverses biological matter imprinting movement and creativity upon it, and the mystical experience that traverses the crystallized "letter" of static religion conferring spiritual life upon it.

Author Biography

Thiago Augusto de Paula Nolasco, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ)

Professor de Filosofia da rede estadual da Bahia. Possui graduação em Filosofia pela Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio) e mestrado em Filosofia pela Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), com ênfase em metafísica.

References

BERGSON, Henri. A energia espiritual. São Paulo: Martins Fontes, 2009.

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BERGSON, Henri. Ensaios sobre os dados imediatos da consciência. São Paulo: Edipro, 2020.

BERGSON, Henri. Evolution créatrice. Paris: PUF, 1941.

BERGSON, Henri. Matéria e memória. São Paulo: Martins Fontes, 2011.

BERGSON, Henri. O pensamento e o movente. São Paulo: Martins Fontes, 2006.

Bíblia Sagrada. São Paulo: Paulus, 2001.

CARIOU, Marie. Bergson et le fait mystique. Paris: Aubier Montaigne, 1976.

DELEUZE, Gilles. Bergsonismo. São Paulo: Editora 34, 2012.

FENEUIL, Anthony. Bergson, mystique et philosophie. Paris: PUF, 2011.

LAVELLE, Louis. La pensée religieuse d'Henri Bergson. Revue Philosophique de la France et de l'Étranger, t. 131, n. 3/8, p. 161-173, mars-août 1941.

LEOPOLDO, Franklin. Intuição e discurso filosófico. Belo Horizonte: Edições Loyola, 1994.

SANDOZ, Ellis. Myth and society in the philosophy of Bergson. Social Research, v. 30, n. 2, p. 171-202, 1963.

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Published

2026-09-14

How to Cite

NOLASCO, T. A. de P. Intuition and Mysticism: The Mystical Experience as the Vital Force of Religion. Kairós: Revista Acadêmica da Prainha, Fortaleza, v. 22, n. 1, p. 190–205, 2026. Disponível em: https://ojs.catolicadefortaleza.edu.br/index.php/kairos/article/view/724. Acesso em: 17 oct. 2026.

Issue

Vol. 22 No. 1 (2026)

Section

Artigos Varia

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Copyright (c) 2026 Kairós: Revista Acadêmica da Prainha

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