Transcendental-philosophical prerequisites of theology and religious studies of F. Schleiermacher

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the degree and scale in the founding of F. Schleiermacher’s doctrine of the religion by the transcendental philosophy of I. Kant, I. Fichte, F. Schelling and G. Hegel.

On the basis of Schleiermacher’s text the author of the article tested the hypothesis of V. Dilthey that is one of the most important reforms in the history of Western theology (the emergence of liberal theology of Protestantism) and its accompanying product (the philosophical and theological trend in religious studies became possible thanks to the discoveries of the German transcendental philosophy of the 18^th – 20^th centuries.

The author of the article believes that Schleiermacher borrows Schelling’s justification for the possibility of intuitive knowledge of the Absolute as a prerequisite for any knowledge. Thus, in Schleiermacher, religion turns into an immediate contemplation of the infinite or in the experience of unconditional dependence. The logic of the development of transcendental philosophy and its transformation into the philosophy of identity in Schelling predetermines the reform of Christian theology and promotes the genesis of religious studies. The Absolute existence within the framework of the philosophy of identity and knowledge of the Absolute become prerequisites for knowledge of religion in Schleiermacher’s theology and religion studies. Comprehension of Christianity and other religions turns into a kind of absolute knowledge about the Absolute.