Religious Inflection in the Economy of Experience: The Concept of Atmosphere in Aesthetic and Phenomenological Thought of Hermann Schmitz and Gernot Böhme

Abstract

The article offers a brief genealogy of the concept of atmosphere in the thought of Hermann Schmitz (New Phenomenology) and Gernot Böhme (Aesthetic Theory) to show that the concept takes on a quasi-religious appearance, especially in its design and economic applications. It is shown how a phenomenological concept of religious origin could become a pseudo-psychological marketing strategy. The article argues that the concept of atmosphere should not be applied too exclusively to the design of (interior) spaces, but that the sociality of atmospheres should also be taken into account. In this way, attention can be drawn to the manipulative power of the atmospheric.