The Phenomenology of Religion as a Science and as a Philosophy

Abstract

Among the various religious sciences is included one that is now designated as the “phenomenology of religion.” Chantepie de la Saussaye, the first to speak of phenomenology of religion in a scientific sense, held that, by means of comparative history, an historian of religion could highlight the significance of facts that would otherwise remain isolated. Van der Leeuw, author of the first important treatise in the field of the phenomenology of religion, surveyed the typical structures in religious phenomena but tended to neglect their historical contexts, which were subsequently examined by Eliade. Pettazzoni conceived of phenomenology and history as two complementary and essential aspects of a single religious science.