What Mystics May Come: Forming More Perfect Unions from Pragmatism to Posthumanism

dc.contributor.advisorKripal, Jeffrey J.en_US
dc.contributor.committeeMemberBongmba, Elias K.en_US
dc.contributor.committeeMemberWolfe, Caryen_US
dc.creatorPevateaux, Chaden_US
dc.date.accessioned2014-10-08T14:53:41Zen_US
dc.date.available2014-12-01T06:10:03Zen_US
dc.date.created2013-12en_US
dc.date.issued2013-12-05en_US
dc.date.submittedDecember 2013en_US
dc.date.updated2014-10-08T14:53:42Zen_US
dc.description.abstractAt the turn of the twentieth century, after the American Civil War but before the World Wars, William James and others drew on the wisdom of the World’s religious traditions, especially the “mystical languages of unsaying,” to construct the modern category of mysticism in part to provide a common core around which divided peoples might rally in the hopes of forming a more perfect union both religiously and politically. Over one hundred years later, postmodern theorists turn to unknowingness at the heart of our most cherished knowledge of ourselves and our world as a resource rather than a threat to aid in our efforts to honor others. My dissertation examines such recent appropriations of ancient unsaying, but moves beyond the merely linguistic and logical to analyze the embodied and emplaced through comparing what I call mystical and mundane modes of undoing, such as Jamesian pragmatic participation in a pluralistic universe (Chapter 1); orthodox and heterodox, Eastern and Western embodiments of cosmic vibrations from ancient gnosis, through Christian mystical theology, to Allen Ginsberg’s poetry (Chapter 2); the yearning for more life meaning in African American religiosity represented by Howard Thurman, Langston Hughes, and Sojourner Truth (Chapter 3); and democratic theorizing from feminists to posthumanists (Chapter 4). With creative collisions of apparently disparate thinkers who nevertheless share similar dynamics of embracing “spiritual but not religious” practices, I seek to move discussions of the mystical forward through developing resources for understanding and transforming dynamics of oppression such as gender, race, class, species, and other issues of embodied difference. Using Jacques Derrida as a bridge figure, I counter what I call the linguistic misread of deconstruction to advocate for more aware participation in an embodied mode of experiencing a generative vulnerability that is absolutely universal. Understood anew, embodied finitude may provide resources for promoting justice by uniting around a different kind of common core—a common core of no common core. Indeterminateness, then, may mean daring to unknow ourselves and our others through participation in a mystery beyond clear cut divisions—immanent and transcendent, material and immaterial, male and female, human and animal.en_US
dc.embargo.terms2014-12-01en_US
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen_US
dc.identifier.citationPevateaux, Chad. "What Mystics May Come: Forming More Perfect Unions from Pragmatism to Posthumanism." (2013) Diss., Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/77446">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/77446</a>.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/77446en_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.rightsCopyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.en_US
dc.subjectMysticismen_US
dc.subjectPragmatismen_US
dc.subjectPosthumanismen_US
dc.subjectWilliam Jamesen_US
dc.subjectJacques Derridaen_US
dc.subjectAnimalsen_US
dc.subjectAllen Ginsbergen_US
dc.subjectDionysius the Areopagiteen_US
dc.subjectGregory of Nyssaen_US
dc.subjectTeresa of Avilaen_US
dc.subjectJohn of the Crossen_US
dc.subjectHoward Thurmanen_US
dc.subjectLangston Hughesen_US
dc.subjectSojourner Truthen_US
dc.subjectAfrican American religionen_US
dc.subjectDonna Harawayen_US
dc.subjectAnimal studiesen_US
dc.subjectDemocracyen_US
dc.subjectLuce Irigarayen_US
dc.subjectJudith Butleren_US
dc.subjectQueer theoryen_US
dc.subjectKarl Marxen_US
dc.subjectGhostsen_US
dc.subjectMystical theologyen_US
dc.subjectDeconstructionen_US
dc.subjectApophaticismen_US
dc.subjectSpiritual sensesen_US
dc.subjectPhilosophy of Religionen_US
dc.titleWhat Mystics May Come: Forming More Perfect Unions from Pragmatism to Posthumanismen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
dc.type.materialTexten_US
thesis.degree.departmentReligious Studiesen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineHumanitiesen_US
thesis.degree.grantorRice Universityen_US
thesis.degree.levelDoctoralen_US
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophyen_US
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