Munich Lecture on the Philosophy of Religion 2026

The event will be Language in Language :

“With a Mighty Shudder”: Rudolf Otto and the Experiential Power of Religion, by Mikel Burley (Leeds)

It has been claimed that Rudolf Otto’s work had a major influence on the study of religions, especially comparative religion, but that it is now outdated and politically suspect. In this lecture, Professor Mikel Burley ( University of Leeds) will argue that the most damning criticisms are exaggerated and that there remains much to learn from Otto’s writings. Primarily, it argues that Otto’s characterization of the numinous as both affective and cognitive is not implausible; that he acknowledges the bodily dimension of the numinous; that his analyses of religions are not unduly reductive; that his account of the source of religion is not unduly anti-reductive; and that the claim that his assertion of Christianity’s superiority harbors racist and colonialist implications has not been substantiated. More positively, the lecture cites Otto’s treatment of sacred architecture as exemplary of his perceptive contribution to the study of religions in general and the philosophy of religion in particular.