Bas J. H. Jacobs is intellectual historian who specialized in modern esotericism at the Center for History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents (2018–2020).
A scholarly account of Wouter J. Hanegraaff's work on the history and study of esotericism. In re... more A scholarly account of Wouter J. Hanegraaff's work on the history and study of esotericism. In recent years, individual statements made by Hanegraaff have been the subject of intense critique. While also critical, this study takes a more sympathetic and holistic approach. Chapters 1 and 2 analyze core concepts central to Hanegraaff's work, such as esotericism, gnosis, altered states, and the imagination, and paint a picture of his general outlook. These chapters also provide translations and summaries of early work published exclusively in Dutch, which shed light on Hanegraaff's intellectual development. Chapter 3 tries to make sense of the remaining inconsistencies. It addresses Hanegraaff's professed "nominalism/anti-essentialism," his mixing of methodological approaches (e.g., Lovejoy's history of ideas and discourse theory), his rejection of esotericism as a historical current or tradition, and his conviction that the logical tension between monotheism and cosmotheism (paganism) is a pivotal aspect of Western (intellectual) culture. Finally, the conclusion calls for a willingness to reconsider the extension of esotericism and its place in history in light of Hanegraaff's work.
This article provides a genealogy for the concept of spiritual enlightenment, which rose to promi... more This article provides a genealogy for the concept of spiritual enlightenment, which rose to prominence in the 1960s.
An attempt to undermine the dichotomy between emic and etic and scholars/historians and religioni... more An attempt to undermine the dichotomy between emic and etic and scholars/historians and religionists in the study of esotericism by way of a methodological commentary on K. Paul Johnson's The Masters Revealed and its reception by Theosophists and non-Theosophists.
My 2014 thesis for the MA in Interfaith Dialogue at the Catholic University in Leuven. A piece of... more My 2014 thesis for the MA in Interfaith Dialogue at the Catholic University in Leuven. A piece of youthful folly: a defense of religious thought (a.k.a. Neoplatonism) against normative secular reasoning. My argument draws on the philosophy of science, utilizes an expanded notion of empiricism, rejects constructivism, and appeals to general systems theory and emergence, all while thankfully avoiding an appeal to quantum mechanics (after reading Peter Woit's excellent "Not Even Wrong").
A scholarly account of Wouter J. Hanegraaff's work on the history and study of esotericism. In re... more A scholarly account of Wouter J. Hanegraaff's work on the history and study of esotericism. In recent years, individual statements made by Hanegraaff have been the subject of intense critique. While also critical, this study takes a more sympathetic and holistic approach. Chapters 1 and 2 analyze core concepts central to Hanegraaff's work, such as esotericism, gnosis, altered states, and the imagination, and paint a picture of his general outlook. These chapters also provide translations and summaries of early work published exclusively in Dutch, which shed light on Hanegraaff's intellectual development. Chapter 3 tries to make sense of the remaining inconsistencies. It addresses Hanegraaff's professed "nominalism/anti-essentialism," his mixing of methodological approaches (e.g., Lovejoy's history of ideas and discourse theory), his rejection of esotericism as a historical current or tradition, and his conviction that the logical tension between monotheism and cosmotheism (paganism) is a pivotal aspect of Western (intellectual) culture. Finally, the conclusion calls for a willingness to reconsider the extension of esotericism and its place in history in light of Hanegraaff's work.
This article provides a genealogy for the concept of spiritual enlightenment, which rose to promi... more This article provides a genealogy for the concept of spiritual enlightenment, which rose to prominence in the 1960s.
An attempt to undermine the dichotomy between emic and etic and scholars/historians and religioni... more An attempt to undermine the dichotomy between emic and etic and scholars/historians and religionists in the study of esotericism by way of a methodological commentary on K. Paul Johnson's The Masters Revealed and its reception by Theosophists and non-Theosophists.
My 2014 thesis for the MA in Interfaith Dialogue at the Catholic University in Leuven. A piece of... more My 2014 thesis for the MA in Interfaith Dialogue at the Catholic University in Leuven. A piece of youthful folly: a defense of religious thought (a.k.a. Neoplatonism) against normative secular reasoning. My argument draws on the philosophy of science, utilizes an expanded notion of empiricism, rejects constructivism, and appeals to general systems theory and emergence, all while thankfully avoiding an appeal to quantum mechanics (after reading Peter Woit's excellent "Not Even Wrong").
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Articles by Bas J . H . Jacobs