A Study of Chantepie’s Phenomenology of Religion and the Evaluation of its Critics

Most of scientists of religion sometimes consider Chantepie de la Saussaye to be the founder of the phenomenology of religion. This study first explains Chantepie's view of the phenomenology of religion, and while analyzing the phenomenology of Chantepie's religion, which lies between the philosophy of religion and the history of religion, believes that the critique of the phenomenology of Chantepie's religion in general is self-critical. The most important critique of Chantepie's phenomenology of religion is that it did not deal with the essence of phenomena and the nature of religion. His phenomenology is the classification of phenomena with a non-historical perspective. By reflecting on Chantepie’s ideas, this article proves that Chantepie pays attention to the special nature of religion. Contrary to the criticisms leveled at him that his phenomenology is merely descriptive, Chantepie has in fact studied two basic aspects of religion, namely its essence and manifestations. This paper explores and then evaluates this critique, and finally distinguishes that critics measure Chantepie's phenomenology of religion in terms of Husserl's philosophical phenomenology; while Chantepie, by emphasizing ritual phenomena, seeks to understand the nature of religion and the sacred as the essence of religions.