This study clarifies Jean-Luc Marion’s epistemological approach to revelation, resulting from his own phenomenology of givenness presented in his phenomenology trilogy of Phenomenology, << Réduction et donation >>, <<Étant donné>>, <<De surcroît>>. Fo ...
This study clarifies Jean-Luc Marion’s epistemological approach to revelation, resulting from his own phenomenology of givenness presented in his phenomenology trilogy of Phenomenology, << Réduction et donation >>, <<Étant donné>>, <<De surcroît>>. For this, above all, I examine his theory on saturated phenomena. He argued that by exploiting a new realm of the phenomenon of saturation phenomena, the nature of the phenomena given to us must be understood in a multidimensional way. In particular, he intends to demonstrate the emergence of phenomena that overwhelm our cognitive abilities, which can not be totally incorporated into our intuition, and moreover the phenomena bring the experience of wonder that takes place in accepting the phenomenon. In this context, this study summarizes Marion’s argument for presenting the saturated phenomenon, and clarifies some specific features of the saturated phenomenon. Next, I will elucidate the negative certitude as Marion’s epistemic paradigm on absolute phenomenon and <<Givenness and Revelation>>(2016) published on the basis of his Gifford lecture held in Glasgow University, 2014. In the book, Marion tries to unfold his own phenomenal-epstemological approach to revelation. Basically, even if revelation exceeds our cognitive capacity, we need to establish its epistemological position as long as man has a minimal understanding of that revelation. In this way, Marion presents a kind of a hermeneutics of revelation: the hermeneutics through conversion. In conclusion, I will show as follows: Marion’s revelation of revelation is significant in that it is a phenomenological meaning of revelation in harmony with the tradition of the church. This presents not only a smooth connection or a happy encounter between philosophy and theology but also the possibility of contributing to the theology of phenomenology. In particular, Marion has sublimated the emphasis on the superiority of faith from classical Augustine to modern Vatican II by his own phenomenological theory. More specifically, Marion philosophically elucidated the overwhelming character of revelation by revelation as a saturated phenomenon.