La disparition de l’extase mystique (fin xvie-xviie siècle)

The Disappearance of Mystical Ecstasy (from late 16th to late 17th century)

This paper aims at shining a light on some of the theoretical processes that led mystical ecstasy to disappear between the end of 16^th and the end of 17^th century. The involvement of mystical ecstasy in religious practices during the early-modern period posed such semiotic issues to the “discernment of spirits” that a new kind of ecstasy, namely invisible, was invented. However, such invention proved also to be a contribution to the disintegration of mystical theology itself.

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