Mystical Experience and Decision Making

Abstract

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The study of decision making is currently significant in various areas of knowledge, particularly in an interdisciplinary approach involving psychologists, economists, sociologists, cognitive scientists, and political scientists. This article explores the decision-making process in a new field: the mystical lived experience; i.e., approaches the perception of something present as unknown, the perception of mystery, within the decision-making process. It emphasizes that every perception requires a response, more or less conscious, and the mystical lived experience is no exception. The goal is to enhance our understanding and interpretation of the dynamics of mystical experience using a phenomenological analysis of the decision-making process as a hermeneutic key. The philosophical and anthropological background of this article draws from Karl Rahner’s transcendental experience, while the phenomenological and psychological perspective is informed by Louis Roy’s experiences of transcendence and Juan Martin Velasco’s studies on mysticism. The article first establishes the theoretical foundations of this new approach and then applies a decision-making analysis to the significant decisions made by St. Ignatius of Loyola, as detailed in his autobiography.