RELIGIOSITY, MORAL CONSCIENCE, AND RELIGIOUS GUILT: AN INTEGRATIVE DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE PHENOMENOLOGY OF RELIGION, LOGOTHERAPY, AND EXISTENTIAL PHILOSOPHY

Abstract

Religion and religiosity constitute complex and multidimensional phenomena that remain central to understanding human existence. This study aimed to analyze the theoretical convergences between Mircea Eliade’s phenomenology of religion, Viktor Frankl’s Logotherapy and Existential Analysis, and Søren Kierkegaard’s existential philosophy, seeking to understand how the concepts of homo religiosus, search for meaning, spiritual dimension, moral conscience, and religious guilt contribute to a phenomenological-existential interpretation of religious experience. This qualitative exploratory study employed a narrative literature review based on classical works and scientific publications in the fields of Psychology, Philosophy, and Religious Studies. The analysis demonstrated that religiosity transcends institutional and doctrinal boundaries, constituting an existential dimension related to freedom, responsibility, and meaning-making. Furthermore, religious guilt was identified as a specific expression of existential guilt, capable of promoting self-awareness, personal responsibility, and existential transformation through the reconstruction of meaning and the relationship with the transcendent.