Prof. H. Westerink (Herman)

My research in the field of philosophy of religion has a strong philosophical-antropological focus. Part of my research is devoted to Freudian psychanalysis: the philosophical reflection of psychoanalytic approaches and concepts, the study of various perspectives of religion, the psychoanalytic religion critique, the relation between psychoanalysis and psychiatry, and applied psychoanalysis. A psychoanalytic perspective plays a key role in my historical research into early modern formations of religious subjectivity in the various religious denominations. As regards religious subjectivity, an important research interest consists of the study of modern mysticism, piety, and of the emergence and critical potential of the concept of spirituality in cultural historical perspective and in an intercultural setting.