Les variétés de l'expérience ascétique : étude de la psychologie des pratiques de renoncement dans les textes du monachisme chrétien ancien et du bouddhisme Theravada
This thesis explores how psychology can bring a deeper understanding of different motivations likely to influence the way asceticism is experienced. An exploration of important texts of the ascetic tradition from two religions will allow us to understand how the phenomenon takes form in a theistic religion like Christianity and in a non-theistic tradition like Theravada Buddhism. Those texts will be analyzed from four angles. First, we will describe potential pathological motivations based on the DSM-5 diagnostic criterion to then contrast this reading with a healthier one based on positive psychology and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). We will then get out of this dichotomous vision to explore the impact of other dimensions which could influence the underlying motivations to asceticism. With regard to a theistic religion like Christianity, we will use attachment theory to analyze how the relationship with a significant figure or with a divine figure can have an impact on renunciation practices. To understand other factors that could be at stake in the case of a non-theistic religion, we will explore asceticism in Theravada Buddhism to see how this practice can lead to the development of a specific status in the renunciant’s membership group and to some advantages from an evolutionary standpoint. This analysis will give us a more nuanced understanding of the motivations in play in the case of religious behavior like asceticism.
Asceticism Christianity Buddhism Schizoid personality disorder Acceptance and commitment therapy Positive psychology Attachment theory Evolutionary psychology