Studying the phenomenon of pilgrimage in philosophy and sciences

This article explores the development and evolution of pilgrimage research in philosophy and the specific sciences. Key stages in the transformation of philosophical discourse are examined: from the ontological and theological understanding of pilgrimage as a metaphor for human existence to existential-phenomenological and hermeneutic concepts that reveal it as a fundamental mode of being-in-the-world. The contribution of the phenomenology of religion, existentialism, and philosophical anthropology to the development of a conceptual framework for analyzing the pilgrimage experience is noted. It is argued that philosophical reflection played a significant role in the transition from a purely religious understanding of pilgrimage to its interpretation as a universal anthropological phenomenon. It is argued that theology and philosophy laid the fundamental semantic foundations for the subsequent interdisciplinary study of the phenomenon of pilgrimage. Particular attention is given to contemporary scholarly synthesis integrating the diverse dimensions of pilgrimage. Specialized sciences such as history, anthropology, sociology, geography, and economics demonstrate that pilgrimage is a multidimensional phenomenon that is difficult to reduce to a single discipline. It is simultaneously a spiritual path (theology), a historical institution (history), a ritual (anthropology), generating unique social connections (sociology) in a specifically organized space (geography), and an economic driver (economics). It is argued that it is the synthesis of approaches from philosophy, theology, and specialized science that allows us to understand pilgrimage as a unique phenomenon of human culture, located at the intersection of faith, society, economics, and territory

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