Il sacro nella storia. Ernesto De Martino critico di Rudolf Otto

In this article I will discuss the relationship between the Italian ethnologist Ernesto De Martino (1908-1965) and Rudolf Otto (1869-1937). In particular, my aim is to consider the main Demartinian criticisms of Otto’s Das Heilige. First of all, in De Martino’s opinion the « Holy » is neither an a priori category nor a reality which exists per se, but it is a human product which is useful in order to face and overcome existential and psychological crisis. Secondly, De Martino claims that Das Heilige’s thesis is not valid since Otto’s approach is a Christian theological one, namely it is biased and, therefore, not scientific.