Published in Art, Criticism and Mysticism

Keywords: Keywords: French contemporary philosophy, Mystical theology, Nocturnal experience, Symbology of light and darkness.

Vladimir Jankélévitch concedes to the image and experience of nighttime a proeminent place, both in his ontological and musicological reflections. Contradicting what is usually observed in Western philosophical tradition, the French contemporary philosopher elaborates, in different moments of his work, a kind of “compliment to the the night”, worthy of study. Therefore, the current article intends to point out the main factors which contribute to the extreme positivity of the nocturnal motive in Jankélévitch’s thought. Through this analysis it will be possible to recognize some of the fundamental influences which, in some cases reinterpreted, compose the original perspective of the philosopher. Among them, stand out the Romantic and Impressionist musical poetics, the philosophy of Henri Bergson, and a whole mystical and apophatical tradition, in which certain nocturnal image is equally valued.