Religious fanaticism as a prerequisite for extremism

Abstract

Тhe topic of the article is actual social phenomena: religious fanaticism and extremism. The subject of the research is placed in the field of interdisciplinary discourse. The focus is on the subjective reality of the religious fanatic, internal conflict, and the existing defense mechanisms of the psyche. The authors differentiate the phenomena of faith and religious fanaticism, consider fanaticism in the disposition with scepsis. The results of the study are such characteristics of religious fanaticism that create the potential for its transition to extremism. The research is held in the methodological space of existentialism.