ABSTRACT
This article discusses Taylor, James and Scheler, three thinkers who each have tried to widen the understanding of human motivation to include religious value experience, and did so in opposition to a naturalist understanding of human beliefs and behavior. At the same time, none of them wants to return to a pre-critical foundation of religious belief or what has been called ontotheology, an understanding of reality that already presupposes a specific theology. The focus will be on their respective success in nevertheless adhering to the ontological commitments in religious claims of experienced objective values that motivate moral behavior.
