2.2 Influence of religious experience as an Argument for the Existence of God Flashcards
What is an inductive Argument with regards to RE?
P1) experience of x indicates the reality of x
P2) God has been experienced
P3) The experience of God indicates the reality of God
conc) God exists
What is a cumulative Argument?
The view that if one takes all the arguments for the existence of God, they are more compelling than one alone
What is the opposition for an inductive argument regarding RE?
P1) The experience of x does not always indicate the reality of x
P2) If our experience of the empirical is only probable then our experience of the non-empirical is even less probable
Conc) conculsion depends on an accurate interpretation of the evidence
What is the opposition for the cumulative argument regarding RE?
Several weak arguments put together do not make a strong one
Who came up with the principle of credulity?
Richard Swinburne
What is the principle of credulity?
in the absence of special considerations we ought to belive things are as they seem to be, untile we have evidence that we’re mistaken
Uses Occam’s Razor
What are special considerations for the principle of credulity?
The subject has:
- taken drugs
- is starving
- suffering with heat exhaustion
-mentally ill
- been hit on the head
Who came up with the principle of testimony?
Richard Swinburne
What is the principal of testimony?
In absence of special considerations, experiences of other are probable and should be treated as such
We trust people’s everyday testimonies so why should testimony of RE be any different
How does the existence of God explain the results of RE?
If something is real and true it is more likely to improve a person’s life
Those who claim they’ve had a RE are more fulfilled and purposeful
-William James
How does the quantity of religious experience support the existence of God?
If we take all examples of RE together, then they are more convincing than one alone- weight of testimony
James: variety of different RE in different places and cultures
What are criticisms of the existence of God explaining the results of RE?
Freud’s Idea: Believes people have a psychological need to believe in something, to clam their fears about the world
Just because people change their lives does not mean there are not alternative explanations
What are the criticisms for the quantity of RE supporting the existence of God?
Several weak arguments do put together do not make a strong argument
Lots of alternative explanations (Bertrand Russell says great works of fiction can change lives in the same way)
What did Swinburne believe about RE?
cumulative approach: looks at all the arguments together
Probability: more likely than not God exists
Testimony: should believe people’s testimony of RE
Credulity: unless proven otherwise RE should be believed
What did John Hick believe about RE?
Pluralist
mistake is how people percieve RE. The real is transcendent and immanent; we can’t confine it to ideas of one religion
What weakness of RE does Persinger propose?
Argues that RE are no more than the brain responding to external stimuli
By stimulating temporal lobe with God helmet, RE can be artificially induced
How is RE
not being able to be verified a weakness?
cannot be verified by empirical testing, it is all an assumption
Why is the claim that RE is incentivised a weakness?
Re are often accompanied by or manipulated by atmousphere e.g music
Why is the supposed induction of RE not a weakness?
Are all RE induced? Scientists reduce all human experience to brain activity
Physicalism approach
Not everyone is wearing a God helmet
Why is RE not being able to be verified not a weakness?
Just because we cant verify something with evidence doesn’t mean it isn’t true
Why is RE being manipluated not a weakness?
Not all RE are incentivised or manipulated
What did Ludwig Wittgenstein believe about RE?
Each person sees RE differently, testimonies are unreliable
What did R. M. Hare believe about RE?
uses ‘blik’ to describe someone’s personal world view and interpretation of an event
Meaningful but unverifiable
What did Peter Vardy believe about RE?
Your interpretations of an experience depend on your ‘presuppositions’
What did John Hick believe about RE?
RE can be interpreted in non-religious ways
What did Sigmund Freud believe about RE?
We feel helpless so we create a God in our minds to protect us from fears of the universe
How is Ludwig Wittgenstein criticised?
Illogical to assume all religious experiences are incorrect
How is R. M. Hare criticised?
To test the truth of an RE you must look at the effects on that person
How is John Hick criticised?
Illogical to assume all interpretations are incorrect
How is Peter Vardy criticised?
Believers are better able to test the truth of their experience as they know what to look out for
How is Sigmund Freud criticised?
Just because some RE are a result of psychological need, doesn’t mean they all are
What were the key ideas of Michael Persinger?
Believes temporal lobe has a significant role within RE
Claims that by stimulating the temporal lobes he can artificially induce a moment that feels like RE
Arguments for Michael Persinger
Many people involved in his study
Physical (scientific) proof
Some people in study were religious
Arguments against Michael Persinger
Manufactured experience
Can you reduce every experience to temporal lobe activity?
What were the key ideas of Richard Dawkins?
People who have RE are suffering from psychosis
They think its true because they think their belief is true
What does Dawkins say are symptoms of Psychosis that are similar to RE?
Hallucinations
Delusions
What are some criticisms of Dawkins?
Dawkins is a fundamentalist
‘mental virus’ is a false analogy
ontological reductionism- all that means to be human is reduced to scientific explanation (e.g no soul)
