3C Challenges to Objectivity and Authenticity

Question 1

In what 1989 book does Caroline Franks Davis outline her three challenges to r.e.?

Answer 1

• ‘The Evidential Force of Religious Experience’

Question 2

What are Davis’ three challenges?

Answer 2

• Description-related challenges
• Subject-related challenges
• Object-related challenges

Question 3

Explain Davis’ description-related challenges.

Answer 3

• Any claim of an exp. of ‘God’ or ‘the Divine’ is being made for which there is no proof ∴ the description ≠ valid
• The claim is inconsistent/contradictory w/ everyday life/exp. ∴ should be rejected
• Not a valid claim, merely a misunderstanding

Question 4

Explain Davis’ subject-related challenges.

Answer 4

• The subject (recipient) is put under suspicion
• May be: unreliable as a source, suffering from a mental illness, suffering delusions from substance abuse (there are remarkable similarities in the effects of alcohol/hallucinogenic drugs)
• They are not in a pos. to understand what they have exp.d

Question 5

Explain Davis’ object-related challenges.

Answer 5

• Focuses on the alleged object of the exp.
• The likelihood of having something that the recipient claims is so unlikely as to be untrue
• We would not believe someone who had claimed too see a 10ft, green alien.

Question 6

What is Davis’ conclusion?

Answer 6

• The nature of r.e.s belongs to a bygone era
• When faced with such claims in an age seemingly dominated by empiricism, science, rationality, and evidential proofs, scepticism arises as to their authenticity

Question 7

What is the issue regarding objectivity and subjectivity?

Answer 7

• To est. reliability of any mystical exp., criteria need to be agreed upon, but mystical exp.s are subjective
• If objective and verifiable, they relate to external factors that can be agreed upon by observers (can be proven by the senses)
• If subjective, based upon opinion, personal judgement, belief, assumption ∴ more difficult to verify; communicating mystical exp.s depends on perception of recipient
• However, the exp. remains valid for the indiv. even if non-verifiable; a one-off exp can be valid, repetition not needed

Question 8

What would the Logical Positivists say about claims for mystical experiences?

Answer 8

• The claim may seem ordinary, but it lacks empirical evi. to support it
• Mys. exp. ≠ analytic or synthetic ∴ meaningless

Question 9

What have Iona Lewis’ studies shown about r.e.s?

Answer 9

• There is a close and intelligible connection in pre-industrial societies btwn incidence of r. ecstacy and the need to legitimise claims made upon the larger society

Question 10

What would Freud say about claims for mystical experiences?

Answer 10

• They are no more than the repression of sexual urges

Question 11

What would Flew’s falsification principle say about claims for mystical experiences?

Answer 11

• He stated that r. believers allow nothing to count against their beliefs. so all r. statements were ultimately meaningless; they’ll always offer a qualification as to why no evi. can count against their beliefs - causes G. to “die the death of a thousand qualifications”
• He referenced John Wisdom’s Parable of the Gardener: “Just how does what you call an invisible, intangible, eternally elusive gardener differ from an imaginary gardener or even from no gardener at all?”

Question 12

What would Hume say about claims for mystical experiences?

Answer 12

• Not impossible that they could occur, just that it is impossible to prove that one had occurred ∵ of their highly individualistic nature

Question 13

Why would Swinburne argue that claims for mystical experiences are valid?

Answer 13

• Principle of credulity: what someone claims to perceive is probably the case unless unreliable, similar perceptions were shown to be false, strong evi. to suggest the object did not exist, it can be accounted for in other ways
• Principle of testimony: other ppl’s testimony of r.e.s provides good reason to believe it is valid - maintains integrity of individual