Religious Experience Flashcards
What did Wittegenstein develop in his ‘Philosophical Investigations’?
- The concept of ‘seeing as’ where we interpret our experience in a certain way
- E.g if we see someone we think we know, call out, and they turn out to be a stranger
- He uses his famous rabbit duck illusion to show how the way we interpret something is pivotal to how we actually end up viewing it
Who is Wiliam James and what did he do?
- American Philosopher and Psychologist
- He gave the Gifford Lectures in Edinburgh
- These were known as the ‘The Varieties of Religious Experience’ where he acknowledges the variety but tries to find some common ground
What are the first two common qualities of religious experience that William James identified?
Ineffability: These experiences are beyond the ability of our words to experience, the believer enters a mystical state of mind which is ‘negative’ as no words can describe the nature of what they are experiencing
Noetic Quality: Gives a kind of knowledge that is unlike the knowledge of any other human experience “all inarticulate”
What are the second two common qualities of religious experience that William James identified?
Transience: Meaning the experiencer has the experience for a very short time, rarely more than half an hour but the effects remain life changing
Passivity: Those in the grip of such an experience claim that they have no will of their own because they are under the influence of superior power
Does William James argue that religious experiences are ‘real’?
- He does not argue that these experiences are real or divine he is merely saying that they are genuine
- The one who experiences them is making a genuine claim
- He argues their claims should be tested and not accepted, we must discount the possibility of delusion or mind altering substances
What are ‘over beliefs’ according to William James?
- He argues that the experiences of the believer take place within a conceptual framework that already exists in the believers mind
- What we see from the outside are the effects of what are described as ‘over-beliefs’
How does William James explain the counter-argument that religious experience cannot be genuine as people only experience that of their own religion, e.g a Christian would ONLY see Christ?
- He argues there is a distinction between the experience in itself and the way in which it is experienced
- We interpret experience in a way that fits with our own understanding of the world
- The religion I have been taught will provide the framework with which I interpreted the experiences I have
What is Richard Swinburne’s ‘Principle of credulity’?
- Argues that if someone believes they have experienced something we should believe them unless there is a good reason not to
- E.g if someone sees a plane fly past a window there is a good chance they saw that and we ought to believe them
- We do not usually question claims like this, unless we have a very good reason for doings so
What is Richard Swinburne’s ‘Principle of Testimony’?
- In general people are truthful, unless they are a liar or disturbed we should believe them and their religious experience
- We do not usually doubt everything a person says, this would make conversation impossible
- He argues that if there are people who doubt someones religious experience they should be made to prove it false, if they cannot, then it should be believed
What is the issue with what Swinburne is claiming?
- To compare a religious experience to any other sort of experience is inherently mistaken
- The Testimony is rare and unusual, I know what everyday things like helicopters are, we cannot compare this to something as unique as a religious experience
- It is far less likely that there will be observational errors in everyday experience compared to religious experience
- I cannot describe God, there is a far greater likelihood of me making observational errors for something I have never encountered
- They can claim to be truthful in what they experience, but not have correctly grasped the truth of their perception
What is the problem of other minds?
- I cannot ever know what it is like to be in someone else’s mind, I explain everyones action through my own mind and what I believe they have experienced
- I do not know what it is like to experience thing in their mind, e.g how they experience colours etc
- As a result we can apply this to religious experience, despite them perhaps being sincere and honest I cannot accept their claim as I do not experience things from their mind
- We cannot confuse the sincerity of a belief with the validity of a belief
What are Corporate Religious Experiences?
- An experience, in this case religious, which is shared by a group of people
- Important to note that every experience is still felt on an individual level, everyones experience still remains different
Where did the ‘Toronto Blessing’ take place?
- Events that took place and still taking place at the the Toronto Vineyard Airport Church
- It is evangelical and emphasises personal testimony and the direct intervention of the Holy Spirit
What happened at the ‘Toronto Blessing’?
- A phenomenon called ‘Holy Laughter’ whereby people in the congregation burst out into spontaneous laughter during solemn worship
- People weep, fall to the floor in ecstatic trances and make animal noises, roaring like lions or barking like animals
- All these are called ‘holy laughter’
What is the nature of Corporate Religious Experiences?
It is usually the experience of a group we are closely associated with, e.g the Church we attend, the faith within our family or school
