Religious Experience Flashcards
What is William James’ four criteria for mystical experiences throughout world religions?
Ineffable - the experience is beyond language and is indescribable.
Noetic - some sort of knowledge or insight is gained.
Transient - the experience is temporary.
Passive - the experience happens to a person; the person doesn’t make the experience happen.
What does James say about religious experiences?
It “defies expression, that no adequate report of its content can be given in words.”
What is the pluralist argument for religious experiences?
James says that religious experiences are at the core of each different religion, whilst scripture and practices are “second hand religion.” This would make James a pluralist, as he implies all religions are true.
Stace says that the universal nature of religious experiences is god evidence that they are true.
Knitter uses the analogy of a well. Each religion is like a well. If you get to the bottom of a well (through religious experience), you realise all other wells (religions) are drawing from the same source.
How could an atheist debunk the pluralist argument for religious experiences?
Cross-cultural similarities between religious experiences could be explained by how our brains have all developed similarly, so we all hallucinate the same.
It could also be that religious experiences serve a universal sociological or psychological function.
What is James’ pragmatist argument for religious experiences?
It is wrong to claim that religious experiences are merely hallucinations because they can have a tangible positive effect on someone’s life.
James uses the case of an alcoholic who was unable to give up alcohol, but then he had a religious experience and gave up alcohol. The man gained power through the experience that he didn’t have before, and this is proof enough for the pragmatist James.
What does James believe about conversion experiences?
He viewed conversion experiences as a change from an unhappy, divided or imperfect self with a guilt conscience to a more unified and happy state. They are evidence of the power of religious experiences.
How could one dismiss James’ pragmatist argument for religious experiences?
Hallucinations can be life changing, in specific cases. For example, if a Christian were to hallucinate an angel on the street, the experience would be life-changing, even though the angel was only a figment of their mind.
This could also explain subsequent conversion, as the significance of the experience is only made up by our own brain.
What does Swinburne believe about the accuracy and truth of religious experiences?
Unless there is convincing evidence that suggests a religious experience cannot be true, we must believe those who say that they have had a religious experience.
Religious experiences alone don’t prove God, but it does give evidence towards it.
However, Swinburne accepts that religious experiences should be put under rational scrutiny and testing.
What is Swinburne’s principle of credulity?
You should believe what you experience unless you have a reason not to.
I.e. if you see an angel, you might disbelieve it if you have schizophrenia.
What is Swinburne’s principle of testimony?
You should believe what others have told you, unless you have reason to believe otherwise.
I.e. if someone tells you they saw an angel, you might not believe them if they are a compulsive liar or a drug addict.
How could Swinburne’s argument for religious experience be criticised?
The existence of God is an extraordinary claim, and therefore requires extraordinary evidence. Is merely experiencing God proof enough?
Why does Freud dismiss religion and what does he say about religious experiences?
He calls religion an ‘obsessional neurosis’ and argues that it is a result of humans knowing they are going to die constantly. They warp the animalistic side of themselves to believe that death is not the end. They call God ‘father’ because they wish to be a child forever, oblivious to the reality of death.
This perspective warp can be so strong that it can result in delusions. Like how a person in a desert desires water to the point of hallucinating an oasis, humans can delude themselves into believing in life after death.
What is a weakness of Freud’s theory on religious experiences?
Freud fails to fully consider religious experience. Whilst he explains visions, he doesn’t consider the sensory aspects of mystical experiences which are unlike anything else.
Freud admitted that this is a weakness to his theory, but he says that religious experiences are just the reliving of childhood experiences before the ego or ‘self’ had formed.
However, many accuse Freud of being too general, and he is infamous for using small sample sizes and Popper calls his theories unfalsifiable.
What did Persinger do to disprove religious experiences?
He is a neuroscientist and created a helmet called the ‘God Helmet’ which physiologically altered the wearer’s brain waves and sometimes caused them to have a religious experience that made them feel the pressure of unseen beings.
This suggests that religious experiences originate from the brain, not something supernatural. They are the consequence of unknown brain process(es.)
How could a religious individual argue against the validity of Persinger’s ‘God Helmet’, and how could these arguments be discounted?
Maybe that brain mechanism was made by God to show us religious experiences. Also we already knew things like LSD cause hallucinations. The existence of the God Helmet shouldn’t discount experiences that happened without it.
HOWEVER Ockham’s Razor would say that religious experiences being naturalistic is much more simple than them being supernatural.
