religious experience

Question 1

Mystical religious experiences 4 characteristics

Answer 1

Ineffable (beyond words)

Noetic (provide knowledge/insight)

Transient (temporary)

Passive (happen to the person)

Question 1

William James

Answer 1

Psychologist and philosopher who studied religious experiences.

Believed mystical experiences have similar features across religions.

Question 2

Ineffable

Answer 2

Mystical experiences are difficult or impossible to describe in words.
Like understanding love or music without experiencing them.

Question 3

James’ argument for religious experience

Answer 3

Universality of mystical experiences points to a higher spiritual reality.
Similar to a well metaphor - all religions access the same underlying truth.

Question 4

Alternative explanations for mystical experiences

Answer 4

Hallucination due to similar brain structures across cultures.
Serve a psychological or sociological function.

Question 5

James’ pragmatism argument

Answer 5

Focuses on the effects of religious experiences.

If experiences have positive, life-changing effects, they hold some truth.

Question 6

Conversion experiences (James)

Answer 6

Change from a divided self to a more unified, happy state.

Strong example of James’ pragmatism argument.

Question 7

Counterargument to James’ pragmatism argument

Answer 7

Even hallucinations can be life-changing if they fit a person’s beliefs.
Doesn’t prove a higher spiritual reality.

Question 8

Swinburne’s Approach to Religious Experience

Answer 8

Evidence-based analysis - Religious experiences can be evidence for God.

Open to any type of religious experience, as long as it’s believable.

Question 9

Swinburne on Evidence

Answer 9

Our experiences and testimonies are evidence (unless we have reason to doubt).

“If it seems something is true, then probably it is true.”

Applies to religious experiences too.

Question 10

Scrutinising Religious Experience

Answer 10

Evidence from religious experiences needs testing like any other evidence.

If contradicted by stronger evidence, it’s not reliable.

Question 11

Principles of Credulity and Testimony

Answer 11

Credulity: Believe your experiences unless you have a reason not to.

Testimony: Believe others’ testimonies unless you have a reason not to

Question 12

Limits of Swinburne’s Theory

Answer 12

Rejects experiences with known causes (lying, mental illness, etc.).

Only experiences without counter-evidence count as evidence for God.

Question 13

Swinburne’s Conclusion

Answer 13

Unexplained religious experiences are evidence for God.

Dismissing them without reason is irrational.

Question 14

Extraordinary Evidence?

Answer 14

Is a simple experience enough evidence for God’s existence?

Maybe God’s existence requires stronger, “extraordinary” evidence.

Question 15

Freud’s View on Religion

Answer 15

Psychological challenge - Sees religion as an “obsessional neurosis.”

Question 16

Freud’s Two Sources of Religious Belief

Answer 16

Fear of death: Humans constantly aware of mortality, leading to a desire to deny it.

Desire for eternal innocence: Religion provides a comforting “father figure” like a child.

Question 17

Freud’s Analogy: Religious Experience as Mirage

Answer 17

Explains religious experiences as wish-fulfillment hallucinations.
Like a person lost in the desert hallucinating water due to thirst.

Question 18

Religious Response to Freud

Answer 18

Mystical experiences can’t be explained by mere wish fulfilment.

They are too profound and unlike ordinary experiences.

Question 19

Freud’s Response to Mysticism

Answer 19

Mystical experiences are reliving of childhood experiences before the ego formed.

Explains the sense of unity and dissolving of self.

Question 20

Evaluation of Freud’s Theory

Answer 20

Unscientific, overgeneralized, and reductive.

Doesn’t account for non-neurotic religious people.

Psychological explanations struggle to be universally true.

Question 21

Criticisms of Freud’s Methods

Answer 21

Unempirical - Small sample size, no experimentation.
Unfalsifiable according to Popper - Theories difficult to disprove.