Religious experience

Question 1

Not empirical:

Answer 1

You cannot empirically authenticate religious experience. It is a subjective, personal response.

Question 2

Swinburne: Principle of testimony:

Answer 2

The assumption here is that people usually tell the truth. so we should believe them unless a stong……

Question 3

William James:

Answer 3

for the person it has complete authority and it suggests or points to the reality of different states of consciousness.

Question 4

William James:

Answer 4

Religious experience for an individual is absolutely true and authoritative for that person. If they live there life according to that truth we have no right to doubt them

Question 5

Drugs:

Answer 5

drugs can produce similar experiences- suggesting artificial experiences

Question 6

William James:

Answer 6

explaining the physical cause of an experience was not enough to explain it away- it is still valid.

Question 7

Real ‘v’ fake:

Answer 7

How can we distinguish the real from the fake- what about schizophrenics who claim to hear god telling them to do something wicked.

Question 8

Kant:

Answer 8

how can the finite experience the infinite? Human use their senses and god is beyond space and time- how can humans make direct….

Question 9

God:

Answer 9

There is no proof that God cannot contact.

Question 10

Richard Dawkings:

Answer 10

those that claimed to have undergone religious experiences were at best misguided.

Question 11

William James:

Answer 11

William’s Classifications of religious experiences have stood the test of time.

Question 12

agreed principles

Answer 12

establishing principles to be agreed upon is challenging as different philosophers have different opinions on what the set criteria should be.

Question 13

subjective not objective

Answer 13

mystical experiences are subjective and not objective leaving it to personal experience and interpretation

Question 14

Anthony flew - falsification principle

Answer 14

religious believers will always offer a qualification to their experience without evidence or proof

Question 15

Freud

Answer 15

all religious experiences were the result of sexual urges eg St Teresa of avila and the piercing of her soul

Question 16

Hume

Answer 16

religious experiences are not open to rational enquiry, and thus, are treated with suspicion at best and mockery at worst

Question 17

cumulative case

Answer 17

the fact that different religions claim religious experience could provide a cumulative case of proving the existence of an omnipotent God

Question 18

swinburne: principle of credulity

Answer 18

Someone basically saying that this is what I experienced and you should believe me unless you prove me wrong

Question 19

jesus

Answer 19

jesus show through religious experiences a desire to have a relationship with believers

Question 20

wittgenstein

Answer 20

we can’t takk about it because we don’t understand it