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Philosophy > Religious Experience > Flashcards

Religious Experience Flashcards

1
Q

Have many definitions which makes them problematic to discuss but give a few definitions ?

A

Experience in a religion context Otto- experience of the numenous, wholly other

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2
Q

Why is it hard to categorise and distinguish them?

A

Huge variation within categories e.g visions, corporeal visions and imaginative visions) this therefore makes rel exp even harder to define

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3
Q

Philosophers who believe rel exp hold common features ? What are their definitions

A

Ninian Smart - defines them as ‘ some kind of perception of the invisibly world’Rudolph Otto- ‘wholly other’ and sense of the ‘numinous’ ( sense of being in presence of awesome power yet separate, includes feelings of inspiring awe) Frederick copleston - Jesuit philosopher ‘ cannot be explained adequately without residue’, agrees with William James

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4
Q

Richard Swinburnes 5 categories of a religious experience ?

A

2 public 3 private

1) seeing god in publicly observable object/ scene
2) sewing God in unusually place public ally observed e.g Fatima
3) private to individual and decidable
4) private to individual & ineffable
5) private belief (whole of ones life seen as a rel exp

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5
Q

Walter Stace what did he say ?

A

Created a book on mysticism and philosophy -8 common features of rel exp
P- passive (loss sense of control)
I- ineffable (indescribable)
S- sense of sacred (appreciation of holy)
H- happiness (feel happy)
P- paradox (normal rules of logic don’t apply
U- union with holy
R- reality
T- timelessness

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6
Q

William James 4 common characteristics ?

A

P- assive
I- neffable
N- oetic (belief knowledge is transferred
T- ranscience (exp is short but effects long lived)

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7
Q

What are Bliks ?

A

RM hare proposed believers statements were bliks (regarding a world in a way that may not be based in factsReligious beliefs are bliks as impact the way people look at the world

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8
Q

Visions ?

A

Types of rel exp that have distinctive visual element - usually contain a message or warning e.g Angel Gabriel appearing to Joseph to flea Herolds execution of first born

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9
Q

Variations in visions ?

A

Smart suggested 3 types - corporeal (figure is externally present e.g Mary to Bernadette)- intellectual (brings Knowledge and understanding such as revelations from God)- imaginative (strengthens faith often occurs in dreams e.g Pharoas dream Happens in group of individually May or may not have words

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10
Q

Important visions ?

A

Gabriel to Mary Paul/SaulJesus appears to disciples

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11
Q

Define conversion?

A

Shift between one world view to another more satisfactory world view- vary greatly

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12
Q

Variations of conversions ?

A

Faith to faith No faith to new faith Changing denomination e.g T Blair COE to RCRediscovering old religious position

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13
Q

Important conversions ?

A

Saul’s conversion Zacheaus the tax collector Buddha

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14
Q

Causes of conversions ?

A

Result of self reflection Result of a vision

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15
Q

How long they last ?

A

Varies - gradual coversions tend to be longer as have to be given more thought - some are fast and sudden

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16
Q

It’s suggested a person who experiences a conversion may have two things in their mind ?

A

1 present wrongness in their life 2 positive changes they wish to make

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17
Q

2 types of conversion experience ?

A

VolitionalSelf-surrender

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18
Q

Volitional conversion ?

A

Voluntary, majority are gradual change but person suddenly becomes aware one day

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19
Q

Self surrender conversion ?

A

(Involuntary) - changed by external power ‘mans extremity is in Gods opportunity’ - William James You can try for a conversion all you want but after a certain point it relies on other forces Starbuck says once a person stops trying to covert they are more likely to convert naturally

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20
Q

Forms of conversions ?

A

Organic - self surrender form, individual loathes what they become and can’t do anything about it Passive- individuals feel themselves changing via external power and aren’t actively doing it

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21
Q

3 other classifications of conversions ?

A

Intellectual - change in the way of thinking about something (conflict in 2 systems of thought)Moral- change in behaviour, does what is thought to be right, lifestyle change Social conversions - acceptance of different way of life, conversion slowly in subconscious then sudden in consciousness, William James called this subconscious incubation

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22
Q

What did William James say about conversions?

A
  • v real to experiencer- persons life is completely changed by it showing strong evidence for them happening
23
Q

Theresa of Avila made 9 grades of prayer ? What are the first 4 staged as and what are the last 5 ?

A

First 4= predominantly ascetical stage of spiritual life Last 5= remaining prayer belong to mystical phase of spiritual life

24
Q

What is Theresa’s garden analogy ?

A

Metaphor representing soul and understanding grace

25
Q

List Theresa’s garden analogy ?

A

1 taking water from a well (active side of begging to prayer)2 obtaining water from aqueduct (divine joy seems to come to us in an endless flow)3 stream of water (benefit from with little effort, God becomes active presence in or life of prayer 4 gentle rain (blessed enduring union with God), no effort on our part- mystics often exp this = often feel ecstasy

26
Q

Who was Teresa of Avila ?

A

Carmelita nun who reformed the carmelite order - had several rel exps during life - beloved purpose of life. Was union with God and wrote 7 types of prayer in her work ‘the interior castle’

27
Q

What is Avila’s work about on interior castle ?

A

Work described 7 mansions We guide our spiritual development through service and prayer Each mansion is a deeper level of prayer ascending upwards

28
Q

Rudolph Otto looking at mystical experience ?

A

Otto wrote book ‘ the idea of the holy’Wanted to look at rel exp beyond scope of empirical reasoning - said holy had many meanings so not useful - used term numenous - numenous mean supernatural - agrees rel exp are ineffable - numenous is best described using the term mysterious tremendum et facsinas= man is both repelled and attracted

29
Q

Was Ottos idea of what a mystical exp is sufficient ?

A
  • assumed everyone can have an encounter with divine - doesn’t explain anything about nature of God - no details about specific religious believe - describes rel exp feelings but not actually what it is
30
Q

How did W James describe mystical exp ?

A

Pint Happily added to this( oneness if everything, timelessness and loss of ego) Negatives - identifying features is only one way of understanding mystical exp St Bonaventure suggested stages

31
Q

Why are mystical exp so hard to define ?

A

Huge variety and ineffable and subjective

32
Q

What is a mystical exp ?

A

Category of rel exp of super natural and spiritual nature Closest human can ever come to meeting divine

33
Q

Common features of mystical exp from Pahnke?

A

PINTSense of sacredness Positive mood Paradoxical Persisting positive changes in behaviour Unity Timelessness

34
Q

What did Walter Stace do for mysticism ?

A

Created 2 types - introvertive (inward looking, loss of identity - extrovertive (outward looking)

35
Q

Why is the goal of mystics ?

A

Souls unification with God, this Iowa’s many religious as God would lose all sense of being wholly other

36
Q

Important mystical experiences ?

A

St Teresa of Avila Julia of Norwich

37
Q

What is visionary type mysticism ?

A

Some say mystics = more likely to have visionary expsA special type of visionary exp associated with mysticism is (stigmata) where wound aid Christ appear on the body, sometimes she’s visions manifest themselves into physical symptoms

38
Q

Mysticism in modern times ?

A

Not as many as more pressure of secularism in societies However Maximilian Kobe claimed Virgun Mary was with him in Auschwitz

39
Q

Do you have to be religious to to experience mystical experiences ?

A

Happolds soul and nature mysticism says no - non theistic causes are drugs and dreams and psychology and also some conditions such as epileptics describe heavenly exps - Feuerbach said no because they are simply projections of our mind

40
Q

How to mystical exps inspire faith ?

A

Brings personal knowledge of divine Make me faith more than just scripture But they don’t have to be religious

41
Q

What is Sufism ?

A

Mystical branch of IslamAspires or be close to Allah

42
Q

Challenges to rel exp?

A

Caroline Franks Davis wrote a book explaining 3 areas of challenge to religious exp Description related Subject related Object related Overall mystical exps seem outdated In 22nd century, age dominated by empiricism and science so their authenticity is questioned

43
Q

Description related challenges are ?

A

What makes the description invalid - logical inconsistencies - inconsistencies between subjects actual behaviour and what u would expect if they had a rel exp - person claiming exp may be unreliable - may have been misunderstood e.g not feeling effects of medication then go to Lourdes and Miraculoisly heal

44
Q

Subject related challenges ?

A

Subject under suspicion - dreams and hallucinations generally unreliable - person may be drug addict/ liar - claims may seem unlikely

45
Q

Object related ?

A

Object related - entities seem improbable - refers to cases like Yorkshire Ripper, would an omnibenevolent God ask him to do what he did - other people present may not have experienced this

46
Q

Counter challenges to the challenges ?

A

Swinburne- principle of credulity and testimony, put forward 2 principles to support this - said unless we have positive evidence the claims are untrustworthy we should believe the testimony Pragmatic theory - of someone changes something has happened, can’t prove it was a result of God Teresa of Avila said we can verify REs if - cohere to church teachings - results in humidity - are approved of a person in spiritual authority

47
Q

More challenges ?

A
  • Something is objective = can be verified, subjective is v hard to, empiricism rejects accounts and Logical positivists- lots of work on how language is used to convey ideas, whether religious Lang= meaningless.
  • Rejects all religious language if it can’t be empirically verified Fleas falsification principle - argues statements are meaningless if there’s no evidence against them, rel believers allow nothing to count against them and rel believers allow nothing to count agaisnt their beliefs -Natural causes - dugs can produce similar effects e.g.
  • Hindus uses soma to access spiritual world Hume - empiricist said impossible to verify miracles so impossible to prove they happened, used God of the gaps theory to explain how when people lacked sixmece to explain something they use God to fill in the answers bPersingers helmet shows rel exp can be stimulated
48
Q

Outline Aquinas’ definition of a miracle

A

-‘Those things done by divine power apart from the order usually followed in things’.

49
Q

Outline Aquinas’ 3 types of miracles

A
  • An event done by God which nature could not do, acts that contradict our regular experience- e.g. walking on water.
  • An event done by God which nature could do, but not in this order. e.g. recovering from terminal illness.
  • An event done which nature could do but w/o using the principles/forces of nature e.g. a leg being broken then healed instantly.
50
Q

Outline Hume’s definition of a miracle

-Meaning of natural law

A
  • ‘A violation of natural law’.
  • ‘A transgression of a law of nature by a volition of the deity’.
  • NL means understandings of how nature works, rules by which humans understand how the universe is governed.
  • NL originally thought to be prescriptive (nature required to act how scientists say), now descriptive-describes past events.
51
Q

Outline RF Hollands definition of a miracle

A

-‘An event of religious significance’.
Contingent miracles:
-Dependent on interpretation.
-Event + interpretation=miracle.
-not a miracle unless interpreted religiously.
-‘a coincidence can be taken religiously as a sign and called a miracle’.

52
Q

Outline Richard Swinburne’s definition of a miracle

A
  • Events of religious significance.
  • Violations of laws of nature that go against the natural time frame + order.
  • Must be beneficial, as well as of religious significance.
53
Q

Outline Hume’s criticisms of miracles

A
  • Challenged miracles on basis of balance of probabilities and validity of testimony.
  • ‘the passion of surprise and wonder’ which comes from miracles is enjoyable, so some people might take the experience of trick themselves for the good feeling.
  • laws of nature can never be broken as we have experienced them to always be correct- they are descriptive not prescriptive.
  • Testimony supporting miracles comes from ‘ignorant and barbarous nations’-don’t understand causes of events-society not advanced.
  • ‘not a miracle witnessed by a large number of good sense, educated and learned people’.
  • Balance of probabilities: when hearing miracle accounts should consider whether more likely they are lying, been lied to or telling the truth- on BOP, people usually mistaken about miracles.
54
Q

Outline Swinburne’s response to Hume’s criticisms of miracles

A
  • Challenges argument that all miracles come from ignorant and barbarous nations + never enough witnesses- states he makes sweeping statements.
  • Questions vagueness of Hume saying how many witnesses would be sufficient.
  • Who are the ignorant and barbarous nations?
  • Miracles reported in modern societies too e.g. Lourdes.
  • testimonies not only form of evidence-what about physical evidence- dry clothes, no boat or bridge-all point to walking on water.
  • Miracles are by nature occasional so of course the balance of probabilities will fall against them.

Philosophy (8 decks)

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