Religious Experience: Psychological

Question 1

Freud’s view

Answer 1

• believed religion was a “universal obsessional neurosis” motivated by unconscious guilt
• “Those who cling to them (religion) do so because of the comfort they bring”
• from our unconscious (id and super-ego) complexes can emerge, if you are unaware of why you are feeling such a way, that is the projection of a complex => religious experiences are the projections of some of your desires onto the world
• an RE is an illusion of wish fulfilment from the deepest depths of our minds

Question 2

Carl Jung’s view

Answer 2

• individuation is what we are trying to achieve in life and we are naturally drawn towards religion as it helps us individuate => an RE is subjective and non-cognitive, but it helps us become who we want to be
• religion is a projection of psychological truths, beneath all the stories, religion has a true meaning behind it

Question 3

Define neurotheology

Answer 3

neuroscience of religion that wants to prove that RE are all in the mind

Question 4

Newberg and D’Aquili

Answer 4

• attempted to induce a mystical experience through meditation
• superior temporal lobe behaved usually/decreased activity
  
  • this part of the brain differentiates between self and world

Question 5

Jung’s two levels of subconscious

Answer 5

1. Personal

2. Collective: shared human experienced passed down through culture and these are made of archetypes

Question 6

Jung: what are archetypes and how do they relate to RE

Answer 6

• they are shapes of experiences
• J thought God was an archetype, whether or not you believe in God, he has the same meaning as he is a unified self and symbol of universal psychology
• there is a pattern/order to mental experiences => God is a projection of unity that ties all experience together
• it is the archetypes of God that help you individuate

Question 7

Evaluate Freud’s view

Answer 7

• Swinburne’s Principle of Credulity (assume an experience is true)
  CP: can necessarily trust your experience as it may merely be a projection of your unconscious desire
  + some RE are induced by ‘wish fulfillment’, which is why they seem positive
• Doesn’t seem true that all RE are useless as James has done research where the majority say that they have indeed learnt something from their experience
• J would say that wish fulfillment isn’t a bad thing and should not be dismissed on that basis

Question 8

Evaluate Jung’s view

Answer 8

+ recognised a broader sense of our driving force, our libido is not just sex but Is rather based on energy
+ reason RE seem positive is because they actually individuate, v teleological
+ William James, RE are noetic, they give you knowledge
- Doesn’t necessarily prove the existence of God, only proves him a non-cognitive sense
- Theist would disagree, as God cognitively and objectively exists and you can see him within the world, not just in your mind