Swinburne Flashcards
What are Swinburne’s principles of credulity and testimony?
Swinburne’s principles state that one should generally trust their own experiences (credulity) and the experiences of others (testimony) unless there is a specific reason not to.
How does Swinburne apply his principles to religious experiences?
Swinburne argues that religious experiences can be considered evidence for God if they withstand empirical scrutiny and there is no better-established evidence contradicting them.
What is Freud’s psychological challenge to religious experiences?
Freud argued that religious experiences are delusions caused by psychological needs, such as the fear of death and the desire for a protective father figure, resulting in wish-fulfilling hallucinations.
How do critics respond to Freud’s explanation of mystical religious experiences?
Critics argue that Freud’s theory fails to account for the profound and transformative nature of mystical experiences, which go beyond simple wish-fulfillment.
What is Persinger’s physiological challenge to religious experiences?
Persinger’s experiments with the “God helmet” suggest that religious experiences can be induced through brain manipulation, implying that they may be natural brain states rather than encounters with the divine.
What is a religious response to Persinger’s findings?
Some argue that God could use natural brain processes to facilitate religious experiences, so brain manipulation does not necessarily disprove their divine origin.
