religious experiences Flashcards
3 ways of understanding
union w a greater power
psychological effects
physiological effects
problems w psychological explanations
hick- ‘experiencing as’
- different perceptions of the same thing
james- ‘underlying other’
- experienced something but interpreted differently
freud
hallucinations - ‘very deep unconscious wish that human beings have’
humans seek assurance and comfort that can be found in RE. and in a god / religion
swinburne
5 types of re
public - normal event interpreted religiously
- witnessing unusual event with others
private- may be explained using normal language
- priv exp cannot be explained using normal lang
- ongoing impression of presence
principle of credulity
must believe testimony unless obverse can be provedl
lims of credulity
person/ circumstances may be unreliable (drugs/alc)
recipient may not have mental capacity to interpret
princ of testimony and prior probability
basic and verifiable idea = people usually tell truth
belief unless given good reason to doubt
corporate more reliable?
mass hysteria??/ social conformity
more witnesses= more convincing cummulative testimony
empirical and observable effects
no overwhelming evidence to contrary
individual more reliable?
principle of testimony
some people may be mistaken
empirical evidence of lasting changes
principle of credulity
pint
william james
passiveness- person acted upon
ineffable- cannot be put into words
noetic- passes knowledge
transient- temporary
william james
pragmatism - effects of/ value to individual
s hadley
homeless friendless dying drunkard
sick soul met, helped and unified
re gave him sense of purpose and morality
conversions are convincing
james- conversion most significant in terms of ‘fruits’
- pragmatism- insight
conversions are not convincing
starbuck- psychological effects teenage phenomenon
freud- church cause of subconscious guilt in super ego
impacts on character don’t only come from re
kant- logically impossible to experience god
- rooted in phenomenal world of senses
