objections to religious experiences

Question 1

limited to personal thought

Answer 1

we cannot know the content of the mind of another

Question 2

sincerity =/= truth

Answer 2

sincerity is about honesty, but it is no guarantee of truth; not always correctly interpreting events

Question 3

version ‘x’ (hume)

Answer 3

David Hume & storytelling; many versions of same event - may believe a particular telling, which isn’t the truth (change/add/remove certain details)

Question 4

ineffability of religious experiences

Answer 4

we are always likely to misinterpret that which cannot be clearly expressed

Question 5

qualities of chemicals (st francis xavier)

Answer 5

e.g. alcohol, causes vitamin B defficency = hallucinations - St Francis Xavier had a deficient diet & had heavenly visions when praying - caused by diet?

Question 6

mere misinformation

Answer 6

people are somtimes just mistaken; whether through ignorance, lack of vocab, or lack of scientific knowledge to explain it

Question 7

non-religious experience (john cottingham)

“‘𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭’ 𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 & 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐧-𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫.”

Answer 7

exp doesn’t have to be religious to be spiritual; exp of art and nature for instance - don’t come from/point toward God.
“…𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧.”

Question 8

experience < interpretation

Answer 8

in the case of religious experience, eveything hangs on the interpretation made by the experiencer