The argument from Religious Experience

1. The argument from Religious Experience

2. I seem to see a table Therefore, its likely there is a table there I seem to experience God Therefore, it is likely that there is a God Are these arguments analogous?

3. Some differences • Physical object perception is publicly verifiable (if only one person sees a table we are likely to think its an hallucination) • Religious experiences conflict with one another depending on the religious tradition of the one having the experience (Hindu experiences are different from Christian ones, for example)

4. The musical analogy • Some people are tone deaf, others are musically gifted, most are in between • Likewise, some people are very prone to religious experience, some never have them, others are in between • Those who are tone deaf are not very good music critics • There are also a range of possible religious experiences.

5. The analogy is limited • The issue crucial issue of religious experience is whether they are evidence for the supernatural • Musical ability is not evidence for anything

6. What is the connection between religious experience and truth • Are religious experiences akin to hallucinations? Or are they more like perceptual experiences? How can you tell?

7. Arguments against reliability of religious experience • Religious experiences contradict one another • Religious experiences are private in a way perceptual experiences are not—no public way to confirm or deny the validity of of a religious experience. • Mystical experiences occur in persons who are atypical psychologically and prone to very strong emotional and sexual feelings.

8. Caused by brain processes? • “The most joyous and tear-filled sky rocket to ecstasy is much more likely than not a chemical action in the body and brain. There is nothing in so-called mystical experience that provides any evidence of the supernatural. We are all hardwired for fantasy and for dreams. Lofty sensations of mystical experience is probably no more than a variant on this predisposition in the brain for peace, comfort, and security.” ---Edward Tabash, “Confessions of a Former Mystic”

9. Ordinary perceptual experiences are also caused by brain processes—does this make them unreliable? • Many great scientific thinkers are also unusual, strange or even “crazed” (Broad). • While religious experiences are interpreted differently in persons with different religious beliefs, there may be a core experience which is common to all.