The myth of religious experience
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20311199 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Nick Zangwill (0000-0002-9117-9637, University of Oxford, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2004 |
| Volume | 40 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 1-22 |
| Publication date | 2004-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Religious Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0034-4125 • E-ISSN: 1469-901X |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0034412503006772 |
| OpenAlex | W2072032310 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 11 |
| References cited | 4 |
I argue that people do not and cannot have religious experiences that are perceptual experiences with theological content and that provide some justification for the belief in God. I discuss William Alston's resourceful defence of this idea. My strategy is to say that religious perception would either have to be by means of one of the ordinary five senses or else by means of some special sixth religious sense. In either case insoluble epistemological problems arise. The problem is with perceiving God as God, which we need to do if reasons to believe in God are to be generated. To do so, we would have to perceive the instantiation of His essential properties – being all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-good. But perceiving the instantiation of these properties of God, even by some special sixth religious sense, is impossible. Hence, God cannot be perceived either by the ordinary five senses or by a sixth religious sense. Religious perceptual experiences are a myth
Content (measure theory) · Epistemology · Existence of God · Mythology · Perception · Religious belief · Religious experience · Theism · Theology · Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics · Karl Barth and Christian Theology · Mathematics · Philosophy · Psychology · Theology and Philosophy of Evil
Por uma Filosofia (da Religião) Criativa
A problem with Alston's indirect analogy-argument from religious experience
Perceptual reports and the impossibility of perceiving god
Journeys of sacredness
Religious experience and desire
Spiritual desire and religious practice
The Demystification of Nick Zangwill’s “Myth of Religious Experience”
Religious Experience, Adumbrated
The Myth of Religious Experience Revisited
Being and Time-less Faith
From Brain Imaging Religious Experience to Explaining Religion
| Unique citing works | 11 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,55 |
| Citation span | 2006 - 2026 (21) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 9 |