Phenomenology and Religious Experience Course Description

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Phenomenology and Religious Experience Course Description

TENTATIVE AND PRELIMINARY COURSE DESCRIPTION & SCHEDULE PHIL 7145: Phenomenology and Religious Experience Spring 2018; Thursdays, 2:30-4:30 PM C.M. Gschwandtner Course Description: This course will undertake philosophical investigations into major traditional and contemporary forms of religious life and experience, such as ritual/liturgy, asceticism, monasticism, mysticism, spirituality, and fundamentalism. The course will examine these forms as practices and lifestyles, drawing on phenomenology as the primary methodology for analyzing their manifestations in various cultures and traditions. The course will treat and explore religion as fundamental human experience (i.e. it does not constitute an investigation into the divine). Although the primary focus will be on concrete phenomenological investigation of the practices and forms of life under consideration, the course will also expose students to some of the significant ways in which such phenomena have been approached by contemporary philosophers (such as Jean-Luc Marion, Jean-Yves Lacoste, Jean-Louis Chrétien, Richard Kearney, Julia Kristeva, Anthony Steinbock, Emmanuel Falque, and others). The course will generally spend a session on primary sources in which religious phenomena are manifested or described, followed by a session evaluating contemporary secondary sources reflecting on the phenomena under investigation. Note #1: The goal of the course is to do phenomenology, not merely to read about it... Tentative Course Schedule (with potential texts/figures to be considered, usually in excerpts): Session #1: Introduction: What is phenomenology of religious life/experience? Session #2: Ritual Practices/Liturgy: liturgical texts/practices from a variety of religious traditions Session #3: Ritual Practices/Liturgy: Lacoste, Marion Session #4: Asceticism: Apophthegmata of the Desert Ascetics, Evagrius of Pontus, Way of the Pilgrim Session #5: Asceticism: Hadot, Foucault Session #6: Mysticism: Julian of Norwich, Teresa of Avila, Hadewijch of Antwerp, Gertrude of Helfta Session #7: Mysticism: Steinbock, Kristeva, Critchley Session #8: Methodological Interlude Session #9: Monasticism: Basil of Caesarea, John Climacus, Benedict of Nursia, Diadochus of Photike Session #10: Monasticism: Agamben, Falque Session #11: Fundamentalism: various contemporary documents Session #12: Fundamentalism: Ricoeur, Staudigl Session #13: Spirituality: Thomas Merton, Simone Weil, Dorothy Day, Jean Vanier Session #14: Spirituality: Chrétien, Kearney Session #15: Conclusion: How is religion productively examined philosophically? Note #2: Although the primary focus will still be Christianity—the only area in which I have any sort of expertise—we will try to bring in expressions of religious life in other traditions as much as possible (such as Jain asceticism, Hasidic and Sufi mysticism, Buddhist monasticism, various forms of ritual behavior, expressions of spirituality & fundamentalism across several religious traditions). Note #3: If you plan on taking the course and have strong interest in a particular topic or text that you would like included, please let me know (the list above is tentative). I’m happy to chat about the course in advance with anyone who would like to do so. .

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Mysticism in Indian Philosophy
The Indian Institute of World Culture Basavangudi, Bangalore-4 Transaction No.36 MYSTICISM IN INDIAN PHILOSOPHY BY K. GOPALAKRISHNA RAO Editor, “Jeevana”, Bangalore 1968 Re. 1.00 PREFACE This Transaction is a resume of a lecture delivered at the Indian Institute of World Culture by Sri K. Gopala- Krishna Rao, Poet and Editor, Jeevana, Bangalore. MYSTICISM IN INDIAN PHILOSOPHY Philosophy, Religion, Mysticism arc different pathways to God. Philosophy literally means love of wisdom for intellectuals. It seeks to ascertain the nature of Reality through sense of perception. Religion has a social value more than that of a spiritual value. In its conventional forms it fosters plenty but fails to express the divinity in man. In this sense it is less than a direct encounter with reality. Mysticism denotes that attitude of mind which involves a direct immediate intuitive apprehension of God. It signifies the highest attitude of which man is capable, viz., a beatific contemplation of God and its dissemination in society and world. It is a fruition of man’s highest aspiration as an integral personality satisfying the eternal values of life like truth, goodness, beauty and love. A man who aspires after the mystical life must have an unfaltering and penetrating intellect; he must also have a powerful philosophic imagination. Accurate intellectual thought is a sure accompaniment of mystical experience. Not all mystics need be philosophers, not all mystics need be poets, not all mystics need be Activists, not all mystics lead a life of emotion; but wherever true mysticism is, one of these faculties must predominate. A true life of mysticism teaches a full-fledged morality in the individual and a life of general good in the world.
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Mysticism and Mystical Experiences
1 Mysticism and Mystical Experiences The first issue is simply to identify what mysti cism is. The term derives from the Latin word “mysticus” and ultimately from the Greek “mustikos.”1 The Greek root muo“ ” means “to close or conceal” and hence “hidden.”2 The word came to mean “silent” or “secret,” i.e., doctrines and rituals that should not be revealed to the uninitiated. The adjec tive “mystical” entered the Christian lexicon in the second century when it was adapted by theolo- gians to refer, not to inexpressible experiences of God, but to the mystery of “the divine” in liturgical matters, such as the invisible God being present in sacraments and to the hidden meaning of scriptural passages, i.e., how Christ was actually being referred to in Old Testament passages ostensibly about other things. Thus, theologians spoke of mystical theology and the mystical meaning of the Bible. But at least after the third-century Egyptian theolo- gian Origen, “mystical” could also refer to a contemplative, direct appre- hension of God. The nouns “mystic” and “mysticism” were only invented in the seven teenth century when spirituality was becoming separated from general theology.3 In the modern era, mystical inter pretations of the Bible dropped away in favor of literal readings. At that time, modernity’s focus on the individual also arose. Religion began to become privatized in terms of the primacy of individuals, their beliefs, and their experiences rather than being seen in terms of rituals and institutions. “Religious experiences” also became a distinct category as scholars beginning in Germany tried, in light of science, to find a distinct experi ential element to religion.
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Metamorphoses of a Platonic Theme in Jewish Mysticism
MOSHE IDEL METAMORPHOSES OF A PLATONIC THEME IN JEWISH MYSTICISM 1. KABBALAH AND NEOPLATONISM Both the early Jewish philosophers – Philo of Alexandria and R. Shlomo ibn Gabirol, for example – and the medieval Kabbalists were acquainted with and influenced by Platonic and Neoplatonic sources.1 However, while the medieval philosophers were much more systematic in their borrowing from Neoplatonic sources, especially via their transformations and transmissions from Arabic sources and also but more rarely from Christian sources, the Kabbalists were more sporadic and fragmentary in their appropriation of Neoplatonism. Though the emergence of Kabbalah has often been described by scholars as the synthesis of Neoplatonism and Gnosticism,2 I wonder not only about the role attributed to Gnosticism in the formation of early Kabbalah, but also about the possi- bly exaggerated role assigned to Neoplatonism. Not that I doubt the im- pact of Neoplatonism, but I tend to regard the Neoplatonic elements as somewhat less formative for the early Kabbalah than what is accepted by scholars.3 We may, however, assume a gradual accumulation of Neoplatonic 1 G. Scholem, ‘The Traces of ibn Gabirol in Kabbalah’, Me’assef Soferei Eretz Yisrael (Tel- Aviv, 1960), pp. 160–78 (Hebrew); M. Idel, ‘Jewish Kabbalah and Platonism in the Middle Ages and Renaissance’, in Neoplatonism and Jewish Thought, ed. L. E. Goodman (Albany: SUNY Press, 1993), pp. 319–52; M. Idel, ‘The Magical and Neoplatonic Interpretations of Kabbalah in the Renaissance’, Jewish Thought in the Sixteenth Century, ed. B. D. Cooperman (Cambridge, MA, 1983), pp. 186–242. 2 G. Scholem, Origins of the Kabbalah (tr.
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Mysticism As an Ethical Form of Life: a Wittgensteinian
Mysticism as an Ethical Form of Life: A Wittgensteinian Approach to Ethics in the Mystical Instruction of Saints Teresa of Avila and Ignatius of Loyola in dialogue with Michel de Certeau’s Mystical Science by Matthew Ian Dunch A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Regis College and the Graduate Centre for Theological Studies of the Toronto School of Theology. In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Theology awarded by Regis College and the University of Toronto. © Copyright by Matthew Ian Dunch 2018 Mysticism as an Ethical Form of Life: A Wittgensteinian Approach to Ethics in the Mystical Instruction of Saints Teresa of Avila and Ignatius of Loyola in dialogue with Michel de Certeau’s Mystical Science Matthew Ian Dunch Master of Theology Regis College and the University of Toronto 2018 Abstract This thesis argues that there is an ethical development inherent in the mystical pedagogy of Ignatius of Loyola and Teresa of Avila. The various stages of mystical development are read through the lens of Wittgenstein as ethical forms of life premised on an absolute good. Through mystical pedagogy one simultaneously develops the language and the praxis of mystical forms of life. Mystical forms of life, though seeking the transcendent, are historically and socially conditioned. This historical and social conditioning is explored principally through Michel de Certeau’s account of spiritual spaces. ii Contents Chapter One: Introduction ......................................................................................................
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Mysticism and Cognitive Neuroscience: We Stand at the Threshold of a New Era in Modern Science … with the Coming of the Neuroscience Revolution
248 discipline within a network of diverse approaches to humanistic issues. Taylor writes that, Mysticism and cognitive neuroscience: We stand at the threshold of a new era in modern science … with the coming of the neuroscience revolution. Before, pure science was able a partnership in the quest for consciousness to brush the philosophical questions aside and, indeed, banished all but the most positivist rhetoric from the discussion of what constituted * Brian Les Lancaster scientific reality. Now, the neuroscience revolution, with its inter- disciplinary communication between the basic sciences, its cross- -fertilization of methods, and its focus for the first time on the biology of Resumo consciousness, appears to have important humanistic implications far beyond the dictates of the reductionistic approach that spawned it. Neste artigo são integrados os conhecimentos neurofisiológicos com (p. 468) um modelo de processos perceptuais e de memória, baseado no misticismo da linguagem Sufi e judaica, e com a análise do pensamento An indicator of the importance of neuroscience may be observed in fundado em textos do Budista Abhidhamma. Os estados místicos pro- the various hybrid disciplines that have been spawned over recent years, movidos nestas tradições parecem envolver consciência, sugerindo-se each of which includes the prefix ‘neuro-’ as an emblem of authority, as it que são estes estados de pré-consciência que produzem a consciência were. Illustrative of this trend are neurophenomenology (Varela, 1996, 1999), de algo mais que William James, Rudolph Otto e outros classicamente neuro-psychoanalysis (Kaplan-Solms & Solms, 2000; Solms, 2000), and the associaram no sentido do espiritual, em particular a asserção principal, topic of my paper, neurotheology (Ashbrook, 1984; d’Aquili & Newberg, dos textos místicos Judeus de que o impulso de baixo activa o de cima é comparável com a neurociência da consciência.
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Jean Paul Sartre: the Mystical Atheist
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Mystical Experience, Religious Doctrine and Philosophical Analysis
2 [3 181- MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE, RELIGIOUS DOCTRINE ,AND PHILOSOPHICAL ANALYSIS P. C. Almond, M. A. (Lancast.er), B.D. (Hons) (London), Th. L. A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Phi tosophy The Department of Philosophy The University of Adelaide De cember, 1978. ''i,\"6-¡'(,,r-í.¡r',,' ii t ti/'i I;t . i rt ¡t(¡ ' { TABLE OF CONTENTS P age III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.. ..... Vi INTRODUCTION: THE PROBLEM OF UNITY AND DIVER- SITY IN RELIGIONS I CHAPTER ONE : R. C. ZAEHNER: THE VARIITIES OF MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE 30 CHAPTER TWO : N. SMART: THE MYSTICAL, THE NUMINOUS AND RELIGIOUS TRADI- TIONS... 64 CHAPTER THREE: W. T. STACE: EXTROVERTIVE AND INTROVERTIVE MYSTICISM tlt CHAPTER FOUR: R. OTTO: THE MYSTICAL, THE NUMINOUS AND METAPHYS I CS 156 CHAPTER FIVE: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS 204 CHAPTER SIX : MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE AND ITS IN- TERPRETATION: AN ANALYSIS OF POSSIBLE MODELS. 213 CHAPTER SEVEN: THE VARIETIES OF MYSTICAL EX- PERIENCE: A PHILOSOPHICAL PROLEGOMENON 254 STLECT BIBLI OGRAPHY 295 SUMMA R Y The spiritual vacuum generated by the decline of t.he Christian world-view in the West has creaLed for Western man the opportunity of taking up any one of a variety of modes of spirituality. Religious diversity has become a fact in Western religious Iife. This increasj-ng pluralism has led to a real-isation of the philosophical problem in- herent in it, a probl-em crystallised in the so-called 'con- flicting truth cl-aimsr problem:- The different religions appear to make different and incompatible cl-aims about the nature of ultimate re afity, of divinity, ofl human nature , and cosmi c destiny .
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Mystical Experiences, Neuroscience, and the Nature of Real…
MYSTICAL EXPERIENCES, NEUROSCIENCE, AND THE NATURE OF REALITY Jonathan Scott Miller A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 2007 Committee: Marvin Belzer, Advisor Kenneth I. Pargament Graduate Faculty Representative Michael Bradie Sara Worley ii © 2007 Jonathan Miller All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Marvin Belzer, Advisor Research by neuroscientists has begun to clarify some of the types of brain activity associated with mystical experiences. Neuroscientists disagree about the implications of their research for mystics’ beliefs about the nature of reality, however. Persinger, Alper, and other scientific materialists believe that their research effectively disproves mystics’ interpretations of their experiences, while Newberg, Hood, and others believe that scientific models of mystical experiences leave room for God or some other transcendent reality. I argue that Persinger and Alper are correct in dismissing mystics’ interpretations of their experiences, but that they are incorrect in asserting mystical experiences are pathological or otherwise undesirable. iv To Betty, who knows from experience. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Special thanks are due to all the members of my committee, for their extreme patience, both when I was floundering about in search of a topic, and when my work had slowed to a trickle after an unexpected and prolonged illness. I feel especially fortunate at having been able to assemble a committee in which each of the members was truly indispensable. Thanks to Ken Pargament for his world-class expertise in the psychology of religion, to Mike Bradie and Sara Worley for their help with countless philosophical and stylistic issues, and to Marv Belzer, for inspiring the project in the first place, and for guiding me through the intellectual wilderness which I had recklessly entered! vi TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I.
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Platonic Mysticism
CHAPTER ONE Platonic Mysticism n the introduction, we began with the etymology of the word I“mysticism,” which derives from mystes (μύστης), an initiate into the ancient Mysteries. Literally, it refers to “one who remains silent,” or to “that which is concealed,” referring one’s direct inner experi- ence of transcendence that cannot be fully expressed discursively, only alluded to. Of course, it is not clear what the Mysteries revealed; the Mystery revelations, as Walter Burkert suggested, may have been to a signiﬁcant degree cosmological and magical.1 But it is clear that there is a related Platonic tradition that, while it begins with Plato’s dialogues, is most clearly expressed in Plotinus and is conveyed in condensed form into Christianity by Dionysius the Areopagite. Here, we will introduce the Platonic nature of mysticism. That we focus on this current of mysticism originating with Plato and Platonism and feeding into Christianity should not be understood as suggesting that there is no mysticism in other tradi- tions. Rather, by focusing on Christian mysticism, we will see much more clearly what is meant by the term “mysticism,” and because we are concentrating on a particular tradition, we will be able to recog- nize whether and to what extent similar currents are to be found in other religious traditions. At the same time, to understand Christian mysticism, we must begin with Platonism, because the Platonic tra- dition provides the metaphysical context for understanding its latest expression in Christian mysticism. Plato himself is, of course, a sophisticated author of ﬁction who puts nearly all of what he wrote into the form of literary dialogues 9 © 2017 Arthur Versluis 10 / Platonic Mysticism between various characters.
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Rhythmic Chanting and Mystical States Across Traditions
brain sciences Article Rhythmic Chanting and Mystical States across Traditions Gemma Perry 1 , Vince Polito 2 and William Forde Thompson 3,* 1 Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney 2109, Australia; [email protected] 2 Department of Cognitive Science, Macquarie University, Sydney 2109, Australia; [email protected] 3 ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and Its Disorders, Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney 2109, Australia * Correspondence: [email protected] Abstract: Chanting is a form of rhythmic, repetitive vocalization practiced in a wide range of cultures. It is used in spiritual practice to strengthen community, heal illness, and overcome psychological and emotional difﬁculties. In many traditions, chanting is used to induce mystical states, an altered state of consciousness characterised by a profound sense of peace. Despite the global prevalence of chanting, its psychological effects are poorly understood. This investigation examined the psychological and contextual factors associated with mystical states during chanting. Data were analyzed from 464 participants across 33 countries who regularly engaged in chanting. Results showed that 60% of participants experienced mystical states during chanting. Absorption, altruism, and religiosity were higher among people who reported mystical states while chanting compared to those who did not report mystical states. There was no difference in mystical experience scores between vocal, silent, group or individual chanting and no difference in the prevalence of mystical states across chanting traditions. However, an analysis of subscales suggested that mystical experiences were especially characterised by positive mood and feelings of ineffability. The research sheds new light on factors that impact upon chanting experiences.
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A “Feminine” Heartbeat in Evangelicalism and Fundamentalism
A “Feminine” Heartbeat in Evangelicalism and Fundamentalism DAVID R. ELLIOTT Protestant fundamentalism has often been characterized as militant, rationalistic, paternalistic and even misogynist.1 This was particularly true of Baptist and Presbyterian fundamentalists who were Calvinists. Yet, evangelicalism and fundamentalism also had a feminine, mystical, Arminian expression which encouraged the active ministry of women and which had a profound impact upon the shaping of popular piety through devotional writings and mystical hymnology.2 This paper examines the “feminine” presence in popular fundamentalism and evangelicalism by examining this expression of religion from the standpoint of gender, left brain/right brain differences, and Calvinistic versus Arminian polarities. The human personality is composed of both rational and emotional aspects, both of equal value. The dominance of either aspect reflects the favouring of a particular hemisphere of the brain. Males have traditionally emphasized the linear, rational left side of the brain over the intuitive, emotional right side. Females have tended to utilize the right side of the brain more,3 although some males are more right-brained and some females are more left-brained. Such differences may be genetic, hormonal or sociological. Brain researcher Marilyn Ferguson favours the sociologi- cal explanation and suggests a deliberate reorientation to the right side of the brain as means of transforming society away from confrontation to a state of peace. She sees the feminist movement accomplishing much of this transformation of society by emphasizing the right side of the brain.4 When looking at the two dominant expressions of Protestantism – Historical Papers 1992: Canadian Society of Church History 80 “Feminine” Heartbeat in Evangelicalism and Fundamentalism Calvinism and Methodism, we find what appears to be a left/right brain dichotomy.
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Mysticism in Selected Early Novels of John Steinbeck Tom E
South Dakota State University Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange Electronic Theses and Dissertations 1958 Mysticism in Selected Early Novels of John Steinbeck Tom E. Kakonis Follow this and additional works at: https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd Recommended Citation Kakonis, Tom E., "Mysticism in Selected Early Novels of John Steinbeck" (1958). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2513. https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd/2513 This Thesis - Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 1 "' MYSTICISM IN SEt.UW.D BA.UY lK>'TELS f>F JOftN STE'IHB!CX By ::. T E. �konis A thesis submitt�q• in partial fulfillment of the requiremento for the degree Master of Science at South Dakota State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts .June, 1958 � r,l1 lllll'lat•u --- IAIL1 ..... •waa•• This thesis is approved as a aeditable,�independent investigation by a candidate for the degree, Master of Science, and acceptable as meet ing the thesis requirements for thia degree; but without implying that the conclusions reached by the candidate are necessarily the conclusions of the major department. ii mRJCTtO. • . • • • • • . •· . • • • . 1 TICISM . 2 TYO, ts•• • • . 16 E, A LESSO . .. 56 . ; iii 1 IN'11t0DUCTION 'lbe purpose of this essay ia to trace the development of the con• cept of myatlciom from selected corly worka of John Steinbeck to ito culainotion in the novel Ill!Grapes !!fWrath.
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