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Witness Argument
The argument from religious experience is an argument for the existence of God. It holds that the best explanation for religious experiences is that they constitute genuine experience or perception of a divine reality. Various reasons have been offered for and against accepting this contention. Contemporary defenders of the argument are Richard Swinburne, William Alston, Alvin Plantinga, and Alister Hardy. Outline In essence, the argument's structure is as follows: # There are compelling reasons for believing that claims of religious experience point to and validate spiritual realities that exist in a way that transcends material manifestation; # According to materialism, nothing exists in a way that transcends material manifestation; # According to classical theism, God endows human beings with the ability to perceive – although imperfectly – religious, spiritual and/or transcendent realities through religious, spiritual and/or transcendent experience. # To t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Existence Of God
The existence of God is a subject of debate in the philosophy of religion and theology. A wide variety of arguments for and against the existence of God (with the same or similar arguments also generally being used when talking about the existence of multiple deities) can be categorized as logical, Empirical research, empirical, Metaphysics, metaphysical, Subjectivity, subjective, or Science, scientific. In Philosophy, philosophical terms, the question of the existence of God involves the disciplines of epistemology (the nature and scope of knowledge) and ontology (study of the nature of being or existence) and the Value theory, theory of value (since some definitions of God include perfection). The Western philosophy, Western tradition of philosophical discussion of the existence of God began with Plato and Aristotle, who made arguments for the existence of a being responsible for fashioning the universe, referred to as the demiurge or the unmoved mover, that today would be c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Atheist
New Atheism is a perspective shared by some atheist academics, writers, scientists, and philosophers of the 20th and 21st centuries, intolerant of superstition, religion, and irrationalism. New Atheists advocate the antitheist view that the various forms of theism should be criticised, countered, examined, and challenged by rational argument, especially when they exert strong influence on the broader society, such as in government, education, and politics. Major figures of New Atheism include Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, and Christopher Hitchens, collectively referred to as the " Four Horsemen" of the movement. Proponents of the New Atheist movement have experienced some controversy and criticisms from academics and other atheists. Prominent figures The "Four Horsemen" Key figures associated with New Atheism include evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, philosopher and neuroscientist Sam Harris, philosopher and cognitive scientist Daniel Dennett, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Dawkins
Richard Dawkins (born 26 March 1941) is a British evolutionary biology, evolutionary biologist, zoologist, science communicator and author. He is an Oxford fellow, emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford, and was Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science, Professor for Public Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford from 1995 to 2008, and is on the advisory board of the University of Austin. His book ''The Selfish Gene'' (1976) popularised the gene-centred view of evolution and coined the word ''meme''. Dawkins has won several academic and writing awards. A vocal Atheism, atheist, Dawkins is known for his criticism of creationism and intelligent design. He wrote ''The Blind Watchmaker'' (1986), in which he argues against the watchmaker analogy, an argument for the existence of a creator deity based upon the Evolution of biological complexity, complexity of living organisms. Instead, he describes evolutionary processes as analogous to a ''blind'' watc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ian Barbour
Ian Graeme Barbour (October 5, 1923 – December 24, 2013) was an American scholar on the relationship between science and religion. According to the Public Broadcasting Service his mid-1960s ''Issues in Science and Religion'' "has been credited with literally creating the contemporary field of science and religion." In the citation nominating Barbour for the 1999 Templeton Prize, John B. Cobb wrote, "No contemporary has made a more original, deep and lasting contribution toward the needed integration of scientific and religious knowledge and values than Ian Barbour. With respect to the breadth of topics and fields brought into this integration, Barbour has no equal." Biography Barbour was born on October 5, 1923, in Beijing, China, the second of three sons of an American Episcopalianism, Episcopal mother (who was the daughter of the obstetrician Robert Latou Dickinson) and a Scottish Presbyterian father. His family left China in 1931 and Barbour spent the remainder of his youth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Perceiving God
''Perceiving God: The Epistemology of Religious Experience'' is a 1991 book about the philosophy of religion by the philosopher William Alston, in which the author discusses experiential awareness of God. The book was first published in the United States by Cornell University Press. The book received positive reviews and has been described as an important, well-argued, and seminal work. However, Alston was criticized for his treatment of the conflict between the competing claims made by different religions. Summary Alston writes that his central thesis is that "experiential awareness of God ... makes an important contribution to the grounds of religious belief." He uses the term "mystical perception" to refer to "putative direct experiential awareness of God." He builds on work by the philosophers Thomas Reid and Ludwig Wittgenstein, and also refers to the work of the philosopher William James. He criticizes the work of the philosopher Wayne Proudfoot, arguing that Proudfoot wro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rudolf Otto
Rudolf Otto (25 September 1869 – 7 March 1937) was a German Lutheran theologian, philosopher, and comparative religionist. He is regarded as one of the most influential scholars of religion in the early twentieth century and is best known for his concept of the ''numinous'', a profound emotional experience he argued was at the heart of the world's religions. While his work started in the domain of liberal Christian theology, its main thrust was always apologetical, seeking to defend religion against naturalist critiques, making him a more conservative figure. Otto eventually came to conceive of his work as part of a science of religion, which was divided into the philosophy of religion, the history of religion, and the psychology of religion. Life Born in Peine near Hanover, Otto was raised in a pious Christian family. He attended the Gymnasium Andreanum in Hildesheim and studied at the universities of Erlangen and Göttingen, where he wrote his dissertation on Martin Lu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William James
William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher and psychologist. The first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States, he is considered to be one of the leading thinkers of the late 19th century, one of the most influential philosophers and is often dubbed the "father of American psychology." Born into a wealthy family, James was the son of the Swedenborgian theologian Henry James Sr. and the brother of both the prominent novelist Henry James and the diarist Alice James. James trained as a physician and taught anatomy at Harvard, but never practiced medicine. Instead, he pursued his interests in psychology and then philosophy. He wrote widely on many topics, including epistemology, education, metaphysics, psychology, religion, and mysticism. Among his most influential books are '' The Principles of Psychology'', a groundbreaking text in the field of psychology; '' Essays in Radical Empiricism'', an important text in phil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Varieties Of Religious Experience
''The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature'' is a book by Harvard University psychologist and philosopher William James. It comprises his edited Gifford Lectures on natural theology, which were delivered at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland between 1901 and 1902. The lectures concerned the psychological study of individual private religious experiences and mysticism, and used a range of examples to identify commonalities in religious experiences across traditions. Soon after its publication, ''Varieties'' entered the Western canon of psychology and philosophy and has remained in print for over a century. James later developed his philosophy of pragmatism. There are many overlapping ideas in ''Varieties'' and his 1907 book ''Pragmatism''. Historical context Psychology of religion In the 1890s, a "new psychology" emerged in European and American universities which coincided with the establishment of many new psychology laboratories and the appointment of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rational Mysticism
Rational mysticism, which encompasses both rationalism and mysticism, is a term used by scholars, researchers, and other intellectuals, some of whom engage in studies of how altered states of consciousness or transcendence such as trance, visions, and prayer occur. Lines of investigation include historical and philosophical inquiry as well as scientific inquiry within such fields as neurophysiology and psychology. Overview The term "rational mysticism" was in use at least as early as 1911 when it was the subject of an article by Henry W. Clark in the '' Harvard Theological Review.'' In a 1924 book, ''Rational Mysticism,'' theosophist William Kingsland correlated rational mysticism with scientific idealism. South African philosopher J. N. Findlay frequently used the term, developing the theme in ''Ascent to the Absolute'' and other works in the 1960s and 1970s. Columbia University pragmatist John Herman Randall, Jr. characterized both Plotinus and Baruch Spinoza as “ration ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Foundationalism
Foundationalism concerns philosophical theories of knowledge resting upon non-inferential justified belief, or some secure foundation of certainty such as a conclusion inferred from a basis of sound premises.Simon Blackburn, ''The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy'', 2nd (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005)p 139 The main rival of the foundationalist theory of justification is the coherence theory of justification, whereby a body of knowledge, not requiring a secure foundation, can be established by the interlocking strength of its components, like a puzzle solved without prior certainty that each small region was solved correctly. Identifying the alternatives as either circular reasoning or infinite regress, and thus exhibiting the regress problem, Aristotle made foundationalism his own clear choice, positing basic beliefs underpinning others.Ted Poston"Foundationalism"(Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy) Descartes, the most famed foundationalist, discovered a foundat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Basic Belief
Basic beliefs (also commonly called foundational beliefs or core beliefs) are, under the epistemological view called foundationalism, the axioms of a belief system. Categories of beliefs Foundationalism holds that all beliefs must be justified in order to be known. Beliefs therefore fall into two categories: * Beliefs that are properly basic, in that they do not depend upon justification of other beliefs, but on something outside the realm of belief (a "non- doxastic justification"). * Beliefs that derive from one or more basic beliefs, and therefore depend on the basic beliefs for their validity. Description Within this basic framework of foundationalism exist a number of views regarding which types of beliefs qualify as ''properly'' basic; that is, what sorts of beliefs can be justifiably held without the justification of other beliefs. In classical foundationalism, beliefs are held to be properly basic if they are either self-evident axioms, or evident to the senses ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
